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<Tommy>

Illegitimi non carborundum
Location
Camden, London
AAAC, there isn't much in the way of choice. There are 3 locations, Richmond, the fictional island of Watopia as well as London/Surrey. But Richmond aside they are not real. Within them they have different routes and Watopia now has a series of mountain climbs. In reality nothing like Bkool in terms of variety.
Regarding transitions MY experience is pretty positive. Much more so than Bkool. Certain turbos had issues with accurate but these now seem to be resolved either by Zwift and or the turbo manufacturers. There is very little complaint now from those using smart trainers though that is not to say it's all rosy. Monte has issues with accurate power. I find it pretty much ok but I don't have a power meter readout to compare with. Aside from that I like the routes, the fact they are busy adds to the feel of riding with others and I also like the gamey way you can give and receive kudos during a ride. And it sure looks pretty...

What I really like is the structured training and I will be looking to use that over the Autumn.

The structured training sounds interesting.

Is there anyway of setting up organised / private races bob?
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
The structured training sounds interesting.

Is there anyway of setting up organised / private races bob?

I don't know TT. You can set up group rides and races but I don't know if you can restrict access. I will look into it. I can see the figure of 8 on Watopia being perfect, nice spread of flat, up hill and descent.
 

<Tommy>

Illegitimi non carborundum
Location
Camden, London
That sounds promising as an alternative to BKOOL should we all lose patience. I don't suppose privacy matters, but it's definitely handy you can organise group rides. The only thing BKOOL has in its favour is its seemingly limitless number of courses. Oh and the superhero costumes of course!
 

BILL S

Guru
Location
London
After my two frustrating rides last night I'm thinking I might give bkool a short break soon and give Zwift a go. I wouldn't mind keeping them both going at the same time in normal circumstances, but it wouldn't make sense to be paying bkool when they won't fix their firmware/software and are completely ignoring anyone who tells them there is a problem. I wouldn't mind if they emailed me back and acknowledged there was a problem asked that we bear with them while they worked on getting it fixed. But no, they just want to make out there isn't a problem and send your file to them so they can not bother getting back to you.
I'm not going to cancel bkool yet, but will try some further communication with them and get my holidays over with before getting set up with zwift.
It's pretty interesting that bkool haven't visited this forum lately, almost as if to avoid getting a roasting. :angry:
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
After my two frustrating rides last night I'm thinking I might give bkool a short break soon and give Zwift a go. I wouldn't mind keeping them both going at the same time in normal circumstances, but it wouldn't make sense to be paying bkool when they won't fix their firmware/software and are completely ignoring anyone who tells them there is a problem. I wouldn't mind if they emailed me back and acknowledged there was a problem asked that we bear with them while they worked on getting it fixed. But no, they just want to make out there isn't a problem and send your file to them so they can not bother getting back to you.
I'm not going to cancel bkool yet, but will try some further communication with them and get my holidays over with before getting set up with zwift.
It's pretty interesting that bkool haven't visited this forum lately, almost as if to avoid getting a roasting. :angry:
@BILL S what problems were you having with your rides last night? Was it the speed crashes again?
 

BILL S

Guru
Location
London
@BILL S what problems were you having with your rides last night? Was it the speed crashes again?

Yes, speed crashes again! One of the rides was one I'd done before so I knew the problem would arise. I challenged a ghost who didn't have the problem so I could see the time I lost quite easily. I got quite frustrated as I was trying to make up time but could see the futility of it. I did 9/10ths of the ride, came to another sudden stop, and just didn't bother finishing it.

I've just sent an email to bkool and asked them if they'd like to come here and let us know what's going to be done about it.
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
Yes, speed crashes again! One of the rides was one I'd done before so I knew the problem would arise. I challenged a ghost who didn't have the problem so I could see the time I lost quite easily. I got quite frustrated as I was trying to make up time but could see the futility of it. I did 9/10ths of the ride, came to another sudden stop, and just didn't bother finishing it.

I've just sent an email to bkool and asked them if they'd like to come here and let us know what's going to be done about it.
Good idea - I'm tempted to do the same.

If we started racing on Zwift instead of Bkool, I think I'd join Zwift and ditch Bkool. I really can't see why I'd use Bkool just for solo rides if the racing was on Zwift. The main benefit of Bkool seems to be the variety of routes, which is good for league racing but isn't really a big deal to me for solo rides where I'm happy with just having a distraction from boring turbo rides staring at a wall, rather than an endless choice of routes. (For the same reason I can't be bothered to pay for Zwift currently while I can use Bkool for these rides too).

The irony of course is that with the current problems we can't make any use of Bkool's thousands of different route options as they have to all be flat :cursing:. So Bkool's one real benefit over Zwift is currently non-existent.....

I notice Zwift have a 14 day free trial - maybe all of us who don't currently have a Zwift membership should sign up for this and trial a race or two there and see what we think...?
 

BILL S

Guru
Location
London
@BILL S I'm probably going to be unable to start the Handicap tonight (daughter's 18th birthday), any chance you could start it?

Thanks,

Geoff
No worries Geoff. I'll start it at 8pm.

Are there any weight updates or jus tuse the same as last week?
 

bridgy

Legendary Member
Location
Cheddar
Nice quick response from bkool this time:

Hi Bill
Thanks for your message.
We are aware of this bug. Our developers have already fixed it and a new firmware version will soon be released for this purpose.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
See you at Bkool,
Aha....thanks Bill, fingers crossed......
 

gbrown

Geoff on Bkool
Location
South Somerset
No worries Geoff. I'll start it at 8pm.

Are there any weight updates or jus tuse the same as last week?

Tonight's Handicap Chase is a special Handicap Climb with adjusted rider weights to equalize Watts/Kg

Session is password protected, password is chase (type h twice if help screen appears)

Course is Chapel Fell

I will start the warm-up close to 8:00pm BST (UTC+1) to ensure the race starts around 8:10pm BST (UTC+1).

Everyone taking part should adjust their weight to the allocated value before entering the warm up, preferably with at least 5 minutes to go.

Weights are generally reduced, in some cases considerably, to achieve the target Watts/Kg, so speeds should be higher than usual. The main part of the session should not take more than around 20 minutes, and in any case less than 30 minutes, to avoid changing Fitness Levels. Anyone taking longer than 30 minutes would be advised to discard their session without saving.

The Start (for everyone) should be between 8:05 and 8:10, when the warm-up ends.

Once underway, there is a short neutralized zone (0.15 miles or 0.24 km) to avoid taking advantage of the lowered resistance at start, where no-one is allowed to overtake @JLaw (or if he is not present, you must gradually increase speed to a maximum of 20 mph (32 kph) until you pass the 0.15 (0.24 km) point.

If anyone else wants to take part, please can you let us know here and we can work out a weight Handicap from your FTP power value or similar.

upload_2016-8-9_13-56-18-png.138634
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
Nice quick response from bkool this time:

Hi Bill
Thanks for your message.
We are aware of this bug. Our developers have already fixed it and a new firmware version will soon be released for this purpose.
Sorry for the inconvenience.
See you at Bkool,

The power of Bill!

fingers and toes...
 

bobinski

Legendary Member
Location
Tulse Hill
Thanks!

Note that I screwed up the Start point on all these rides so please ignore the banner and just go for it after around 0.1 km (0.0625 miles).

Geoff

Geoff,
should that not be a 5 next to the 1 against my name, not a 7!

i have been nursing a twinged back-frigging old age-so not on the bike much and will likely Zwift tonight. Especially at 71 kilo's^_^
 
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