Zwift Chat

[<Tommy>]

I thought about going on Zwift last night even though feeling a bit rough
Gave up after 13 mile
Felt so sick and the sweat was just oozing
This morning I have officially got the worse cold ever in human history and just came down to check here before going back to bed
Tommy - I hear a lot of people race Zwift in erg mode - would that be a work around ? Not pretending to understand anything techy but I do know I did that workout the other day and there was minimum gear changing - if not erg some reduce settings right down
Good write up though

Berty get well soon mate! To be fair it can’t be the worst cold ever, I had that a couple of weeks ago. Didn’t want to pester the nhs at the time but I was disappointed the family didn’t all gather around my bedside...

I’ll keep trying zwift. For what it’s worth dcrainmaker is quite critical of the way zwift incorporates erg. I have tried reducing resistance, didn’t work out great, but I need to put more miles in before I completely condem it!

 

[<Tommy>]

Tommy, don’t forget that in Zwift as you get used to the courses you get to know and anticipate the need for gear changes. Also, you can reduce the number of gear changes you need to make by reducing trainer difficulty. Watts are watts so you will not be advantaged or disadvantaged by doing so. I dropped Resistance to 50% for a tempo ride, 2 laps of Watopia 8, last night and was on the big ring the whole way, even on KOM’s and probably changed gears 20 times over 1 and a half hours and only then to ensure I was spinning not grinding. Remember most racers run at 50% or less.

That did occur to me Bob. Learning the courses will help. The problem is that it’s just too technical. Learning the course while spinning violently is unpleasant. And even then the delay in shift and not knowing which gear you’re in makes it a guessing game. You’d probably have to experience first hand to fully understand what a mystery ride it is. Being on the big ring isn’t enough. Changing through 4 gears with added gradient changes is enough to either grind horribly or spin out at any given time.

 

[bridgy]

That did occur to me Bob. Learning the courses will help. The problem is that it’s just too technical. Learning the course while spinning violently is unpleasant. And even then the delay in shift and not knowing which gear you’re in makes it a guessing game. You’d probably have to experience first hand to fully understand what a mystery ride it is. Being on the big ring isn’t enough. Changing through 4 gears with added gradient changes is enough to either grind horribly or spin out at any given time.

What makes you laugh about this sort of thing is that presumably someone at Wattbike tested the bike on Zwift and decided it was perfectly fine! Compatibility with Zwift is literally one of the first things they brag about on their marketing for the Atom!

 

[<Tommy>]

What makes you laugh about this sort of thing is that presumably someone at Wattbike tested the bike on Zwift and decided it was perfectly fine! Compatibility with Zwift is literally one of the first things they brag about on their marketing for the Atom!

Totally agree mate. But I’m assuming they released the atom knowing it wasn’t 100% ready. I can accept that new products like this are going have wrinkles if you like. I’m really confident at some point soon there will be a gear ratio icon on the zwift screen. There are other gearing issues that dcrainmaker mentions, that I didn’t, which will hopefully be resolved soon. I’m not entirely sure though that the speed of gear change will change greatly.

I don’t want to overemphasis the negatives either because there are lots of positives too. Enough on balance to make me stick with it.

 

[bobinski]

That did occur to me Bob. Learning the courses will help. The problem is that it’s just too technical. Learning the course while spinning violently is unpleasant. And even then the delay in shift and not knowing which gear you’re in makes it a guessing game. You’d probably have to experience first hand to fully understand what a mystery ride it is. Being on the big ring isn’t enough. Changing through 4 gears with added gradient changes is enough to either grind horribly or spin out at any given time.

You are right. I probably would have to experience it. I am struggling to understand, if the problem is delay in changing gears and knowing what gear you are in, how reducing to a minimum the need to change gears doesn’t make a lot of the problem go away. Spinning violently suggests 34/28 on the flat. Have you tried reducing it to say 10% or even zero? I know you are sensible so I won’t put it down to user error but your description of spinning out etc does make me wonder if the Atom/Zwift isn’t reading/sending the resistance changes properly.
Like Paul says it seems bonkers this wasn’t resolved before they were sent out and extraordinary that Zwift have only recently received a test model.
Fingers crossed you soon get to a point you can ride in Zwift.

 

[berty bassett]

here on my deathbed i have just had email from rgt saying they are introducing a flat drafting course !

wonder if i will ever get to use it

i'm ill you know

 

[bobinski]

here on my deathbed i have just had email from rgt saying they are introducing a flat drafting course !

wonder if i will ever get to use it

i'm ill you know

Canary Wharf! I may try it tonight. Lee, if you survive until the evening let me know and I will send you a few screenshots

 

[<Tommy>]

You are right. I probably would have to experience it. I am struggling to understand, if the problem is delay in changing gears and knowing what gear you are in, how reducing to a minimum the need to change gears doesn’t make a lot of the problem go away. Spinning violently suggests 34/28 on the flat. Have you tried reducing it to say 10% or even zero? I know you are sensible so I won’t put it down to user error but your description of spinning out etc does make me wonder if the Atom/Zwift isn’t reading/sending the resistance changes properly.
Like Paul says it seems bonkers this wasn’t resolved before they were sent out and extraordinary that Zwift have only recently received a test model.
Fingers crossed you soon get to a point you can ride in Zwift.

Well, it could well be partly user error to be honest Bob. As I said earlier I’m still getting to grips with both systems so my opinion is only based on first impressions. I’m not sure I tried it in 0%, it I did it wasn’t for an extended length of time. I’ll try tonight. It’s highly likely dcrainmaker explains all this better than I can, so I’d suggest reading his review if you haven’t already.

I’m not suprised by it to be honest. I did mention it in this thread a couple of weeks ago after reading early reports, but maybe you guys didn’t think it was going to be an issue. Putting a product out when it’s not 100% ready? It’s nothing new. At least with modern tech things like firmware updates mean so long as it’s not hardware issues, they can often be resolved. Anyone buying into something as it’s first released would be very naive to think there won’t be teething problems so it doesn’t make me too emotional. What I want is fast resolution. Not just so I can get on board with zwift but also to give me full confidence in Wattbike as a company. Time will tell...

Like I say I don’t care about company loyalty etc so it’s no problem for me to switch to something else if it doesn’t work out.

 

[bobinski]

Tommy, I got the impression he was judging the Atom on Zwift from a racer experience and then a training regime perspective. Erg is a little odd but good enough for my purposes so not an issue for me. In racing, unless you drop the difficulty, gear changes are everything but perhaps so to a lesser extent with reduced difficulty. Hopefully you can find a way to make it all work while they do what they can to improve the experience.

In the meantime perhaps try it on a flat course in zwift to satisfy yourself resistance all fine?

 

[theboxers]

TT have you tried it on Bkool yet? If not, why not? You've had it several days and the natives are getting restless Or did I miss the review post

 

[CXRAndy]

It really should be plug and play with a turbo trainer. I know my Kickr has just been that, plug in, connect to software, away you go. I have never had to adjust settings to make it work. Firmware the same.

Re Zwift
Wattbike should sort it out pretty dammed quick or there might be loads of bad comments appearing on the interweb soon

 

[<Tommy>]

It really should be plug and play with a turbo trainer. I know my Kickr has just been that, plug in, connect to software, away you go. I have never had to adjust settings to make it work. Firmware the same.

Re Zwift
Wattbike should sort it out pretty dammed quick or there might be loads of bad comments appearing on the interweb soon

I agree. The internet being what it is it won’t take long! Regarding zwift, it will be their own designers / programmers who need to install some type of gear gage on the interface. They’re talking about “sometime this winter” so hopefully sooner rather than later!

 

[CXRAndy]

I agree. The internet being what it is it won’t take long! Regarding zwift, it will be their own designers / programmers who need to install some type of gear gage on the interface. They’re talking about “sometime this winter” so hopefully sooner rather than later!

Tommy what does the 'gear shift' feel like, is it like a conventional bike where there is a noticeable increase in resistance from one gear to the next or is it a smooth progression of resistance? Im just trying to gauge what type of mechanism or variable drive train Watt bike has fitted. I would of thought Watt bike would of put some sort of position or gear indicator built in or on the ipad/tablet screen holder. Obviously some tweaking of firmware is needed, just hopeits firmware and not hardware design.

 

[bridgy]

I agree. The internet being what it is it won’t take long! Regarding zwift, it will be their own designers / programmers who need to install some type of gear gage on the interface. They’re talking about “sometime this winter” so hopefully sooner rather than later!

It's hard to know, not having used it as you have, but I would have thought the delay in the gear change would be a far greater problem than knowing exactly what gear you're in? I only have a vague idea of exactly what gear I'm in most of the time - more important is that I can change up or down as soon as I need to.

I notice in DC Rainmaker's first review though he suggests this might be fixed with a software update, so hopefully that's the case.

 

[<Tommy>]

Tommy what does the 'gear shift' feel like, is it like a conventional bike where there is a noticeable increase in resistance from one gear to the next or is it a smooth progression of resistance? Im just trying to gauge what type of mechanism or variable drive train Watt bike has fitted. I would of thought Watt bike would of put some sort of position or gear indicator built in or on the ipad/tablet screen holder. Obviously some tweaking of firmware is needed, just hopeits firmware and not hardware design.

On wattbikes own software, they have some training plans, Hill climbs etc. There is a gear ratio indicator on the screen. It’s on other, 3rd party software, where it isn’t incorporated yet. It’s a smooth transition, some jumps are bigger than others so more abrupt. When I’m home I’ll fish out a diagram of its inner working. It’s quite interesting. The delay is probably a second or so. I’m sceptical it’ll get any quicker. Not sure... but I can live with that. So long as the ratio between gears is good. And it’s indicated on screen.

It's hard to know, not having used it as you have, but I would have thought the delay in the gear change would be a far greater problem than knowing exactly what gear you're in? I only have a vague idea of exactly what gear I'm in most of the time - more important is that I can change up or down as soon as I need to.

I notice in DC Rainmaker's first review though he suggests this might be fixed with a software update, so hopefully that's the case.

It’s the two things combined mate. The delay and the not knowing. But from my limited experience of the Wattbike software (my ride a bit of the way up all d’huez). If you know which gear you’re in it’s a lot more reassuring. The delay isn’t dreadful. And like anything. If it’s consistent you can judge it.

So if and when zwift incorporate this in to their own software. Then it’ll be a big step forward.