Zwift Tips & Tricks

lennymc

Large number of people signing up for zwift, and CI organising spins & races, so figured this could be a handy resource. I've been on zwift for a number of years, and found the sites below handy.

https://www.zwift.com - register, download etc
https://www.zwiftpower.com/ - zwift races - tracks all scheduled races, and allows you create a profile/track results etc
https://whatsonzwift.com/workouts/ - breakdown of all zwift workouts & plans, as well as some other sessions you can import into zwift
https://zwiftinsider.com/fastest-setup-30/ some bikes are faster than others! This site has useful information and tips on using zwift
http://www.cyclingireland.ie/cycling-news-item/cycling-ireland-launches-series-of-eracing-events-and-workouts/27490 CI zwift league and spin details

fat bloke

The wife, without consulting me (grrr cos I'm going to have to set it up), has ordered a kickr. I've studiously ignored all zwift related stuff cos I had no intention of getting one myself.

If someone wouldn't mind answering a few basic questions in terms of setting up a ... set up. -I've found with my own turbo that the less stuff you have to get the easier it is to get started - towel, headphones, garmin, bottle etc. I always forget one. But then if I have to set up a laptop and get it in the right place and plug it in and start it up and blah de blah, before you know it there's 20 minutes gone and you haven't turned a pedal!

So - I presume there's no computing power in the kickr yeah? So you need a phone running the app, or a laptop running the app and then additionally connect that laptop to a tv / big screen? So would you have a dedicated laptop and tv in the zwift cave? Is that best?

Ideally I imagine you'd want one bike, constantly set up on the kickr, everything in place, just power on, sync everything up as quickly as possible and get pedalling. Am I right or am I right? (or am I right?)

lennymc

you can run zwift on a tablet or ipad, so dont strictly need a big tv. I have a kickr, and zwift, and use the laptop for zwift, but watch junk on the tv. I have used an ipad for zwift and it was fine in terms of controlling the kickr, and logging the data. For zqift racing a TV is good, as it is easier to see the bigger screen, but again, i have used ipad and/or laptop with no issues. It's like everything - how much do you (read, your misses) want to spend on a set up to be happy with it

I have the bike permanently on the kickr, and turn on laptop, turn on kickr, by the time im ready to get on the bike, zwift & kickr are ready to go.

fat bloke

Well, the big spend is the kickr itself. We can spare an aul laptop or tablet if needs be. The thing about a laptop I find is - where do you put it : to one side / the other side / within reach but still out of the way. Unless you have a proper stand or table or shelf it's just one more thing to set up, and then do you headphones draped over the bike coming from the laptop and then you turn your head, pull the headphone cord taut and the whole laptop comes crashing down onto the floor - all these things I have done!!!!

We have an older TV that we don't use that I could mount on the wall of the shed at a natural look-ahead viewing angle for turbo-ing.

rcklap

I throw a high chair in front of the bike and pop the laptop on that.
Taking the extra effort to tidy your cables before hand helps too.

Two drinks bottles and a towel and your good to go.

Crocked

Permanent setup is definitely preferred as less excuses for not getting on. If have an old frame and gears in the parts bin just use that as your permanent bike and you don't have to worry about sweat killing it. I leave an old pair of shoes with the bike as well as one less thing to forget. Also keep all my workout clothes/towels in the one box so less things to forget. So just have to remember a bottle before jumping on.

If you have a TV that you were going to plug the laptop into or can put one where you are setting up then appletv is your only man. Easily hidden away, no laptop updates to worry about and connection is solid. Only draw backs are, you have to buy one but are cheap enough and may be some deals coming up if the rumoured update drops soon. It's bluetooth only, not an issue for your kickr but maybe for your HRM strap if its old as maybe ant+ only. The Apple TV remote is pants but in truth you don't really have to use it much in game

iwillhtfu

Just watch what tablet you get they're not all supported. A mate bought a samsung something or other and it can't run zwift.

you'll pick up a cheap tv second hand these days and you could get an apple tv gen 4 or greater for zwift.

fat bloke

Actually have a (gen 2 I think?) apple TV that we never use. How does that work with zwift, is there a dedicated kickr app?

Our old TV is great but it's a bit of a beast, reckon you might be right about the cheap used one idea, would be much lighter and easier to mount.

bazermc

Quick one. If I have swift on my iPhone or iPad can I cast it onto my TV via my Apple TV device.

iwillhtfu

fat bloke wrote: »

Actually have a (gen 2 I think?) apple TV that we never use. How does that work with zwift, is there a dedicated kickr app?

Our old TV is great but it's a bit of a beast, reckon you might be right about the cheap used one idea, would be much lighter and easier to mount.

No joy with that one unfortunately it has to be a gen 4 i believe for it to work off the shelf as they have the app store, the earlier ones have fixed apps on them. You can get them jail broken but effort...

It'll run off of a modern phone and you could stream to the tv via google chromecast you'll get one of those cheap. I noticed the phone got pretty hot though when i tried it and ended up picking up a cheap laptop on adverts for zwift.

Macy0161

Apple TV the cheapest, stable option. It doesn't have as good as graphics as a gaming PC/ Laptop but you'd really want to be into the "game" side to be bothered about shadows/ effects imo.

Once you're in the bottom of supported specs, devices can start crashing on big events. I was using my phone to chromecast zwift, which was fine doing my own thing, but it crashed once I did Haute Route way back at the start of lockdown. Every large scale event has complaints about "Zwift crashing" when it's the persons own tech not being able.

I started off casting my phone, as above. Then got Apple TV. And that was fine. Then as lockdown was for the foreseeable, I got a bigger TV for a fuller experience! Most of the time I still just use TrainerRoad to control my turbo, and zwift just to log the km's/ earn XP's. During the 2km restrictions I basically used it for my outdoor rides though. I've done a few events, and will probably do some races/ events if the weathers bad rather than "just" a workout.

TrainerRoad has much lower minimum specs, fairly basic phones work fine, but is purely training, at least during a session. As well as that, they've great plans, outdoor workouts, analysis, calendar as well. I have referrals if you wanted to try that? I was happy with TR, and Netflix for the last few years, and when I'm doing lower intensity workout I'm still more likely focussed on TV/ Eurosport Player than the moving wall paper of zwift.

CramCycle

I have found the recycling bin a good place to rest the laptop and set up outside. An umbrella for the rain, because you will cook like a chicken.

bazermc

CramCycle wrote: »

I have found the recycling bin a good place to rest the laptop and set up outside. An umbrella for the rain, because you will cook like a chicken.

Could get one of those nice looking girls that have in motorbike racing to hold it for you.

dahat

Old towel or mat on the floor for hocking purposes, horrible yet a part of every Zwift rwce.

martyc5674

I have a dedicated setup.
Apple TV 4K hooked up to a ceiling projector in the shed.
It’s switch on and go- it has never failed. Before that I had 2 diff laptops/casted from phones/iPads etc but always had the odd niggle.
iPad 4K not much more than 100€- not sure if u have space for a projector but well worth it.

CramCycle

dahat wrote: »

Old towel or mat on the floor for hocking purposes, horrible yet a part of every Zwift rwce.

Towel for the sweat, yes, I think I used to drop nearly a kilo over a zwift race, and that's taking 3 or more bottles on board. Hocking, never an issue although a feeling of struggling to breathe like you were being asphyxiated if you put in a real hard dig at the end of a long race was common for me.

dahat

CramCycle wrote: »

Towel for the sweat, yes, I think I used to drop nearly a kilo over a zwift race, and that's taking 3 or more bottles on board. Hocking, never an issue although a feeling of struggling to breathe like you were being asphyxiated if you put in a real hard dig at the end of a long race was common for me.

Then ending up thrown across the bars ready to die for a min or two.

daragh_

Get a fan. Or two. I only just got one. Kicking myself as it would have made a huge difference earlier in the year.

Macy0161

CramCycle wrote: »

I have found the recycling bin a good place to rest the laptop and set up outside. An umbrella for the rain, because you will cook like a chicken.

Oh yeah, I did add a second of these as I was doing more in hot weather. Still had the two on this morning, with the shed door open...

joey100

Another +1 for a good fan. And get a remote for your socket or wifi remote so you can turn it on and off from the bike. When the weather gets colder you might not want it on at the start and handy being able to turn it on and off without having to get off the bike. I use an old mobile phone for trainer road, works perfect and have probably have had less issues using the phone than when I used to use a laptop. Have a laptop with HDMI cable if I need it for zwift, but I don't use zwift a whole lot. TV is a cheap 40'' smart tv that has netflix on it already.

I have a cheap bike permanently on the turbo. Bought a brand x frame from chain reaction for about 160 euro, had most of the parts second hand then. Have it set up the same as my road bike but it saves me taking on and off the bike. As little excuse as possible not to get on really!

Fugs!!

The recovery workouts on zwift are excellent. More worlds and routes now then ever before and I think its running mouch more smoothly than before. I reckon they've improved there servers lately.

North of 32

I just got back to Zwift last night. I always promised myself I wouldn't get mad about it because it's just Zwift. But...

I did a Hare & Hound race where groups are set off at intervals and you need to catch the group ahead. I've lost a huge amount of fitness and gained 5kg since I was last on Zwift so I was breathing out my arse very quickly, and these 2 men just would not stop sending messages in the event chat while everyone was supposedly on the limit. All I could concentrate on was my next breath and turning the pedals while we were doing 4+w/kg in the B group / 310 watts on the flat and these 2 would not stop typing - ''push on the flat'', ''let's catch the C group'' over and over again. It really started pushing my buttons, probably because I was struggling so much. According to Zwiftpower one of the guys weighs 59kg while the other did 377w for 52 minutes at 146bpm. Fook. right. off. Seriously, what pleasure is there to gain from acting the bollocks like that? Just ruining whatever small satisfaction & motivation can be had on Zwift. Needless to say I was dropped after 15 minutes. Anyway, just needed to get that off my chest. :pac:

As far as tips go:
Get a few sweatbands to wear on your head. The headbands soak up a lot of the sweat that will otherwise drench your bike.
In terms of the races, I find it's good to burn a big match at the beginning to stay with the front group so you don't end up at the back of an early split. It's much easier to go hard at the start than to try and bridge a gap imho.

Macy0161

Yeah, it really needs an option to turn off chat.

CramCycle

North of 32 wrote: »

As far as tips go:
Get a few sweatbands to wear on your head. The headbands soak up a lot of the sweat that will otherwise drench your bike.
In terms of the races, I find it's good to burn a big match at the beginning to stay with the front group so you don't end up at the back of an early split. It's much easier to go hard at the start than to try and bridge a gap imho.

This is pretty much the only tip worth knowing, make sure you are at the front and if its a really big group, make sure you push hard until you get into minimum top 30% but preferably top 15%. Once you are out the back, you can claw back some spaces but you have to accept you won't make the top group due to the way the algorithm favours bunches. If I get dropped at the start, I pick a number to catch and that's it, reassess later in the race if you catch them.

Macy0161

joey100 wrote: »

Another +1 for a good fan. And get a remote for your socket or wifi remote so you can turn it on and off from the bike. When the weather gets colder you might not want it on at the start and handy being able to turn it on and off without having to get off the bike.

I can reach the socket for one fan, and then the second one I can reach. I generally start off with a jacket on, even this time of the year. One fan gets turned on during the warm up, second one normally at the start of the first interval.

Cooling is a massive factor in indoor training/ racing. Well all training and racing, heat effects performance, but more pronounced inside.

daragh_

Macy0161 wrote: »

Yeah, it really needs an option to turn off chat.

You can turn it off in settings.

Macy0161

In game? It's only occasionally it gets annoying for me. A few races/ events, chat has helped keep the blob together.

daragh_

Macy0161 wrote: »

In game? It's only occasionally it gets annoying for me. A few races/ events, chat has helped keep the blob together.

I have it turned off in settings. There is always a message box displayed when you are in the Pen pre-race, but after that it vanishes. TBH I don't want to chat to randomers while I'm racing - mainly because I'm in bits :-)

I've used WhatsApp for Club League Races and TTTs the odd time.

CramCycle

daragh_ wrote: »

I have it turned off in settings. There is always a message box displayed when you are in the Pen pre-race, but after that it vanishes. TBH I don't want to chat to randomers while I'm racing - mainly because I'm in bits :-)

I've used WhatsApp for Club League Races and TTTs the odd time.

The last time I chatted to someone during a spin I ended up racing up Mont Ventoux and losing by several minutes, never again will my ego be so easily duped.

dahat

Also before any race do a decent warm up you'll blow a gasket early doors trying to hang on.

Randy Archer

Macy0161 wrote: »

Oh yeah, I did add a second of these as I was doing more in hot weather. Still had the two on this morning, with the shed door open...

I think it was you and another chap who suggested to me get that particular air blower

THANKS , a whole world of difference even in level 1 . Level 3 loads of wind and no where near the same amount of sweat .

The company that sell them had it out in about two days too