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Budget Zwift Setup Vs Premium | What Is The Difference? - YouTube

Channel: Global Cycling Network

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- You don't need a great deal of kit

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to get started on Zwift.

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In fact, aside from your subscription to Zwift itself,

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all you gotta have is a basic turbo trainer,

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a speed sensor, and then just your smartphone,

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in fact, to use Zwift on.

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- However, you could invest in some

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amazing equipment to enhance your experience.

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Wahoo have kindly supplied us with

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their full Kickr rein,

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so we have a interactive smart trainer,

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the fan, and the Climb which changes

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gradient as if you were outside.

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- Yeah. The question is though,

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what is actually the difference in experience

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between these two setups?

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We thought it was about time we put the

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two head-to-head to try and find out.

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(upbeat hip-hop music)

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We will start with our entry-level setup.

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We've gone and gotten ourselves a basic

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wheel-on resistance trainer.

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It's actually got a magnetic resistance unit

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that is variable manually

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via this lever.

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Now, anyone who's been into cycling for a while,

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is gonna be very familiar with this type

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of turbo trainer cause that's, frankly,

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what all turbo trainers used to be like.

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And for that reason,

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you can pick these up relatively inexpensively now.

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So it's a great way into the world of indoor training.

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To connect it up to Zwift though,

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as I mentioned at the start,

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you are gonna need a speed sensor.

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Importantly, though, it's a speed sensor

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that connects to the device that you're gonna use it on.

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If you have a speed sensor that transmits for ANT+,

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the chances are you're gonna need an adapter

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to actually pick up that signal from your computer

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or your laptop or whatever.

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In this case,

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it transmits via Bluetooth as well,

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which means I can pick it up directly

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from my smartphone which is what I'll be using

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in this instance.

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Remembering to attach that

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speed sensor to your back wheel,

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cause that's the only one that's spinning, of course,

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you then pair it up to your device

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where it can then tell Zwift how fast that

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back wheel is spinning.

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The clever bit is when you also tell Zwift

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what trainer you're using cause they

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have calculated just how much resistance

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each trainer generates.

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Meaning that when it knows how fast

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that back wheel is spinning,

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it can then calculate how much power

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you're putting out in order to make you do that.

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(upbeat techno music)

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- So here we have the Wahoo Kickr,

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the Kickr Climb,

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and the Kickr Headwind.

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The Wahoo Kickr is their top-of-the-range

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smart turbo trainer,

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and the obvious difference to this one

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and the one that Si was using before,

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is that my bike has no rear wheel.

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It is a direct-to-drive turbo which comes complete

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with its own cassette.

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Meaning you'll no longer use your own rear wheel,

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and you wont' end up with those black marks

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all over the wall.

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Inside, though, is where the real difference lies.

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The turbo has a variable resistance unit

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and a power meter meaning that it will both

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accurately calculate my output

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and adjust the resistance that I'm feeling in

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the pedals depending on where I'm riding on Zwift.

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This means that riding uphill

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actually feels like going uphill,

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and you'll need to change gear accordingly.

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Upfront then, and what we have here,

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is the Wahoo Kickr Climb.

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This automatically simulates the gradient,

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again, mimicking what's going on on Zwift.

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Up to 20% incline and 10% decline.

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And finally, we have the Kickr Headwind.

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And this is a fan that connects to your turbo trainer,

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or your heart rate monitor,

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and adjusts the level of cooling based on

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the intensity of your riding.

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You can, of course,

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override this and just put it on full.

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- Chris, should we Zwift?

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- Let's.

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- Before we start,

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apologies, mate,

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for making you go on the entry-level setup.

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It just so happens that we don't have

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the necessary adapters for that trainer

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to allow me to fit my disparate bike on there.

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So you're just gonna have to

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tell me all about it, mate.

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- Not sure that was the most sincere apology,

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but let's go on.

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- Alright, here we go.

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(gentle techno music)

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- The first thing that you'll notice when

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riding a basic setup,

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is that there is no direct feedback

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through the pedals.

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No resistance change as you ride uphill or downhill.

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Now, although I really miss that,

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I think it's probably fair to say that

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unless you've ridden a smart trainer,

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you won't actually know what you're missing anyway.

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But let's not focus on what you don't have,

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but what you do.

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You can still use all the social aspects of Zwift,

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you can logon and change your avatar,

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advance through all the levels,

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explore the world,

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and join group rides.

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And the training functionality is still there.

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You can logon and use the multitude of training

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sessions that Zwift has and ride along to them.

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And don't forget, the effort I'm putting in is

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still the same no matter what the trainer.

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The estimation of power is also great for training,

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especially when it comes to tracking your improvements.

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If it's telling you you have an FTP of 200 watts,

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and you've boosted that up to 220,

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those are real fitness gains.

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Yes, it may not be that accurate,

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and the degree of error could mean that

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you've actually gone from 240 watts up to 270,

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but, assuming you're always using the same setup,

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then the results should at least be consistent.

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(gentle techno music)

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- So what then about our bells and whistles setup?

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What do we get?

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Well, following off from what Chris

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has just been saying about training,

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the power meter built in to this Kickr

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is accurate to just 2% meaning that

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we can use it to closely monitor our training,

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and it also means that we can actually compare

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our own results to other people's cause

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2% accuracy is kind of like the gold standard.

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Now, you might not be into waggling around

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your FTP in front of other people,

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but what it does mean on Zwift

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is that you will be eligible to post results

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in Zwift racing because Zwift racing knows

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that you are using equipment that can be trusted.

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The other point to note from the training sessions

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is that by using a smart trainer,

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you have an option opened up to you called Erg Mode,

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and this is where the trainer would generate

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the exact resistance required for each interval.

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And that's using the calculations that Zwift has made

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based on my own ability.

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So what it means in practice, is that if,

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for example, the interval specifies 350 watts,

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so long as I'm turning the pedals,

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this trainer would generate that resistance.

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It means that I will be doing 350 watts

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no matter how fast or slowly I'm pedaling.

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For me, though, it's probably the enhancement

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to the riding experience that's most notable.

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So the feedback that you get from the trainer,

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depending on what's going on on-screen,

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so as I'll start to climb,

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I'll feel the resistance kick in

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meaning that I'll have to change gear.

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And then also with this Kickr Climb upfront,

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the gradient of my bike changes

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meaning that my body position changes as well.

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Now, although I'm not literally fighting gravity,

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it does kinda feel like it just as

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the opposite is true when I start going downhill,

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the resistance eases off,

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and away I go.

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Now I think it's fair to say that

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if you are using a smart trainer,

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just like if you had a power meter on your bike,

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then you can definitely enhance your training.

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You could probably get fitter as a result

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because you can really drill down

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and make sure the training you're doing

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is absolutely optimal.

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And then the other thing away from training,

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if you're just a big fan of riding on Zwift,

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the community, the social element,

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then having this setup will enhance

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the experience for you.

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But, the good news is that in both those cases,

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it is, of course, not essential.

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What I would do though,

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I would try and replicate from this

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onto the basic setup is firstly,

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a way of cooling yourself down.

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So you do get hot riding indoors,

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and so any old fan is better than nothing.

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Although of course, the better the fan,

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the better your cooling will be.

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Then the other thing,

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is that although that smartphone that

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Chris is using is incredibly convenient,

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particularly if you're traveling around,

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you will find that you're more connected

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if you're using a bigger screen.

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So a tablet, or in this case,

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I got an Apple TV connected up to a giant screen

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and I do indeed feel very connected

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with my virtual world.

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And the good thing about that is it then

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leaves your phone free to use for the companion app.

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(upbeat techno music)

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- It's been a long time since I use Zwift

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on a completely normal indoor turbo trainer

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like this one,

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and it's quite weird not feeling the climbs

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or feeling the slipstream as others go past me,

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but if I'd never experienced that,

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I wouldn't know I was missing out.

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- No, but given that you went from

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an ordinary trainer to a smart trainer,

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how did that feel for you making that step up?

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- Well I really enjoyed it because

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I don't always do a training session,

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so when I logged on I just wanted to go for a ride

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or go hard every now and again,

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kinda like a far like style thing,

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and to feel the climb hit you as opposed to

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you having to change gears to alter the intensity,

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I really enjoyed that.

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- Yeah I think that's the thing is that with the

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extra investment of those interactive trainers,

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you get that element to which it's more realistic,

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and it also breaks up what's otherwise

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quite a linear experience in that,

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as you say, you have to respond...

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My bike just angles there as the gradient kicks in.

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You have to respond to what's going on in the road,

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so it breaks things up,

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you're changing gear,

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you're having to pick up your cadence,

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get used to those shifts in resistance,

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and it does feel very similar to riding outside.

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I guess, the strength of the basic setup though,

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is that you have most of the elements

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of Zwift still at your disposal,

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so you've got all the training sessions.

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- Yeah.

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- And they you will feel absolutely normal.

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You can control those completely,

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and also you've got the social elements,

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so we are kind of riding together, aren't we?

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- Yep, and I-- - Although I think

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I dropped you.

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- Uh yeah, a little bit.

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I also get my power output here

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based on the slope curve of the turbo trainer,

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so I know just how hard I'm trying.

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- Yeah. Is it accurate?

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- Yeah, probably.

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It's not too far off, actually.

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- Yep, there we go.

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(upbeat techno music)

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As we conclude this video,

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there is one thing that we should

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mention first and foremost,

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and that is that we've got trainers at

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completely the opposite end of the spectrum here.

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And it's not an either-or situation because

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there are ones in the middle, aren't there?

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So you can get more basic interactive trainers

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that do not cost as much money,

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but that still give you the interactive feel

[596]

that you get from Zwift.

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So they've got variable resistance units,

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and they've also got built-in power meters as well.

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- To get the most out of your standard turbo trainer,

[604]

you want to keep a close eye on your tire pressures

[606]

and the air pressure and temperature in the room

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you're using it in as well.

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This will help you get better,

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