Team BKool CycleChat

[shimceltic]

The correct term would be “they stopped making hardware to not concentrate on that either”.

I’m still waiting for them to allow users to change the e-mail address, a feature request since like forever. My current e-mail address used for BKOOL will cease to exist come April, and if they don’t allow me to change it by then, it might very well be goodbye to the BKOOL platform.
I don’t want to create a new account, loose all history etc. and double the subscription cost just because of incompetent programmers!

Even if they (stupidly) use the e-mail address as “key” in the database tables, it should be relatively easy to make this change using SQL. But as with anything BKOOL, even the simplest things seems impossible to get fixed...

I wanted to change my email also. Seems such an easy thing to do!

 

[Brusgaard]

I wanted to change my email also. Seems such an easy thing to do!

Yes it took less than 2 minutes on Zwift...

 

[Randyberlin]

It seems like in Zwift there are outside organizations that use the Zwift information as a basis for better ranking, leagues etc. I truly believe Bkool is great at what it does, just sloppy about some stuff.
Maybe the sharp minds here can put together a "side" program Ala Zwift power.
I'd be willing to provide any encouragement and a few bucks if needed. I'm not much of a programmer, having struggled with Xcode to make an app was my limit.

 

[AndyMacca]

It seems like in Zwift there are outside organizations that use the Zwift information as a basis for better ranking, leagues etc. I truly believe Bkool is great at what it does, just sloppy about some stuff.
Maybe the sharp minds here can put together a "side" program Ala Zwift power.
I'd be willing to provide any encouragement and a few bucks if needed. I'm not much of a programmer, having struggled with Xcode to make an app was my limit.

I think if Bkool had a rich API (or even a poor one) we'd be all over it with our own separate site to manage the leagues, in fact they could use being 'just a simulator' as a USP and let other people layer on the social, league and any other apps around it. They'd basically be making their weakest offering UX (user experience) open source and that's definitely their weakest link. Let the partner apps worry about monetisation, advertising and integration into social media then Bkool can focus even more on their their core product - routes, avatar graphics, 3d worlds, physics engines etc. Alas I think the goodwill for Bkool wont be enough anymore, there's too much momentum around the other big players and their gravity will get ever greater.
I've never looked at RGT but it sounds interesting and I might download it tonight, any of the regulars here tried it yet?

 

[shimceltic]

Bkool are doing the race of stars again on boxing day with sprinters and climbers. Top names in both disciplines so you'd hope they want people to watch who don't use bkool and think about getting it. On that basis a better user experience for league admins would be a good idea to retain users.

 

[inesfra]

I think if Bkool had a rich API (or even a poor one) we'd be all over it with our own separate site to manage the leagues, in fact they could use being 'just a simulator' as a USP and let other people layer on the social, league and any other apps around it. They'd basically be making their weakest offering UX (user experience) open source and that's definitely their weakest link. Let the partner apps worry about monetisation, advertising and integration into social media then Bkool can focus even more on their their core product - routes, avatar graphics, 3d worlds, physics engines etc. Alas I think the goodwill for Bkool wont be enough anymore, there's too much momentum around the other big players and their gravity will get ever greater.
I've never looked at RGT but it sounds interesting and I might download it tonight, any of the regulars here tried it yet?

I have been using it for a couple of months. And in the past month it has had some exciting improvements. Plus, it's free! If you want the paid Premium version, you only get the advantage of creating events yourself. But I don't care, because I participate for free in the events created by others.

http://rgtdb.com/

This is the equivalent of Zwift.event

 

[Aleman]

The problem facing BKool is that Zwift saw its subscription membership triple during lockdown. Zwift isn't perfect, but it plays nicely on my 4K system, where the screens on BKool don't scale properly, and I lose access to buttons ... Like Done ...

Don't get me wrong, I like BKool and think it has some great features ... Drafting is done especially well ... Loading your own routes and videos ... Great ... For me though it's the lack of development, and support that turns me towards Zwift and BRVR

 

[inesfra]

In questa chat ci sono almeno 6 utenti che sarebbero molto competitivi nel Campionato che Rgt sta organizzando per l'inizio del prossimo anno. La squadra è composta da un minimo di 3 e un massimo di 6 elementi. Qui si pedala forte!
Sempre tutto gratis e per te sarebbe la migliore occasione per provare.
Tour du monde.
Iscrizioni entro il 24 dicembre.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/238665587609873/?ref=share

 

[peter1002]

Hello
Yesterday I received an email from bkool with some instructions to my problem
Since than I even can't connect the Pro 2 with my PC neither with my smart phone per bluetooth. both can not be found by the Bkool smart Pro 2 any longer 😢😢😢
This was something what was working till yesterday
I'm really more than disappointed 😞

 

[AndyMacca]

In this chat there are at least 6 users who would be very competitive in the Championship that Rgt is organizing for the beginning of next year. The team is made up of a minimum of 3 and a maximum of 6 elements. Here you pedal hard! Always all for free and it would be the best opportunity for you to try. Tour du monde. Registration by December 24th.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/238665587609873/?ref=share

I did 'Cap Formentor' on RGT tonight, I enjoyed it but maybe just the novelty value. When you descend it wont let you fly around hairpins, say at-8%, it wipes your speed out from 70kmh down to 40kmh so you have to power out of the corner to hope to get the speed back up again so there is a slight addition of skill here and a penalty for blindly pushing out big watts during a braking phase - they just get wasted. Reading the road ahead and judging how much speed will be needed/lost will add something I'm sure, perhaps favouring those who do more real life rides. Bkool feels more responsive TBH, there was a guy reported as 56m ahead then 90m and then 50m all in three seconds, it seems there's a lot of latency in the system. Graphics were a bit passe on my old machine (Win10 i7 3770 no GPU) but those with graphics cards or recent Macs will get the intended views.
I'm up for joining a team for the January RGT league (in addition to anything we do on Bkool of course) if others fancy it. Maybe we could have 'Team Bkool'

 

[keithaitch]

I'd be

I did 'Cap Formentor' on RGT tonight, I enjoyed it but maybe just the novelty value. When you descend it wont let you fly around hairpins, say at-8%, it wipes your speed out from 70kmh down to 40kmh so you have to power out of the corner to hope to get the speed back up again so there is a slight addition of skill here and a penalty for blindly pushing out big watts during a braking phase - they just get wasted. Reading the road ahead and judging how much speed will be needed/lost will add something I'm sure, perhaps favouring those who do more real life rides. Bkool feels more responsive TBH, there was a guy reported as 56m ahead then 90m and then 50m all in three seconds, it seems there's a lot of latency in the system. Graphics were a bit passe on my old machine (Win10 i7 3770 no GPU) but those with graphics cards or recent Macs will get the intended views.
I'm up for joining a team for the January RGT league (in addition to anything we do on Bkool of course) if others fancy it. Maybe we could have 'Team Bkool'

I'd be up for it ....2 down and counting.

 

[inesfra]

Guys, if you put together the best 6 of you, I cheer for you and give you favorites as well .... I participate with the OTR BLUE team. But the times are not favorable to me .... I had made this known, but God bless them, they wanted to sign me up anyway. Come on Cyclechat Team!

 

[Randyberlin]

@berty bassett

Your real world ride today was impressive. Over 18mph and 200 watts. Seems like you're as fast on one of your winter bikes.

 

[berty bassett]

Regarding the email situation , I had to delete account and start again what seems madness in this day and age
I use RGT , once set up I think it works well - you have to have phone and app on the same WiFi , drafting is over done I think but if you can break away from a group they have to work bloody hard to get back unlike Zwift where the group always travels faster
Descents are a lot more realistic as no one in there right mind goes into a hairpin at 60mph and expects to live ! There is a graph that shows red when the brakes are applied - I like it and would be up for riding on there 👍

 

[AndyMacca]

I use RGT , once set up I think it works well - you have to have phone and app on the same WiFi , drafting is over done I think but if you can break away from a group they have to work bloody hard to get back unlike Zwift where the group always travels faster
Descents are a lot more realistic as no one in there right mind goes into a hairpin at 60mph and expects to live ! There is a graph that shows red when the brakes are applied - I like it and would be up for riding on there 👍

I had a lot of red on my graph😜, I will have to try and do much better in any races.
Ok we're up to 3 which is the minimum team size so we can do it as a team, I think it'll be great. Note the 3rd rider crossing the line is the one that counts for Team GC position so it would be better to have more members to deal with the different terrain, ideally 6. We will need to get the team registered by the end of tomorrow so there's still time to get set-up if you fancy something a bit different for January. Read more in the Facebook group 'recent files' section. https://www.facebook.com/groups/238665587609873 i tried uploading here but it's too large.