Team BKool CycleChat

[bobinski]

Paul, we used the hack for training rides/races in advance of the Worlds. It worked well given fewer riders on the course.
Andy’s suggestion would work. And we would all get official lap and times at the end too live I did on my one lap of the cvr race last night so we wouldn’t be dependent on zwiftpower- just a screen shot.
I was thinking yesterday about a handicap race on the London 8 course and how it might work. Many of us have done a loop and even though some while racing we could still use those times to set a handicap. Zsun racing are toying with this for training but given they are a registered group with admin privileges could probably do it closed course.

 

[CXRAndy]

Interesting, I can see how that could potentially work. Some of the slower riders may possibly get swept up by the cat c's perhaps? And it might muck up your stats on Zwift Power a bit if that was an issue for you I suppose? A good idea though - we should suggest giving it a try in the splitters thread!

Quick test. I joined the KissEU TT
I stopped pedalling before the countdown clock got to zero. The race started, I was left there on the start. I waited nearly 5 mins, then started, the road was completely deserted. I quit the race and and all users then appeared. So it looks like there is no time out at the start of races. A proper test with several of us is needed, but on the face of it, normal Cyclechat and handicap races could be run. One point is if we start 1 minute after start then you need to have the clock up in the corner. This is easy just left click the time and minutes and seconds are displayed so accurate starting is ensured

 

[Add]

I forgot how much I love both this forum and the Bkool sim. The handicap is completely bloody pointless as far as fitness and sensible training goes.....but it ticks every other macho BS, testosterone fuelled nonsense box..... I love it! Added two more asthma inhalers to my sons repeat prescription....if it’s good enough for Froome....look out Whorty...I’ve got you in my sights. As for you Tommy....obviously doping!

 

[CXRAndy]

Do I need premium to add certain ghosts? I tried schedule Stouby ride and chose select ghosts but none of the quicker riders were available. If I moved the select time for faster ghosts it immediately went back to slower riders. Is it a bug or premium feature?

I've uninstalled Bsim in the hope I get 30 day premium trial offer (tight bugger)

 

[Bored Man]

A quick Rouvy update. I hoped to write a more detailed appraisal of the platform and its simulator but haven't had time today for work reasons. Work don't you just hate how it gets in the way of cycling! I have done one race, against ghosts (no bots) though I didn't complete it, too tired after yesterday and saving energy for tomorrow! Perhaps I shouldn't have chosen a 13 km 8% climb! The video streamed exceptionally well, but the was NO DRAFTING and NO ON SCREEN REPRESENTATION of other riders. The on screen metrics were good though, better than bkool in my opinion , for example it gave details of the other riders speed and watts. the display and overall experience in general was really good, the data seemed pretty accurate and the gradient changes much smoother than bkool. Other things to mention so far. It seems like a complete platform, though only offering video or map options. The races are easy to set up and can be password protected. There is no league facility. The response s from the help desk have been quick, within two hours, personal, helpful and courteous. The app looks good but the Sim is NOT available for Mac Os yet. I would recommend people try it out and if anybody wants to join the race/group bumble, its set for 19:30 tomorrow (but you can join earlier and it then starts automatically at start time, ill be there from 19:20) it will be an easy warm up for tomorrow's main event! I'm there as keithaitch and then, once installed, in the online races option look for chaingang rouvy test#1 and register. The password is chase.
If there is other functionality people who aren't going to test it out want checking out let me know and I'll look into it. I'll write a more comprehensive review, highlighting pros and cons vis a vis other platforms after tomorrows race and a bit more playing around with it on my own, if that doesn't make me go blind!

I did an 18 mile cycle on Rouvy tonight. It connected easily to all my sensors and presented the data very well on the screen. The gradients were very smooth on the trainer and I very much like the profile at the bottom of the screen. Yellow for flattish running into various shades of green and red to present gradients. The splits were good as you could see where you ranked as you were cycling them - put your foot down and you moved up the rankings, step off and lose positions. Your final split position presented at the end of the split. No need to save at the end of the ride as it completed for you once you had finished and was followed up by your choice of warm down.

For someone’s like me who is happy to do solitary long rides of 50 plus miles of varying terrain, it is absolutely perfect.

For those of us who have poor internet speeds - the video playback is truly awful. If you’re happy following a dot on a map - Rouvy is the platform for you.

I’ve always had problems running Bkool videos due to the internet being as slow as me and so, I am going to research how I can get the 6mbps I get on my router, the same in my man cave. I currently have an extender but it’s only pushing out 2mbps. With a successful increase in tinternet speed, I’ll try another Rouvy route again.

Apart from the scratchy video - I liked it.

Seamlessly linked to Strava.

Will it be as good as a working Bkool 3D race or handicap- not anywhere near.

 

[Randyberlin]

I did an 18 mile cycle on Rouvy tonight. It connected easily to all my sensors and presented the data very well on the screen. The gradients were very smooth on the trainer and I very much like the profile at the bottom of the screen. Yellow for flattish running into various shades of green and red to present gradients. The splits were good as you could see where you ranked as you were cycling them - put your foot down and you moved up the rankings, step off and lose positions. Your final split position presented at the end of the split. No need to save at the end of the ride as it completed for you once you had finished and was followed up by your choice of warm down.

For someone’s like me who is happy to do solitary long rides of 50 plus miles of varying terrain, it is absolutely perfect.

For those of us who have poor internet speeds - the video playback is truly awful. If you’re happy following a dot on a map - Rouvy is the platform for you.

I’ve always had problems running Bkool videos due to the internet being as slow as me and so, I am going to research how I can get the 6mbps I get on my router, the same in my man cave. I currently have an extender but it’s only pushing out 2mbps. With a successful increase in tinternet speed, I’ll try another Rouvy route again.

Apart from the scratchy video - I liked it.

Seamlessly linked to Strava.

Will it be as good as a working Bkool 3D race or handicap- not anywhere near.

Good report. It help me procrastinate another 5 minutes before I have to go back under the building crawl space.

 

[theboxers]

For those of us who have poor internet speeds - the video playback is truly awful. If you’re happy following a dot on a map - Rouvy is the platform for you.

I’ve always had problems running Bkool videos due to the internet being as slow as me and so, I am going to research how I can get the 6mbps I get on my router, the same in my man cave. I currently have an extender but it’s only pushing out 2mbps. With a successful increase in tinternet speed, I’ll try another Rouvy route again.

Apart from the scratchy video - I liked it.
.

How far away from your router is the man cave. A Powerline link sorted all my issues, although I'm on a 100mb cable modem setup, it uses the mains as the ethernet network.

 

[Aleman]

Hmmmm, do I work hard to catch and work with @Rod McG , or do I wait for @Aleman and work with him? (that would be the Aleman who didn't wait for me yesterday and left me to sweat on my own )

Errmm, @Whorty I was waiting for you , and as for sweating on your own .... I think I was on my own for most of the race. For some reason neither @Rod McG or @Del C seemed to be happy with me drafting them to recover once I had made the catch but wanted me to take the front and do some work ... So I did

Anyway, having seen my new handicap I can now confirm that I will be washing my hair on a Tuesday night so will find it difficult to fit the Handicap Chase in

 

[Rod McG]

Errmm, @Whorty I was waiting for you , and as for sweating on your own .... I think I was on my own for most of the race. For some reason neither @Rod McG or @Del C seemed to be happy with me drafting them to recover once I had made the catch but wanted me to take the front and do some work ... So I did

Anyway, having seen my new handicap I can now confirm that I will be washing my hair on a Tuesday night so will find it difficult to fit the Handicap Chase in

In my defence my internet speed is so slow I find drafting very difficult. If I slow down I drop a long way back and if I speed up I shoot past. So it wasn't intentional. Regardless I wouldn't have been able to keep up, even with a rest, so you (and @Whorty) were better on your own.

 

[Bored Man]

How far away from your router is the man cave. A Powerline link sorted all my issues, although I'm on a 100mb cable modem setup, it uses the mains as the ethernet network.

I’ve just been looking at them. Thanks TB. Cheap enough off eBay..

 

[<Tommy>]

Do I need premium to add certain ghosts? I tried schedule Stouby ride and chose select ghosts but none of the quicker riders were available. If I moved the select time for faster ghosts it immediately went back to slower riders. Is it a bug or premium feature?

I've uninstalled Bsim in the hope I get 30 day premium trial offer (tight bugger)

Andy did you sort it mate? What with my limited skills I find the best way to set up a ride is to challenge someone you think you’ll be close to. I think that at least guarantees you their ghost.

 

[bridgy]

Do I need premium to add certain ghosts? I tried schedule Stouby ride and chose select ghosts but none of the quicker riders were available. If I moved the select time for faster ghosts it immediately went back to slower riders. Is it a bug or premium feature?

I've uninstalled Bsim in the hope I get 30 day premium trial offer (tight bugger)

Selecting ghosts is another one of their features that bkool seem to have broken. I find it a bit hit and miss - usually miss - at the moment. You can try adjusting the rider fitness level to the higher levels only - that sometimes gives you some different riders to choose from

 

[Add]

Guess what? Even though I live just to the left of Wales' colon, we now have 52Mb speed interwebby thingy. It's great. I even took the liberty of upping my Bkool video quality to 'superb' or whatever the best quality is...and it worked brilliantly. Not sure if I'm just getting lucky (another first for me) or if the Welsh version of Bkool is just better.

 

[Add]

I also want you to try and guess when I finally get round to checking the pressure in my back tyre, and find it's only about 80psi.

 

[Aleman]

I also want you to try and guess when I finally get round to checking the pressure in my back tyre, and find it's only about 80psi.

I knew there was something else I needed to check on the bike yesterday