Zwift Vs Bkool

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junkie_ball

Senior Member
Location
Somerset
Ok so after my indoor trainer got wrecked because the flywheel got buckled i've decided to upgrade my basic mag trainer to a bkool pro and i was wondering which would be the best sim software to use zwift or bkool or any other for that matter. I've read bkool has more choice in terms of videos and sims etc but zwift has better reactions to inclines ratios and smoother transitions.

What are the views of you fine folk.
 

Citius

Guest
 

entropy000000

New Member
Ok so after my indoor trainer got wrecked because the flywheel got buckled i've decided to upgrade my basic mag trainer to a bkool pro and i was wondering which would be the best sim software to use zwift or bkool or any other for that matter. I've read bkool has more choice in terms of videos and sims etc but zwift has better reactions to inclines ratios and smoother transitions.

What are the views of you fine folk.
The Bkool software is nowhere near as good as Zwift for smooth response. The BKool interface is amateurish, the feedback/control of the trainer is clunky.
I have spent a year on Zwift and decided to try the BKool simulator software for a change and it just doesn't compare. You find a gradient over about 4% and the Bkool software just seems to put the brakes on and then off, then back on again.... the only benefit of BKool is that you have an infinite variety of courses... Zwift is also a monthly subscription so nothing stops you from using Zwift for a few months and then going to BKool (who are an annual subscription) later.
 

StanLamb

New Member
Location
Baltimore
I am looking at bKool and Zwift. There are pros and cons to both, but my issues with bKool are that the 3D routes I tried are far less interesting than Zwift and there is no apparent relationship between what looks uphill or downhill and the elevation changes on the elevation line. In Zwift, if I am biking uphill at a 7% grade, it looks like I am biking uphill. With bKool, it looks like I am on level ground but the elevation may be 7% and the wheel increases resistance. On one route with bKool, I was biking for 20 min and the 3D was a bike on a boring route with the same group of spectators and a few cars on the side of the road and a few trees, but nothing nearly as interesting as the route for Zwift.

Also, the training in Zwift is more intense as I must pedal to meet challenges while I can push or not in bKool but bKool does not push me to certain wattage levels. The result is that I am really sweaty and winded after a ride with Zwift and can just cruise in bKool. If you have ever looked at Zwift, you will know what I mean.

bKool has more routes than Zwift, but that makes no difference if the 3S routes with bKool are primitive, compared to Zwift.
 
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