BigRingVR - The new leader of the pack?

[LiamW]

I get my Neo tomorrow so i'll be on at some stage over the weekend to try it out. I've been reading through this thread for a while now and I can't wait to get started.

 

[Breedon]

The Neo is amazing you'll love it

 

[Mugshot]

Colle della Fauniera tonight. Really good, absolutely loved the video on this one, the whole single track, hanging off the edge of a cliff with a piece of string between you and certain death was fabulous, hats off to the driver, I wouldn't have fancied it. By some margin the most enjoyable one when it comes to the video that I've done so far. Pretty tough to the 9.5 mile mark (it's just over 16 miles) and thigh burningly tough from there 'til the end. However, for me the gradients weren't very well matched with the video at times, around the 3 mile, 9 mile and 11.5 mile it seemed quite off, I'm clearly going downhill on the video for example but the software has me on a climb or flat, other times I may have been on what appears to be a slight incline on the video but the software has me grinding up a 10% climb, I don't know if it was my end or not, but it was definitely out at times.
I have to say though it didn't spoil the ride for me, this is my #1 so far, the video is that damn good as far as I'm concerned.

 

[martin22]

I know what you mean about colle della fauniera, it's stunning and the narrowness of the road adds to it. I found it pretty tough though but scenery kept me going!

I've started choosing more of these less popular narrow road climbs as they seem to involve you in the scenery more. (If that makes sense!)

Good to have these available in Bigring instead of just the usual major passes.

I've also noticed what you say about gradient vs video. Sometimes I see the road going up after the next hairpin and think uh oh this looks bad but then it ends up being ok, and other times when the road looks ok and its actually 12% or something. Don't know if it's due to the wide lens on the video camera or not?

 

[LiamW]

Tried Alp D'Heuz tonight

Had a bit of an issue with the Neo not being picked up by the site but it turned out i had 2 running, when i closed one all the settings were picked up.

Anyway, back to D'Heuz. Christ almighty i thought i'd be slow but never this slow. I was only going to try and do 5k but got to 3 before i gave up. In fairness i wasn't in my cycling gear, but it's a belter. I think i'll look at a few shorter climbs to break myself in gently.

Hats off to you guys, i can see myself on this for the forseeable future.

One other thing, would it be cheating to reduce the difficulty on the trainer settings? I think i could get up most but at a snails pace or slower.

 

[Mugshot]

One other thing, would it be cheating to reduce the difficulty on the trainer settings? I think i could get up most but at a snails pace or slower.

Of course not, that's what it's there for, think of it as extra gears. The problem is if you simply cannot complete a ride because it's too difficult you may well just give up completely, build up everything gradually by using the tools available

 

[ibooij]

Changing trainer difficulty setting is indeed not cheating. Not really anyway. Your speed is still calculated from the gradient of the road, your weight etc. As @Mugshot said, it's just giving you extra gears.

About the gradients not matching the video: Please report it whenever you think it's not right. We're doing our best to make them match up completely. GPS and barometer data are not always completely right (GPS signal reflections, changing temperatures etc). It takes a lot of work to get them exactly right, but the experience is worth the work.

 

[ibooij]

I've taken a look at Fauniera, at miles 3, 9 and 11.5 and I'm not sure that your observations are completely correct. The problem is however that there are not enough visible cues to be able to determine what the real incline is. When coming up a 9% incline and seeing a bump (at mile 3 just after the village) it looks like the road is going down, but when looking at the trees etc next to the road, I don't see proof that it really is.

I could be wrong of course and I'm sure we've made mistakes or have failed to correct in several places in videos, I just don't think that's the case here. Please correct me if you think I'm wrong!

 

[Mugshot]

I've taken a look at Fauniera, at miles 3, 9 and 11.5 and I'm not sure that your observations are completely correct. The problem is however that there are not enough visible cues to be able to determine what the real incline is. When coming up a 9% incline and seeing a bump (at mile 3 just after the village) it looks like the road is going down, but when looking at the trees etc next to the road, I don't see proof that it really is.

I could be wrong of course and I'm sure we've made mistakes or have failed to correct in several places in videos, I just don't think that's the case here. Please correct me if you think I'm wrong!

Thanks for the reply @ibooij I'll give it another go this week and report back, as I said it may have been my end as I had had a buffereing issue. But I'll keep a pad and pen next to me and jot things down exactly as and when they occur.

 

[Mugshot]

About the gradients not matching the video: Please report it whenever you think it's not right. We're doing our best to make them match up completely. GPS and barometer data are not always completely right (GPS signal reflections, changing temperatures etc). It takes a lot of work to get them exactly right, but the experience is worth the work.

Is it better for you guys to report things through the app or using something like this thread for feedback?

 

[ibooij]

It's easiest for us if you do it through the app. Thank in advance for your time & effort!

 

[theboxers]

Tried Alp D'Heuz tonight .

I so know that feeling

Tne other thing, would it be cheating to reduce the difficulty on the trainer settings? I think i could get up most but at a snails pace or slower.

Think of the adjustments as a golf handicap. Yes you can use it and it is not cheating. But the satisfaction of completing a ride or planned section of a ride 'as is' is great . I am on part 3 of Pikes Peak tonight. 2hrs 10 for the first 17km so far

 

[CXRAndy]

Tried Alp D'Heuz tonight

Had a bit of an issue with the Neo not being picked up by the site but it turned out i had 2 running, when i closed one all the settings were picked up.

Anyway, back to D'Heuz. Christ almighty i thought i'd be slow but never this slow. I was only going to try and do 5k but got to 3 before i gave up. In fairness i wasn't in my cycling gear, but it's a belter. I think i'll look at a few shorter climbs to break myself in gently.

Hats off to you guys, i can see myself on this for the forseeable future.

One other thing, would it be cheating to reduce the difficulty on the trainer settings? I think i could get up most but at a snails pace or slower.

The same facility is on Zwift. All it does is give extra gearing. So in my case I like to spin up hills at 95+rpm so leave setting on half way. If you like to grind it up hills then have setting on max to give a high resistance. You still need to make the power whether spinning or slowly pedalling. If you physically cant turn the pedals on the steepest sections, adjust the resistance.

 

[LiamW]

I might give it another blast tonight in my cycling gear. I wasn't really prepared for it last night at all, and as much as I want to complete it 'as is', after last night I think I'd need a few slightly easier climbs in my legs 1st.

The Neo is a great piece of kit but I'm wondering if it's exaggerating the resistance on the climbs....

I'll have a look round some other Spanish routes to ease myself in gently.

 

[LiamW]

The same facility is on Zwift. All it does is give extra gearing. So in my case I like to spin up hills at 95+rpm so leave setting on half way. If you like to grind it up hills then have setting on max to give a high resistance. You still need to make the power whether spinning or slowly pedalling. If you physically cant turn the pedals on the steepest sections, adjust the resistance.

That's what I'll do, I can turn the pedals sitting around 55rpm but I'd much rather spin up a climb rather than grind it out. I'll adjust the settings tonight and then see how I am.