Using TR and Zwift Concurrently

[mcneese.chad]

@Doug_Nutter

Does everyone else just randomly ride around (or do the “formal” Zwift routes) while doing TR workouts,

• This is my 90% use when mixing TR+Z

@Doug_Nutter

am I missing some fun way of integrating the two apps?

• The “alternative game” I play on occasion is to ride in the larger group rides (like fondos and other large weekly rides) and simply follow the TR workout. I end up getting dumped each and every recovery interval. But the “game” I play is to see exactly which position I am in at the end of each recovery. Then I see how many people I can “catch” and how far up the results list I can get on each work interval. It’s a yo-yo and a little game to see if I can get back to the same position between each set or if I make some other goal in the moment.

[DocSavage]

I use Zwift with TR in two different ways. When doing my scheduled TR workout I have Zwift running just to give some visual stimulation and drop harvest. After the workout if I want to add volume I’ll ride Zwift alone for another 15-30 minutes. When I want to add some Z2 work to the low volume plan I’m starting in Nov I’ll ride Zwift alone mindful of power so I’m not just noodling or grinding

[Macy]

I don’t really “use” both at the same time. I do the TrainerRoad workout, and when I was chasing routes, I just picked a new one. I also did them up the Alpe to get the Tron. At this stage, I just use it to earn XPs (I want the La Vie Claire jersey!) and Drops so normally just the flat and/or short routes.

I don’t recall doing any events using TrainerRoad. I do like racking up the km’s for Strava too (I sync the Zwift rather than TR, with the comment being what workout). I accept it’s not really reflective but more reflective than the random TR km’s. And in fairness, it seems to tie in with the wear on the drivetrain. Also, the zwift calories are lower (?) which Strava syncs to myfitnesspal, and in these work from home times with lower NEAT, every little helps!

Now lockdown and a 5km limit is back, I’ve started joining a couple of Zwift Team Ireland events - Wednesday night group ride, and the Friday night race. But I obviously do them on Zwift.

It was always my plan to swap the “moderate” TrainerRoad workout to an outdoor ride or zwift over the winter. But after the Friday night race, followed by a few beers, I didn’t have the motivation to get up to do any of the endurance rides on Saturday morning (they’re generally 8-10am start here in Ireland). So I ended up doing the TrainerRoad workout later anyway. Virtual Beer Tasting/ Meet up this Friday after the race, so probably the same plan!

[TrevorF]

I also like the Zwift visuals because you can imagine you’re racing, which can give a little extra motivation during painful intervals
I also use it to provide additional long mileage / challenges when I’m not in the middle of a structured training block (I live in central London so tend to stay in my pain cave once winter arrives!) Last September I did the Ventoux x3 thing, so am planning to it virtually this winter which gives me an “A” race to mentally work towards.

[onemanpeloton]

I’m new to Zwift and just started it this week so thought I’d share some info that might answer some noobie questions that I had.

I ran Zwift on my laptop with my PM connected as the power source via bluetooth. I didn’t connect my kickr core as a “controllable” device in Zwift, I left that blank.

I ran TR on my phone (as usual) with my PM and trainer connected with Ant+ (my phone has ant+ natively, most users might not have this feature so will probably connect to their laptop with an ant+ dongle and bluetooth to their phone/tablet) and used power match like normal.

Running the 2 together, I was worried about having 2 records of my ride on Strava when I completed the workout (1 from TR and 1 from Zwift). Not the end of the world but I normally keep a track of my hours/mileage on Strava so it would be nice to avoid. To my surprise, the TR workout has synced to the TR calendar and the Zwift ride has synced to Strava. Perfect!

Like others, I’m just using Zwift out of curiosity and a bit of extra visual stimulus. I’ve never found myself wanting extra stimulus really and during some of the hard intervals I have my head down now, but it’s especially nice to focus on catching people on a climb mid-interval or having something nice to look at during recovery valleys or extra Z2 at the end of a workout.

[shawrx]

Like others I mostly just ride designated routes alone while doing my TR workout. I will enter the bigger events and do a TR workout from time to time. Sure you fall back during the recovery intervals, but if the ride is big enough there will be another group behind you and you just latch on to them during the next interval.

[Southpaw2five]

Did you ever try the NPE cable? I am about to be in a similar situation. Did you find the cable to work better or the Ant+ antenna?? Wondering if two Bluetooth connections will have less or more dropouts than one Ant+ and one Bluetooth

[mikeshin]

I haven’t read through this entire thread, so this might be redundant with something already posted. I recently started using TR and Zwift concurrently, only started using Zwift a couple of weeks ago.

I run Zwift on a MacBook w/ Ant+ dongle and have TR connected to either my phone or iPad via Bluetooth. On the MacBook I set the Security & Privacy System Preferences to prevent Zwift from having access to Bluetooth. This way I don’t have to worry about the ordering of which app starts first.

[roadbiketrevor]

Is it technically impossible for Zwift and Trainerroad to “Share” Bluetooth? I.e. allow TrainerRoad to control resistance but Zwift to read the RPM and power?

Just curious about this. I don’t know enough about Bluetooth to know whether it’s technically impossible vs. something Zwift/TR would have to build in.

[rocourteau]

I don’t think that BT can broadcast to two receivers, if my memory serves me right.

[CoffeeBalrog]

If your trainer or power meter supports multiple connections via Bluetooth it’s possible. I connect my Kickr Core to Zwift on my iPad for power and cadence and also connect it to my phone to run my TrainerRoad workouts in ERG

[Jouko]

I run TrainerRoad on one iPad and Zwift on another iPad, both connected to the same Kickr and my Garmin HR monitor strap, all through Bluetooth. The only thing I need to do when starting is to turn off the “controllable” on the Zwift app so the TR app can control the resistance. I’m no expert on Bluetooth devices, but it seems at least some can have multiple connections.

[cborsbach]

That’s correct, a BT Connection is always 1 on 1, Ant+ can connect to multiple “Hosts”.

[Jcromano]

I’ve seen some mention this already, but figured I would help explain my process for the Wahoo Kickr 20 and the Wahoo Tickr HRM. Each of those devices allow for multiple simultaneous Bluetooth connections. This is one of the reasons that I chose those specific devices over other options. I run this set up with an iPad and iPad mini or iPad and iPhone.

For the iPad mini or iPhone, I log onto the device and TR app before logging on to the iPad. I confirm my devices are connected and begin my workout. Since I’m in a light warmup, I then log into the iPad and open Zwift. I then select Zwift to use the cadence and power from the Kickr and the heart rate from the Tickr. If controllable is highlighted, I deselect it. Then I choose my route on Zwift and go. Typically, it is ADZ for elevation gain to chase the Tron bike. Sometimes I will choose a different route to complete the badge.

Once I finish my TR session, I usually am done and close out of each. If I feel like going a little further on Zwift, I will exit out of TR on the mini/iPhone and put it to sleep. Then I will go into the menu on Zwift, unpair the Kickr and the re-pair it. I will also select controllable now. Then it is back to riding.

I have noticed that if I don’t actually close the TR app, Zwift will not control my Kickr after the TR session. It is not enough to just put the device to sleep.

One thing to note, if you are uploading each ride to Strava, it will count each ride for mileage and the relative effort/training stress number. If that bothers you, which it does for me, you can either delete one ride from Strava or select one as a commute. If you choose commute, it won’t factor into the relative effort number, but I am pretty sure that it still counts towards your mileage totals. I want accurate miles and relative effort so I simply delete one of the rides.

If someone knows how to select which rides count towards mileage and relative effort only, please let me know. I haven’t figured that out yet.

Hope this helps for those in the Wahoo ecosystem.

[TriSherpa]

In the words of Rebecca Bunch, “The situation is a little more nuanced than that.”

The ability of any system to connect to multiple devices depends on the platform (win/apple/android/ios), the hardware and the devices.

I have headsets that will connect to my phone and PC at the same time.

When I Zwift, Z connects to my Wahoo via BT and my Fenix 6 via BT. I get sound from the PC (win) vis my headphones via BT and use a little keyboard on my handle bars via BT.

So, if anyone asks “will this work?” they need to detail what exactly “this” is.

[rocourteau]

I load both apps on a Win10 PC, and start the rides at the same time (not complicated - get into the ride on Zwift, get into the workout on TR, then start pedaling). I find that if I end the ride at the end of the workout, Strava does not create a duplicate; it sometimes gets confused on which one to show, but it generally works ok. If one of the two activities last longer than the other (you start the TR workout before getting in Zwift, in your case), then the Strava duplicate detection will fail.

[cborsbach]

You are not wrong, but the majority of fitness devices can‘t connect to two hosts (say, PC AND Tablet) with bluetooth. There are exceptions, Wahoos newer Kickrs for example. Whereas that capability is a given for any ANT+ device.

But yes, in the end „it depends“ .
Cheers!