Zwift and FulGas and more

So you get yourself an indoor smart trainer and if like me and most of the cycling world you get yourself a Zwift subscription.

I have been using Zwift for a few months now and whilst it is still my “go to” option I have started looking and alternatives, but first Zwift and what I like and don’t like about it.

Over the winter the little cartoon man in his cartoon fantasy world has been a great motivator to get me cycling when it was otherwise too dark, cold and wet to realistically get outside. Escaping into a world of sunny mountains, seaside boulevards, volcanoes and jungle trails is quite addictive.

Visual delights aside what I have used most is actually the structured work outs. Mid week I don’t get time for a lengthy ride. In the summer I can turn right out of my house and in 5 minutes be at the bottom of a 2.5km climb with an average gradient of 4%. In an hour I can bang out a bunch of hill repeats and come home knowing I have got good value from money from the short time I have available.

In the winter I can do the same on the trainer. Select the “McCarthy Special” and an hours set of leg busting intervals follows. And whilst I may be dripping wet and in need of a shower afterwards my bike is a clean as it was when it started. However mucky and dirty it may be outside.

If I am not quite feeling up to that kind of exhersion I can still have a more relaxing spin round the centre of London and take in the sights of Buckingham palace, Harrods, Westminster and the tower of London. Well my cartoon self can,

All well and good.

But after a few months I am getting bored by the limited scope of the Zwift virtual world. And when Zwift announced they were increasing their prices by 50% I got wondering about alternatives. I mean £13 a month is a lot of cash for a computer game that uses graphics from the last century.  It is all a bit “Daley Thompsons Decathlon” and not what you expect in a world where self driving cars are about to become reality.

So my new favourite trainer software is FulGaz. This has actual rides filmed in high definition in third person view that play along as you ride. It gives you the ability to experience great rides from all over the world. Coming home in the dark from a long day in the office and riding a sunny beach path in Melbourne is a real tonic.

The quality of the footage is excellent, they must use some kind of stabilisation technology as I am sure if I strapped a GoPro to my handle bars and filmed a ride it would be all juddery and unwatchable. They must also be recorded in a high frame rate as the video playback remains smooth even if you slow down. Which I do a lot. It is really very good.

The range of content is excellent and includes numerous alpine climes, sunny beach roads in Australia and the USA as well as some classics in the UK. It is going to take me some time to try them all.

Downsides, well it is just a “get on and ride” experience. Unlike Zwift there are no structured work outs. So at the moment I am splitting my time between the two systems and I must say enjoying both equally.

However, my FulGaz free trial period is about to run out and there are more to test.

Wahoo have just released Rouvy. From my initial investigations it seems to have all bases covered, real rides like FulGaz, structured workouts like Zwift and analysis like Training Peaks. Too good to be true? Well is next on my list to try.

There is also something called Road Grand Tours, which looks a bit like Zwift but with better graphics and more real world routes. This is still in Beta testing but I have an invite so that will also be on the list to test out as well . . . .