If this is a dupplicate topic, please accept my apologies.
I’m trying to use Rouvy together with TrainerRoad to enhance my indoor training experience. Unlike other reports I’ve seen, I’m not having any trouble connecting my Bluetooth and ANT+ sensors to the separate applications. If I’m not mistaken, I configure one of the applications to use ANT+ and the other to use Bluetooth.
TrainerRoad is connected to my trainer (a Tacx Neo 2) and uses ERG mode to control the level of resistance. Rouvy runs concurrently, and uses the power output levels from the same trainer to control my avatar.
The problem occurs when I begin pedaling, at which time I notice that the video output from Rouvy is skipping. In other words, it appears as though the video is skipping frames. I have used a similar setup to run TrainerRoad with Zwift – without any issues. I’m not technically savvy enough to venture a guess as to why TrainerRoad might be interfering with the video output from Rouvy. I’m just wondering whether anyone has gotten this configuration to work without experiencing the video anomalies that I am.
Along similar lines - some PCs/laptops use the same board to provide bluetooth and wifi so that is another possible source of a bottleneck if you are using both at the same time.
Ant+ and bluetooth also use the same 2.4 GHz frequency of wifi - so using 5 GHz for wifi if possible could help.
Pre-downloading the route and seeing if that helps would be the first thing I would do.
No, ArHu74. I’m not talking about the occasional dropped frame. It’s constant.
I think I’ll try the suggestion to download the route. It’s certainly worth a try. I had to dismantle my setup, but I’m hoping to provide some feedback within the next few days.
Im no expert but in Rouvy’s Just ride mode erg is disabled. Might be completely wrong but do you think its possible that erg mode on TR is clashing with Rouvy? I would try disabling erg in the TR app and see how you get on.
If its a bandwidth issue then you could try downloading the TR workout so it no longer reduces your internet speed.
Like I say Im no expert but might be worth trying if you havent already thought of it
Okay, folks, I’m going to wrap this up. I haven’t found a resolution to the problem. Several years ago, I used TrainerRoad with Zwift on a regular basis. This is the first time I’ve tried using TrainerRoad with Rouvy. That combination does not work. But now I can’t use TrainerRoad with Zwift, either. I suspect that something in the environment has changed since the last time I had this working. Since it has been several years since I last succeeded in getting this combination to work, it could be anything.
My previous comment was long, but I have decided to delete it. Most of the information it contained was not germane.
Thanks to all who participated!
Incidentally, an article by DC Rainmaker indicates that using TrainerRoad and Swift concurrently requires two devices. I don’t recalll using two devices, but it was a long time ago.
Now that I know what’s wrong, I’m resurrecting and augmenting one of the comments I previously deleted.
Initially, I left out some of the details about the way in which my gaming environment is configured. I didn’t think it was relevant… Okay! I was just trying to save myself a little time and effort. So, here goes…
I run all of my virtual cycling applications on a cloud computer – specifically, Shadow PC. The sensors, both Bluetooth and ANT+, are connected to USB ports on my laptop. Those ports are then forwarded to the cloud computer so that my virtual cycling applications running on it can “see” them. In its original configuration, I relied on the port-forwarding implementation built into the Shadow PC client that runs on my laptop. Unfortunately, it stopped working and I had to look for an alternative.
That alternative came in the form of a P2P VPN, and a port forwarder which uses that tunnel. I am not a network guy, so I will make no attempt to elaborate further.
The VPN part is from a company called ZeroTier and the port forwarding solution is from a company called VirtualHere. If anyone is interested, I can try to find the article I used to set it up. But I digress…
After many hours over several days, I’ve been able to determine that the problem was with the hardware.
I have two systems on which I run my virtual cycling applications. One of them works, and the other does not. The system on which the applications work is based on a 10-year-old Dell Mobile Precision M4700. The system on which the applications perform poorly is based on an HP EliteBook 840 model G3. The bottom line is that the EliteBook has gotta go! It just doesn’t have the horsepower to keep up. In the meantime, the Shadow PC launcher (i.e., the client side of the cloud configuration) can be configured to limit the FPS.
In a word, performance. My 10-year-old laptop does not have the requisite horsepower to run those applications adequately. The cloud solution gives me access to a high-end computer that would, otherwise, be quite expensive.
Initially, the configuration was a lot less complex when the port forwarding in Shadow PC worked. Perhaps that’s something that the folks at Shadow will fix.
Eventually, I tried running TrainerRoad and Rouvy without the convoluted network configuration. Specifically, I removed the parts that were forwarding my USB ports to the cloud computer, but ran the applications locally, instead. Those parts were the peer-to-peer VPN by ZeroTier, and the USB server by VirtualHere. Without those two services in the mix, TrainerRoad and Rouvy played nicely together – without any apparent interference. In other words, runninng the applications locally obviated the port fforwarding hack and elimiiinated whatever the problem was being caused when running TrainerRoad and Rouvy together.
The performance of TrainerRoad and Rouvy on the Hewlett-Packard EliteBook 840 is adequate, but not optimal. Eventually, I’m hoping to rectify that with an upgrade.
In the meantime, I do have one niggling issue with the EliteBook. The system seems to be having a problem loading the driver(s) for the (Dynastream Innovations) ANT USB stick. Oddly, if I use the aforementioned VirtualHere client/server on the local system, the problem goes away. Perhaps remnants of the VirtualHere stuff is interfering with Windows own device management services.
An interesting build on the points in this thread, that I’ve recently experienced.
Took up a 1-month free trial of Rouvy and using the advice on here to set up TR in parallel.
started TR in my MacBook
loaded Riuvy route on free ride
TR linked to my Wattbike atom and HRM. Rouvy app showing receiving info from both as well.
When I started pedalling, TR workout progressed nicely and Rouvy avatar started moving.
Initially I thought all was golden … but quickly the pedalling on the Wattbike became impossible to progress - or felt MUCH harder than it should have for the watts target in TR - regardless of cadence (the effect between the two states seemed intermittent).
Looks like either:
Wattbike doesn’t place nice with Rouvy
TR control of ERG power is being interfered with by Rouvy
or both
I tried flipping the setting on Rouvy so that the app took info without control on the power - no change.
Rouvy works fairly OK in isolation with the Wattbike albeit the interface seems odd - out of ERG mode the Wattbike gearing is ‘off’ from what happens on the screen (either far to easy or too hard compared to the watts shown).
So overall it looks like running both is doable sharing the same Bluetooth connection BUT there is something about how theTR / Wattbike / Rouvy interfaces that just doesn’t work !
Also using Wattbike with TR and Rouvy (similarly on a 1-month free trial). All is working well.
I run TR on an iPad, with direct connection to the Wattbike via bluetooth to control power and do a TR workout as normal in ERG mode.
I have then also connected my Wattbike to an iphone using a viiiiva heart-rate monitor/ANT+ dongle (cost c£50). The viiiiva picks up the ANT+ signal from the Wattbike and converts it to a separate Bluetooth signal. I then select the viiiiva as the power meter source in Rouvy, which I run on the Iphone.
To make the experience a bit better, I use mirror screening on my Iphone to get the Rouvy ride to show on a flat screen TV hanging in front of the wattbike, with the TR app running on the ipad attached to the bars of the wattbike. The whole experience makes the TR workouts much more tolerable!
Granted that the viiiiva was a bit fiddly to set up at first (you need to use their app on the iphone to pair the viiiiva with the wattbike, and it is very buggy), but now its up and running both apps can be run in parallel and the Rouvy experience is perfect.
Previously used the same set-up with Zwift, and that also worked great but I binned Zwift when they put their prices up 40%!
I have been running TrainerRoad toegether with Rouvy for more than a year with no problems. My configuration is as follows:
Desktop PC with Windows 10 running both Apps
To enable me to simultaneously use the Smart Trainer with Ant+ in both TR and Rouvy I have inserted two garmin USB Ant+ Sticks - Garmin part Number: 010-01058-00.
Important is that in Rouvy “Controllable” under Sensors is not connected with any device. In my setup only “Smart Trainer”, “Heart Rate” and “Cadence” are connected.
Performance problems are rarely associated with the processor itself but the memory. I am running 32 Gb so for me there is no problem. Running both apps together requires at startup around 1,5 Gb of memory which will likely increase during activity. A machine with only 4Gb will probably struggle, so 8Gb should be sufficient, which is a cheap upgrade.
Btw. If you continue riding in Rouvy after TR has finished you can call up the sensors while riding and connect your Smart Trainer to “Controllable”. Just don’t forget to disconnect it when finished.
