only training I’ve done is through Zwift and it’s training programmes. And then not too much of it.
I’m 1.8m (6’)
The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread
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only training I’ve done is through Zwift and it’s training programmes. And then not too much of it.
I’m 1.8m (6’)
Soldato
Then I don't see any harm in following one of the Zwift training plans aimed at boosting FTP. The "build me up" plan looks good but you're probably a bit early to start that as I think it's intended to cover the 13 weeks in the lead up to your target event. Maybe have a look at the 6 or 12 week FTP builder plan in the meantime?
Broadly speaking, at this stage you will probably get a boost from any kind of consistent structured training if you haven't done much before so there's no need to agonise too much over the exact prescription.
Depending on how much time you have available, you could either add a weekly long ride (2-3 hours) or swap one of the lower intensity Zwift sessions for a long ride. I'd definitely recommend getting some practice riding up steep hills as it's hard to replicate those efforts in Zwift.
I've just ordered a Tacx Neo 2, so time to see what all the fuss is about with Zwift, think I must have a free trial somewhere. Only issue is what to use for it. I have an i5 8GB MS Surface Pro that I could use if I can find my ant+ usb stick, would this be powerful enough to run Zwift at a half decent frame rate?
Don't really know those climbs, but have heard of Winlatter. Guessing they're more 15/20 minute climbs. For that you're better working on sustained threshold/FTP type efforts, active recovery and then going again. So much of it about recovery to sustain repeated climbs again and again!
This.
Wow straight in at the deep end! Enjoy!
Will be no problem running Zwift on it, but depending on how the GPU handles it you may not get it smooth enough when things are busy at 1080p or higher. But equally 720p will be fine viewing on the Surface. As soon as you want something bigger I'd move away from the Surface rather than getting an external screen sorted for it (to then get annoyed with framerates).
My Laptop I'm using cost me £350 as a refirb 3-4 years ago (with a dedicated GPU) and is only now starting to show its age trying to run an external display - 1080p at decent enough framerates. It's not good enough for really busy races so I run it at 720p and just put up with it.
Figured get the best, so no excuses not to use it, we're having a much wetter and miserabler winter so far, so suspect it will get some more use. Also the second hand values seem to hold up well on the Neos looking at ebay. I've got a 42" plasma that runs 720p in the garage so would probably have Zwift on the laptop with something playing on TV, or could plug it in if I get into it that much.
Ouch, ok, Honnister is 'only' 7%?! 
Honister (E to W) - https://www.strava.com/segments/17665151 - looks brutal, the real part of the climb being in the first half, half a mile at near 15% is a grind - using this guy as his data seems accurate, has a PWM and cadence. Power climb, as with that flatter middle section you need to recover, not drop speed and have enough in the tank for the top. Top looks easy but will hurt after the early part if not recovering well.
Newlands (think this is the direction you'd do it after Hon E2W?) - https://www.strava.com/segments/6677326 - Looks more of a sustained climb, no huge %'s so one for the lighter guys. Guys data again, looks like the lower part he was riding easier, low cadence possibly with a friend, then pushing on the latter part. Data looks like it's probably a seated climb.
Whinlatter(W to E) - https://www.strava.com/segments/7582586 - Strange one. Not many of the times up there have Power, cadence and HR so hard to judge. Bottom part looks like a grind, complete energy sapping stood gind, then a downhill, with the latter section being a seated more steady climb. Looking at this guys data his cadence looks like he was riding switchbacks but there are none lol. Either way this one will hurt, even has a ramp at the summit for you to attack!
Looking at those I want to ride up there, got a route of the ride you're doing? lol
Back to indoor training, found this random post on a road.cc Zwift article (when others where moaning about comparing road miles to zwift miles) and liked it:
Honister (E to W) - https://www.strava.com/segments/17665151 - looks brutal, the real part of the climb being in the first half, half a mile at near 15% is a grind - using this guy as his data seems accurate, has a PWM and cadence. Power climb, as with that flatter middle section you need to recover, not drop speed and have enough in the tank for the top. Top looks easy but will hurt after the early part if not recovering well.
Newlands (think this is the direction you'd do it after Hon E2W?) - https://www.strava.com/segments/6677326 - Looks more of a sustained climb, no huge %'s so one for the lighter guys. Guys data again, looks like the lower part he was riding easier, low cadence possibly with a friend, then pushing on the latter part. Data looks like it's probably a seated climb.
Whinlatter(W to E) - https://www.strava.com/segments/7582586 - Strange one. Not many of the times up there have Power, cadence and HR so hard to judge. Bottom part looks like a grind, complete energy sapping stood gind, then a downhill, with the latter section being a seated more steady climb. Looking at this guys data his cadence looks like he was riding switchbacks but there are none lol. Either way this one will hurt, even has a ramp at the summit for you to attack!
Looking at those I want to ride up there, got a route of the ride you're doing? lol
Back to indoor training, found this random post on a road.cc Zwift article (when others where moaning about comparing road miles to zwift miles) and liked it:
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I’ve planned the route based on what it says but it may not be 100%. Should be pretty close tho. Also Whinlatter is E to W.
I’ve driven them except Whinlatter and tbh they are stunning so looking forward to this.
sent you an email with rwgps link
I’ve driven them except Whinlatter and tbh they are stunning so looking forward to this.
sent you an email with rwgps link
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I run zwift with onboard graphics since my GPU went kaput a year or so ago and this system is 6 years old. Been on group rides with 600+ riders with no issues
Soldato
I was running a HP SFF desktop with the i5 iGPU and that was fine at 720p. The graphics have been improved since then but it can be adjusted of course. I've now put a 1050 Ti in the box and that never drops below 60 FPS on a 22" 1080p monitor. There's a cap on the number of riders drawn anyway.
I've been hammering my NEO v1 for a couple of years and it's not showing any signs of wear though I have removed the rear bearing once to clean and check the grease.
The only thing I will change it for is the TacX NEO bike but I may wait for the v2 of that.
Great little route, really packs those climbs in!
https://www.strava.com/segments/2646437 - Ouch. Hard one as looks like multiple different parts of it. Probably a power climb again as several ramps, but the top is steady and easing off. Most of the climbing is done in the first half mile again but the middle of that latter part is still double figures %.
What resolution and display?
My laptop is an old i5 4200U (1.6ghtz dual core), 8gb RAM, GT 740M GPU and I put an SSD in it. Coped fine in some of those massive Tour of Zwift rides with 1000's of riders at 720p and probably medium details. Bit laggy at times but the rest of the time (general races/events) it's perfectly fine. Busier races (several hundred riders) did kill it's framerates at 1080p so that's why I'm running 720p. I'm happy with how it looks on a 36" display only 6" in front of my bars!
I played with the idea of sorting out an old PC for it, but still can't decide if worth the hassle as it's probably comparable in performance - Q6600 (quad core 2.4ghtz), 6gb RAM (DDR3), SSD & ATI 7970. For the lack of hassle I've always considered an AppleTV as they're pretty unbeatable for the money but generally avoid apple products.
It seems to lean heavily on the graphics card for the frame rate. I upgraded to a 970 GTX I bought used two years ago and it’s been excellent.
previously I was using a laptop which worked OK but big groups and racing really slowed it with lots on screen at once.
previously I was using a laptop which worked OK but big groups and racing really slowed it with lots on screen at once.
I run zwift on the medium setting (720p) and although its obviously not gonna win awards it does the job. I use a Dell U2412M monitor
Soldato
GPLama made a video recently about making the trainer quieter, could be of use for a comparison I guess.
https://youtu.be/ntAcOwx0yNg
Had a little spin earlier and it seems to have settled down and gone away.
Impressed with the Tacx and Zwift pairing, all paired up really quickly over BT from inside the house so a good 8 or 9 metres away. Weird riding it at first with the resistance adjusting as the incline changes and then the shaking is a neat if nerdy little feature. Main thing is that there is a fair bit of flex as such so you're not so stuck in one place, only 30 minutes but I definitely felt very comfortable.
Minor gripe as my 30odd minutes workout didn't save and as yet I've had none of them save so far so may need to have a look and double check on the syncing features.
Impressed with the Tacx and Zwift pairing, all paired up really quickly over BT from inside the house so a good 8 or 9 metres away. Weird riding it at first with the resistance adjusting as the incline changes and then the shaking is a neat if nerdy little feature. Main thing is that there is a fair bit of flex as such so you're not so stuck in one place, only 30 minutes but I definitely felt very comfortable.
Minor gripe as my 30odd minutes workout didn't save and as yet I've had none of them save so far so may need to have a look and double check on the syncing features.
Sounds similar to mine, I know mine is a sub par laptop so not expecting anything supreme, still quite happy with how it performs and not something which has bugged me enough yet.
To be fair I can see my PC ending up in the garage at some point, it doesn't get used for gaming any longer (have no time for it!) and the only other things it does are online Banking which we can easily switch to mobile apps or use the laptop for. It should be meaty enough (spec in signature - quad i7, 16gb ram & 2x7970's) to run things as well as @xdcx 's beast. Not bad for something 6 years old with a second hand processor and GPU's...! Probably costing a fraction of that laptop!
SRS! You use that for other things as well I hope, or is that supplied as part of your pro contract?
Ah, fair enough. At 24" then I'd say 720p is fine, it's not like we're seriously gaming and want things as smooth as possible - much better to spend money on bikes/components!
Sweet setup and perfectly adequite for garage zwifting! I'm actually quite jealous of the amount of space you have! I quite regularly have to shuffle things around to make a bit more room for me. Maybe I'm just fat.Should have spent more on your bike than your compoota!
This zwift malarky best be good.
Conveniently placed box of baby wipes for 'those' kind of rides?
Where do you put the laptop...? Interested how you find your home made trainer mat. I ended up buying the cheapest I could find on px. Some noname brand as I'm a cheapskate lol!
My sawbench works well for that, angled legs so I can have it off to 1 side of my drops and it doesn't inferfere with my pedalling, while also being an arms length away with the laptop on it. Usually got food/clothing also on there within easy reach!
I have my mobile on my bars (Quadlock is great!) but have considered getting a wireless keyboard as typing on laptop is pretty impossible. Usually mobile app is enough but when it plays up I can't chat (and I'm one of those annoying chatty people in group rides). I know guys who have a shelf/board out front of their bars with a keyboard sat on it. Ride leaders probably need that more than 'us' but I can see the benefit of macros setup on a keyboard for certain things...
Weird. Check your sync settings between apps. You'll maybe find Zwift isn't authorised by Strava so check pairing etc there. One thing with Zwift bug/problems their site is well read, responded and documented, google search is your friend.
You can also find your previously activities as .fit files in your my docs/zwift folder to manually upload.
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