I have TR & Fulgaz subs, and I usually run TR on an Android and Fulgaz on an iPad, but not simultaneously as I cannot in my setup. Instead, I watch vids on the iPad while doing TR workouts on Android.
I’ve not seen the CABLE before but just had a very quick glance now after reading your post … Could I use one in my setup to allow me to run TR/Android & Fulgaz/iPad simultaneously, ie. ride TR workouts but with Fulgaz visuals? Or is the CABLE not a solution for that?
I did try zwift for about two months. It was ok using my smart trainer, but my trainer’s ride feel is horrible and I hate it. Plus I find looking at the zwift screen incredibly boring. I know you don’t have to look at the screen, but that’s what its there for really, right?! So now I’m back on non-smart rollers, which I actually like riding, and listening to music. Zwift without a smart training device is even more boring (no resistance changes) and pretty pointless. That was the end of it.
Weirdly the only thing I like about zwift is the stupid noises.
I use the CABLE to connect my Wattbike Atom via ANT+, that Bluetooths to the AppleTV (your iPad). I tell FulGaz to not control the trainer. The Atom connects direct to my iPad (your Android) via Bluetooth and you use Trainerroad normally. It can be a bit strange on FulGaz as depending where you are in the workout you might be doing 5 mph of the flat and 20mph up a 10% climb
They’re other treads on here with other CABLE setups that might help.
You can ride Trainer Road and Zwift simultaneously rather easily. For me it makes the long TR workouts more interesting, and I level up in Zwift at the same time. Basically, use Ant+ connections and get cheap dongles to do so as needed, launch TR, have TR control the trainer, pair others by Ant+, launch Zwift, pair by Ant+ but do not assign Zwift to control the trainer. TR has a great minimize feature where it becomes a ribbon you can move anywhere on the screen. Here’s a good video that shows you how: Running TR Workouts Simultaneously with Zwift
Have you had any issues with the CABLE, or are there any gotchas to be aware of?
NB I like stuff that works completely reliably once set up, with the minimal of hassle, which has always been one of the appeals of TR since on Production releases it has been 100% rock solid in the 3 years I’ve used it.
Up until recently I was using a stac halcyon. The road feel was not great. Plus it was a huge pain to calibrate for road usage. Well, that trainer died recently and I’ve been using my wife’s unused elite tuo (wheel on trainer). It so much better. And again, yes watching zwift is ok. I don’t care much about it.
It was cool, and unexpected, when I saw dinosaur!
But I rather watch a tv show (currently doom patrol), than looking at me riding a bike…
I rarely use Zwift because I find their software to be annoying…taking forever to load, sometimes failing to load, the weird steps I have to go through to have my Saris control in Erg and my Assioma to work as my power meter. Not a huge deal, but can be annoying when in a rush in the morning…
It is also sort of makes me not trust the company…I mean if I software company can’t design good software … I mean next thing you know they will be trying to sell you a Zune.
In the past I’ve used zwift while doing Long Fellow (i think, 4hrs z2) in erg and I had some stupid challenges like seeing how far I could TT in that time or how much I could climb on Alpe de Zwift. That got a little old after a while, but I always dual ran TR and zwift for workouts.
Just did the BMTR Flat 100 (8:10am EST Saturdays) today and got in a nice 4hrs of z2 and it flew by. If you have a long z2 planned, there are a whole bunch of group rides with different advertised paces. Some are more or less well behaved, and you may have to deal with a lot of dad jokes if you do a DIRT ride. I find the KISS, BMTR and DIRT rides to be relatively well controlled.
Thanks again @bazcurtis for mentioning the NPE CABLE up-thread as I’d not realised these were a thing…
I got hold of one and have it working now.
My Fulgaz subscription wasn’t getting a whole lot of use, but that should change a little now I can run it in combo with TR. I’ve run Fulgaz in Steady-mode for these TR interval w/o’s to keep the video footage a bit more sensible looking.
One thing I’ve noticed that I hadn’t previously: on iPad at least, when Fulgaz loses the focus if I temporarily switch to another app, it pauses the ride (and ride footage and data recording). TR, which is running on the other device, obviously carries on, so I end with a duration, power etc mismatch between the two.
I don’t know if Fulgaz always does this (not tested this out yet) or if it’s some artefact of running it in this combo manner, but it seems pretty ropey behaviour if you cannot switch to another app temporarily (eg. like to Spotify to change music), without it pausing the ride that you’re doing.
I tend to do my intense workouts (e.g. VO2max) on TR indoors or outdoors. I do a good part of my sustained workouts on Zwift. Just an RPE thing: 1h at 98% in a Zwift race feels about the same as 2x20 min at 88% on TR due to my competitive nature .
Since I’m limited by time rather than recovery rate I’m happy with the higher intensity at same RPE. I tend to chose my races to fit my workouts though (e.g. 60km relatively flat race for sweet spot invtervals, Crit City for over-unders).
I switched to using 10mile TTs on Zwift instead of a standard 20min power test because I found it really difficult to find the motivation to really thrash myself. I then use power modeling, usually tune the number down a little based on feel, to arrive at my FTP estimate. Its a lot easier to psych myself up and get closer to a ‘maximal’ effort with a race, and TT removes the tactical element from the other race formats.
Oh yeah, +1 @Craig_G . I tend to underperform on the ramp test (generally about 16 minutes in I lose the will to live).
My makeshift FTP assessment of sorts is the Bologna TT on Zwift (after 15 min GPlama style warmup). I find the 17min or so it takes to finish that TT are ideal to break down into small chunks / mini goals (catch your minuteman, 3 minutes more… just survive to the bridge,…), then I just need to hold on for dear life on the descent (you can do anything for 3 minutes, right).
All I have to do then is take my 20 minutes power, times 0.95 et voila
The number I get feels spot on for sweet spot and threshold work.
I haven’t tried a TT on the Bologna course, I should give that a shot. The first one I did was one of the flat London routes which was pretty nice. In the last year or so I can usually find a TT on Tempus Fugit (?) that fits into my schedule.
I will say I that there is one thing I don’t like about doing structured TR workouts w/ Zwift at the same time though it could be more of a personal mental hangup. I tend to pick flat or rolling routes for interval work as for some reason I find it really weird hammering intervals down extended descents. I think its the disconnect between ‘going downhill’ and the resistance from ERG and effort level I am at that bothers me in a way it doesn’t on short downhills, flat and uphills. I have a big TV right in front of my face so it does feel quite immersive which probably contributes.
I did my 2nd long ride yesterday and another endurance, shorter ride thursday.
I am liking Zwift. I like the climb and the feel of “elevation changes”.
What I do not like is:
Is a battery hog! It takes 3 hours to fully drain an iPad battery (from 100% to 0%)
SUPER easy to go harder than intended. All the rides Ive done, I tend to end with a higher IF than intended. Yesterday was suppose to be .75, but finished with .8. I need to learn how to pace myself better. OR i need to rise my FTP to 300w so I can climb at 260w and should still be on the endurance zone.
