- You don't need a great deal of kit
to get started on Zwift.
In fact, aside from your subscription to Zwift itself,
all you gotta have is a basic turbo trainer,
a speed sensor, and then just your smartphone,
in fact, to use Zwift on.
- However, you could invest in some
amazing equipment to enhance your experience.
Wahoo have kindly supplied us with
their full Kickr rein,
so we have a interactive smart trainer,
the fan, and the Climb which changes
gradient as if you were outside.
- Yeah. The question is though,
what is actually the difference in experience
between these two setups?
We thought it was about time we put the
two head-to-head to try and find out.
(upbeat hip-hop music)
We will start with our entry-level setup.
We've gone and gotten ourselves a basic
wheel-on resistance trainer.
It's actually got a magnetic resistance unit
that is variable manually
via this lever.
Now, anyone who's been into cycling for a while,
is gonna be very familiar with this type
of turbo trainer cause that's, frankly,
what all turbo trainers used to be like.
And for that reason,
you can pick these up relatively inexpensively now.
So it's a great way into the world of indoor training.
To connect it up to Zwift though,
as I mentioned at the start,
you are gonna need a speed sensor.
Importantly, though, it's a speed sensor
that connects to the device that you're gonna use it on.
If you have a speed sensor that transmits for ANT+,
the chances are you're gonna need an adapter
to actually pick up that signal from your computer
or your laptop or whatever.
In this case,
it transmits via Bluetooth as well,
which means I can pick it up directly
from my smartphone which is what I'll be using
in this instance.
Remembering to attach that
speed sensor to your back wheel,
cause that's the only one that's spinning, of course,
you then pair it up to your device
where it can then tell Zwift how fast that
back wheel is spinning.
The clever bit is when you also tell Zwift
what trainer you're using cause they
have calculated just how much resistance
each trainer generates.
Meaning that when it knows how fast
that back wheel is spinning,
it can then calculate how much power
you're putting out in order to make you do that.
(upbeat techno music)
- So here we have the Wahoo Kickr,
the Kickr Climb,
and the Kickr Headwind.
The Wahoo Kickr is their top-of-the-range
smart turbo trainer,
and the obvious difference to this one
and the one that Si was using before,
is that my bike has no rear wheel.
It is a direct-to-drive turbo which comes complete
with its own cassette.
Meaning you'll no longer use your own rear wheel,
and you wont' end up with those black marks
all over the wall.
Inside, though, is where the real difference lies.
The turbo has a variable resistance unit
and a power meter meaning that it will both
accurately calculate my output
and adjust the resistance that I'm feeling in
the pedals depending on where I'm riding on Zwift.
This means that riding uphill
actually feels like going uphill,
and you'll need to change gear accordingly.
Upfront then, and what we have here,
is the Wahoo Kickr Climb.
This automatically simulates the gradient,
again, mimicking what's going on on Zwift.
Up to 20% incline and 10% decline.
And finally, we have the Kickr Headwind.
And this is a fan that connects to your turbo trainer,
or your heart rate monitor,
and adjusts the level of cooling based on
the intensity of your riding.
You can, of course,
override this and just put it on full.
- Chris, should we Zwift?
- Let's.
- Before we start,
apologies, mate,
for making you go on the entry-level setup.
It just so happens that we don't have
the necessary adapters for that trainer
to allow me to fit my disparate bike on there.
So you're just gonna have to
tell me all about it, mate.
- Not sure that was the most sincere apology,
but let's go on.
- Alright, here we go.
(gentle techno music)
- The first thing that you'll notice when
riding a basic setup,
is that there is no direct feedback
through the pedals.
No resistance change as you ride uphill or downhill.
Now, although I really miss that,
I think it's probably fair to say that
unless you've ridden a smart trainer,
you won't actually know what you're missing anyway.
But let's not focus on what you don't have,
but what you do.
You can still use all the social aspects of Zwift,
you can logon and change your avatar,
advance through all the levels,
explore the world,
and join group rides.
And the training functionality is still there.
You can logon and use the multitude of training
sessions that Zwift has and ride along to them.
And don't forget, the effort I'm putting in is
still the same no matter what the trainer.
The estimation of power is also great for training,
especially when it comes to tracking your improvements.
If it's telling you you have an FTP of 200 watts,
and you've boosted that up to 220,
those are real fitness gains.
Yes, it may not be that accurate,
and the degree of error could mean that
you've actually gone from 240 watts up to 270,
but, assuming you're always using the same setup,
then the results should at least be consistent.
(gentle techno music)
- So what then about our bells and whistles setup?
What do we get?
Well, following off from what Chris
has just been saying about training,
the power meter built in to this Kickr
is accurate to just 2% meaning that
we can use it to closely monitor our training,
and it also means that we can actually compare
our own results to other people's cause
2% accuracy is kind of like the gold standard.
Now, you might not be into waggling around
your FTP in front of other people,
but what it does mean on Zwift
is that you will be eligible to post results
in Zwift racing because Zwift racing knows
that you are using equipment that can be trusted.
The other point to note from the training sessions
is that by using a smart trainer,
you have an option opened up to you called Erg Mode,
and this is where the trainer would generate
the exact resistance required for each interval.
And that's using the calculations that Zwift has made
based on my own ability.
So what it means in practice, is that if,
for example, the interval specifies 350 watts,
so long as I'm turning the pedals,
this trainer would generate that resistance.
It means that I will be doing 350 watts
no matter how fast or slowly I'm pedaling.
For me, though, it's probably the enhancement
to the riding experience that's most notable.
So the feedback that you get from the trainer,
depending on what's going on on-screen,
so as I'll start to climb,
I'll feel the resistance kick in
meaning that I'll have to change gear.
And then also with this Kickr Climb upfront,
the gradient of my bike changes
meaning that my body position changes as well.
Now, although I'm not literally fighting gravity,
it does kinda feel like it just as
the opposite is true when I start going downhill,
the resistance eases off,
and away I go.
Now I think it's fair to say that
if you are using a smart trainer,
just like if you had a power meter on your bike,
then you can definitely enhance your training.
You could probably get fitter as a result
because you can really drill down
and make sure the training you're doing
is absolutely optimal.
And then the other thing away from training,
if you're just a big fan of riding on Zwift,
the community, the social element,
then having this setup will enhance
the experience for you.
But, the good news is that in both those cases,
it is, of course, not essential.
What I would do though,
I would try and replicate from this
onto the basic setup is firstly,
a way of cooling yourself down.
So you do get hot riding indoors,
and so any old fan is better than nothing.
Although of course, the better the fan,
the better your cooling will be.
Then the other thing,
is that although that smartphone that
Chris is using is incredibly convenient,
particularly if you're traveling around,
you will find that you're more connected
if you're using a bigger screen.
So a tablet, or in this case,
I got an Apple TV connected up to a giant screen
and I do indeed feel very connected
with my virtual world.
And the good thing about that is it then
leaves your phone free to use for the companion app.
(upbeat techno music)
- It's been a long time since I use Zwift
on a completely normal indoor turbo trainer
like this one,
and it's quite weird not feeling the climbs
or feeling the slipstream as others go past me,
but if I'd never experienced that,
I wouldn't know I was missing out.
- No, but given that you went from
an ordinary trainer to a smart trainer,
how did that feel for you making that step up?
- Well I really enjoyed it because
I don't always do a training session,
so when I logged on I just wanted to go for a ride
or go hard every now and again,
kinda like a far like style thing,
and to feel the climb hit you as opposed to
you having to change gears to alter the intensity,
I really enjoyed that.
- Yeah I think that's the thing is that with the
extra investment of those interactive trainers,
you get that element to which it's more realistic,
and it also breaks up what's otherwise
quite a linear experience in that,
as you say, you have to respond...
My bike just angles there as the gradient kicks in.
You have to respond to what's going on in the road,
so it breaks things up,
you're changing gear,
you're having to pick up your cadence,
get used to those shifts in resistance,
and it does feel very similar to riding outside.
I guess, the strength of the basic setup though,
is that you have most of the elements
of Zwift still at your disposal,
so you've got all the training sessions.
- Yeah.
- And they you will feel absolutely normal.
You can control those completely,
and also you've got the social elements,
so we are kind of riding together, aren't we?
- Yep, and I-- - Although I think
I dropped you.
- Uh yeah, a little bit.
I also get my power output here
based on the slope curve of the turbo trainer,
so I know just how hard I'm trying.
- Yeah. Is it accurate?
- Yeah, probably.
It's not too far off, actually.
- Yep, there we go.
(upbeat techno music)
As we conclude this video,
there is one thing that we should
mention first and foremost,
and that is that we've got trainers at
completely the opposite end of the spectrum here.
And it's not an either-or situation because
there are ones in the middle, aren't there?
So you can get more basic interactive trainers
that do not cost as much money,
but that still give you the interactive feel
that you get from Zwift.
So they've got variable resistance units,
and they've also got built-in power meters as well.
- To get the most out of your standard turbo trainer,
you want to keep a close eye on your tire pressures
and the air pressure and temperature in the room
you're using it in as well.
This will help you get better,
more consistent power readings.
- Yeah that's right,
so that every time you jump on it,
you know that it's measuring your effort
even if it's not necessarily as accurate
as a power meter or an interactive smart trainer.
And let's face it as well,
you are still getting almost all of the benefits
of Zwift even without those interactive elements.
So you've got all of the training sessions,
as you've already mentioned.
You've got all of the social elements,
you can join in the group rides,
you can ride around those purpose-built worlds
designed for cycling.
Right, well make sure you get involved in
the comment section down below.
Hopefully, first and foremost,
you found this video useful in terms of
what you need to actually start Zwifting,
or indeed make those next steps up,
but let us know what you use as well.
It'd be really interesting to read those
down in the comments.