Have you tried buying it some drinks?

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Take a short break from ST and read my blog:
http://tri-banter.blogspot.com/

I went from a dumb trainer to a smart trainer last winter (KK Road Machine to Saris H3). I'm primarily a TrainerRoad workout user and the change in trainer was not a revolutionary experience. Doing structured workouts in erg mode is kinda nice and makes it a bit easier to zone out and just pedal hard or easy.

Regards to boredom, I'm a TV show/Movie/Sports watcher when on the trainer. I've tried Zwift and Rouvy and virtual/video game cycling isn't for me. I should probably be said that I didn't race while on Zwift, but might be the only reason to do it.

What exactly were you looking for it to do? If you’re not putting it in erg mode for training or hooking up to Zwift to let it control it you’re not going to get anything else out of it.
Smart trainers aren’t this tool to make things more fun and exciting. It’s just a bit of a change to traditional trainers.

I also have a Tacx Neo. I tried all the apps you did. Zwift lasted the longest but it became no fun after about 3 months. I then tried a bunch of different ones. I then found FulGaz. Real life videos in 4k format. You may as well be there as it's that real. They have 100s and 100s of videos. They add new rides/videos every Tuesday. They also run some weekly competitions which are fun. They also have numerous training programs.
I connect with Windows 10 and have no problems. I wire the laptop to a 58" tv. You download the videos first so they run really smooth. I play Spotify through the laptop at the same time and it works great.
They have a free trial I think that is 2 weeks. I look forward to riding everyday, in the man cave. Give it try.

I do not enjoy my smart trainer. I never thought it was much fun. I do not enter my pain cave for entertainment...

That said, when I climb on to the trainer, I do so for maximum performance benefit. I use TrainerRoad, because for me, I believe that gives me the greatest gains. I have a good pair of noise-canceling over-ear headphones and I watch Netflix while getting in my TR workout. I like that approach, because all I have to do is hit the numbers while I disconnect my brain with Netflix.

When I am riding outside and climb a hill faster than anyone else I know, I get retroactive fun from all my smart trainer workouts, because the awesomeness of that climb would not have been possible without the hours on the trainer.

Shhh, you do realize you're on Zwiftwitch right? You're not allowed to bad mouth Zwift here. Edit your post before you are put in exile. [/pink, not pink]

p.s. I'm not a Zwift fan either. Tried it several times and it's just not for me. Give me TrainerRoad and a movie/show any day of the week and I'm a happy camper. Btw, I'm using a Neo 2 and really like it.

I feel ERG has it's place for the sub hour 3x3 up to 2x20 style interval workouts. Yes. In out, thanks, goodbye. I do that plenty.

However, for rainy weeks and Z2 or things like tempo/SS..........I much prefer choosing a route with climbs or features that allow me to get that stimulus out of a longer ride. I simply can't do the whole GUI style workout stuff for 3 or 4 hours indoors. Hell no.

Also, personal opinion.........I feel keeping it in realistic sim at 100% difficulty for those longer indoor endurance rides makes for a better adapted rider outdoors when you encounter needing to pace your ride over actual terrain without staring at a GPS.

Riding Zwift in full sim for the TT bike has made my pacing outdoors phenomenal compared to 2 years ago when I started out.

You're missing the social aspect. Group rides, meetups, races. If you haven't tried any of these things then you're making a premature judgement.

I had a smart trainer for two weeks before returning it. Sure, Zwift was neat, but it's nothing like real racing/riding. It was cool to have the resistance change when going up/down a hill, but it's a novelty at best and ERG mode during workouts feels pointless because it's not rocket science to follow a workout on your own. The only thing I really liked about it was that it was quite a bit quieter than my dumb trainer, but that wasn't worth the ~$800 to me.

I think in some ways you've kinda picked similiar apps, minus the Tacx app - which is a different blend of things.

Go try The Sufferfest, and in particular try Team Scream workout (or Joyride if you're short on time). There's something about the construction and videos of those two workouts that'd different from many of other workouts.

Obviously, not affiliated with them - but I think they're different enough from what you've been trying thus far. The other thing it's not clear from above is if you did any races in Zwift (specifically). Or even more specifically a Crit Race. That to me is considerably different than the other ones (or a group ride), and sometimes a bit more exciting.

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

Riding the trainer is Type II Fun

I am also a HUGE SF fan. Just did "everything but the kitchen sink" 3hr ride yesterday while I watched the new ECHO Challange on Amazon Prime. Enjoyed both!

I think it's more of a personality issue. Some people don't enjoy indoor training no matter how many bells and whistles you throw in. I have tried both Zwift, Rouvy, and Trainer Road. I got bored of Zwift very quickly. The whole gaming aspect does not appeal to me at all. Trainer Road was fine but only because I could pair it with other entertainment. The sweet spot for me is Rouvy because I love the realism and riding different routes all over the world. I also pair with a movie or TV show on the side and it is perfect. I need something that is challenging but that allows me to do other stuff as well while I am riding. For me Rouvy gives me the best of both worlds and it's pretty darn affordable.

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http://dontletitdefeatyou.blogspot.com

For me, it's the opposite. With my old trainer, doing any sort of workout or ride was just mind-numbing torture, even with music, movies or old Tour/Ironman videos to help. Getting an Elite Direto X and Zwift was a game changer. I ride longer, more often, and most importantly, enjoy it. And I haven't seen a 6 month boost in fitness like this in over 10 years...

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"I'm thinking of a number between 1 and 10, and I don't know why!"

What routes did you pick in Rouvy? Are there routes that you know and have ridden IRL? I'm currently trying FulGaz and being able to ride local routes/climbs I know is really engaging. This is coming off close to two years of Zwift.

I liked zwift while I was using it like I used TrainerRoad. Once I finished the program I was on (and didn’t have a clear path forward) then I just tried riding around watopia and the other maps and got bored pretty quick. I’ll go back to trainerroad on my dumb trainer once there is a bit more certainty around racing. Right now I’m just doing unstructured rides while watching Netflix.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I think you should have to list your age whenever you say something positive or negative about Zwift . It gives your comments more context

I'll bet op never did a Zwift race or group ride, and is just riding around Watopia aimlessly.

Races, group rides/workouts are where the main action is at on Zwift. Races you MUST try on Zwift before saying 'meh-boring' - I honestly don't see how you could possibly find it boring (if anything it's too brutally hard!)

Although to be fair, I have a fair amount of fun just riding around Watopia until someone just a hair slightly faster than I was planning to go sneaks by, and then I tail them for as long as I can. I love the resultant hammerfests that occur (as long as I'm on a harder riding day!)

NO BAD-MOUTHING ZWIFT OR LIONEL - THEMZ THE RULZ!! OH.. and F***K LANCE 4EVA!!!

Yeah I agree. Using an indoor trainer is just like it sounds, using an indoor trainer, even if it's "smart". For Zwift - group rides/races and going for jerseys is what makes it interesting. Their Zwift academy each fall is motivation to keep momentum going at a time when I'm usually (non COVID years) approaching my triathlon off season.

Riding around endlessly is boring (riding solo outdoors can ALSO be boring), but I also challenge myself to go for QOMs, sprints, etc - and that keeps it fun.

Partly because of need, but I went from a "oh I'll do a workout once a week on the trainer" to "when is the last time I rode outside" person. These days, my weekday rides are all indoors (just dont fancy being roadkill during the week). My weekend ones are often indoors too if they are shorter than 90 min.

Really Zwift and the smart trainer were a game changer for me in terms of indoor riding.I was training for Ultraman a few years back from September - February in the Northeast US. I got frozen on one too many outdoor rides and turned all indoors at about the December mark (minus a few weird warm days). Zwift + netflix gave me something interesting to look at for 7+ hour trainer rides.

I’ve done a number of races and they just don’t do it for me. They take away too many elements of actual riding and it’s so purely about watts that it wasn’t that much fun for me after the novelty factor wore off. That and always wondering if the competition was doing it fairly or not... nah.

I went on an easy group ride on Saturday (first one in years) and it was so much more enjoyable. Attacking on real hills, reading body language, cornering...

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

Even my best Zwift race experiences are no equal to a fun outdoor real-world group ride. For sure. I don't think Zwift will ever replace a good outdoor ride - as much as I enjoy Zwift, I only have ridden it a few times during summer, as the outdoor riding here in Norcal is so good.

But if you can't get outdoor rides in, Zwift racing is legit. If it's not your cup of tea, than sure, that's fine, but for me, any time I'm ready to hammer and you get a group of 5+ riders of similar ability to me beating on each other for the entirety of the race, it's great fun!

I also really enjoy the Zwift big group ride events, like Tour of Watopia. Lots of fun to start out mellow with 500 riders, then pick up the pace and pass lots of folks, and then ride the last 30% as a hammerfest race since by then you've filtered out into a group of riders that essentially match your ability. Big thumbs up to everyone at the end of that!