Zwift Chat

[alex_cycles]

To be fair the video routes looks amazing quality but it's a no from me

I think for those of us who actually ride outside AND enjoy cartoon bike racing it won't have enough pull to pay for it. There are a lot of people in other countries who seem to never ride outside.

It seems like the much touted free trial thing might be a bit less than straightforward. You have to sign up with your card number and then cancel. And it looks complicated and messy for annual subscribers. Shame.

 

[Whorty]

I like the idea of the Zwift video but not the trainer/coach aspect. I used FulGaz a few years ago and loved their real video rides - I only came back to Zwift for the racing and the gamey bits, like XP and bikes. To have the video rides and keep my Zwift progression is for me a bit of a sweet spot.
I may do a fondo or similar next year and I like to use the real video routes as training if I can't get outside - they feel more 'real' to ride than Zwift hills and roads.
Is it worth an extra £10 per month though? At the moment probably not, but if the video library increased in line with FulGaz and/or Roy (both owned by Zwift so possible) then yes I'd be happy with the extra £10

 

[alex_cycles]

Looks like they realised they screwed up.

We all get a week to have a look around…

We want you all to have a chance to try all Zwift Plus has to offer. Due to some members experiencing difficulty accessing their early member offer, Zwift is making Video and Coach available to all active subscribers for one week only.

This access is live now and ends Nov 9 @ 18:00 UTC.
CET November 9 @ 7 pm
US Pacific November 9 @ 10 am
Sydney November 10 @ 5 am

Click here to see the exact time in your timezone.

No need to make any account changes if you are already subscribed to Zwift, just log in to Zwift and start riding!
You may need to log out and log back in for the changes to take place.

 

[Venod]

We all get a week to have a look around…

Had a look around this morning, first impressions didn't exite me, I had a slight judder of the videos, I did a speed check of my download speed, 500+mbps, I didn't want to see myself riding, it wouldn't let me change to shooter view, I wanted to view just the film, I didn't see anything related to the new coaching feature.
I have used Rouvy before with no stuttering so not sure what's happening here.
I did three rides the first two finished before I reached the banner and transported me back to the start, the third ride went to the line.
More testing needed, not keen on all the overlays of barriers etc on videos it spoiled Rouvy routes for me.
The films are not a patch on the old Tacx videos.

 

[ivegotabike]

I am mildly curious if / how / when mywhoosh will respond to Zwift +

Even though "Free" is a big pull (that gets a bit bigger each time Zwift nudges its prices up), it isn't enough on its own.

I don't think they will go for video. I do think they they will do more of the gamified training like the zombie workout. More cash prize events / races. More "celeb" rides with Pogacar and other UAE riders (mens and womens teams). More worlds / routes.

What do you think will happen?

 

[Elybazza61]

Gave it a try here and it was working fine today (Virgin cable -tested at 320 download currently), quite liked it but not enough to cough up the extra though.

Couple of pics;

Think there's some fine tuning to do and it's a bit weird when a rider comes from behind you, also felt myself moving the bars when there was a vehicle coming the other way!

 

[Dorset Boy]

I tried the short Scottish route today.
I had 2 power drops which I never normally get.
I wasn't expecting the first van and car coming the other way which gave me a shock!
Sterring worked fine and my avatar was pretty central on the screen.

I'll try a couple more routes this week, but not convinced I want to pay the extra yet, especially as I prefer circular routes rather than one wayers where you are then teleported back to the start.

 

[alex_cycles]

Since we've got a week, I also tried it yesterday. Did two routes (the two shortests ones) and tried to stream it at the same time.

It clearly takes more bandwidth (I think someone said about 5 times more) despite pre-downloading the route. My stream missed a big chunk at the start and was choppy in places (but i didn’t experience that at all on my ride). FWIW I will link it below at a place where it's working well.

My impression is similar to what others have said. I quite liked it. It was visually interesting and different. But I ride outside a lot and I don't think it adds enough that I would want to pay extra for it. The gravel route I did on a disc wheel and it felt like crawling through treacle. After a while I switched to Princeton Wakes and it felt a bit better (that may be in my head).

If I was on a monthly subscription it might have been worth subbing in for a month of variety. But it sure as heck isn't worth adding a ton to the annual sub (for me). For people who never ride outside it might be worth it. Think it would be quite cool if you have a nice large white wall and a projector for an immersive setup. The ride position is a bit wierd, but more realistic of a group ride. I tried it HUDless as well and that was nice.


View: https://www.youtube.com/live/GzkXDvLFKU4?t=1262s

 

[mjd1988]

We re ran out race 4. I won the original race with D numbers and won this one with even lower numbers! Surprised no teams tried any tactics just a group ride and I had the biggest sprint. Not sure I learned much and there were only 38 finishers compared to the disallowed race (44) so not sure it justified repeating, but sure.

#sandbrag

 

[mjd1988]

I just don't get zwiftplus. I don't get why they bought rouvy to then do a limited version from scratch alongside it. I'll hopefully give It a try before the free week finishes but I really can't see how it'll get a market share from people who specifically have avoided that augmented reality

 

[alex_cycles]

I just don't get zwiftplus. I don't get why they bought rouvy to then do a limited version from scratch alongside it. I'll hopefully give It a try before the free week finishes but I really can't see how it'll get a market share from people who specifically have avoided that augmented reality

The official line is that they were working on this for two years, long before the opportunity to buy Rouvy came up.

 

[Peter Salt]

I just don't get zwiftplus. I don't get why they bought rouvy to then do a limited version from scratch alongside it. I'll hopefully give It a try before the free week finishes but I really can't see how it'll get a market share from people who specifically have avoided that augmented reality

I'm of a similar opinion. Never had an issue with cartoon bikes in a cartoon world. If Zwift added Mario Kart style power ups I'd probably enjoy that too.

Agree the video stuff is nice and adds variety but there's no case, at least for me, to pay extra for it.

As for the training plan stuff... Apologies if this comes across as cynical, but the 'two hard sessions a week with rest in zone 2' blueprint isn't exactly a secret

 

[N0bodyOfTheGoat]

I just don't get zwiftplus. I don't get why they bought rouvy to then do a limited version from scratch alongside it. I'll hopefully give It a try before the free week finishes but I really can't see how it'll get a market share from people who specifically have avoided that augmented reality

Zwift were working on their own video tech, but shirley as soon as they bought Rouvy back in April, you ditch the in-house product and pinch the code from Rouvy.

Anyone willing to pay an extra £9pcm on Zwift+ may as well pay an extra ~£13pcm for Rouvy instead.

 

[IrishAl]

I gave the video a go on Saturday - Teide plateau and Coll de Femenia. It was nice doing rides in places I’ve cycled before - Teide I hadn’t gone past the Cablecar so the first 90% of that route was new to me.
I had no issues streaming it on my 2020 Apple TV. I did find the avatar positioning itself to the far right of the lane off putting.

All in all I enjoyed the free trial but I won’t be rushing to pay the extra.