I was interested in Rouvy as it apparently had the 70.3 Chattanooga course and so I thought I would give it try.
I first did that introduction 2 mile ride and while that was on some actual course I was surprised by the poor graphics. My avatar and those near me looked to be bouncing above the saddle with some daylight visible every other stroke. Plus in general the scenery was underwhelming.
I then loaded the 70.3 Chattanooga course and all that was presented looked like a cheap version of Relive. Basically a map with the trainer fed elevation and resistance
I was interested in Rouvy as it apparently had the 70.3 Chattanooga course and so I thought I would give it try.
I first did that introduction 2 mile ride and while that was on some actual course I was surprised by the poor graphics. My avatar and those near me looked to be bouncing above the saddle with some daylight visible every other stroke. Plus in general the scenery was underwhelming.
I then loaded the 70.3 Chattanooga course and all that was presented looked like a cheap version of Relive. Basically a map with the trainer fed elevation and resistance
What am I missing or overlooking?I have not played with Rouvy since they were officially hosting courses for Ironman during the Covid virtual races. I think that I even did Chattanooga back then. It was pretty awesome.
But… I wonder if they lost the course when Ironman moved to FulGaz.
I was interested in Rouvy as it apparently had the 70.3 Chattanooga course and so I thought I would give it try.
I first did that introduction 2 mile ride and while that was on some actual course I was surprised by the poor graphics. My avatar and those near me looked to be bouncing above the saddle with some daylight visible every other stroke. Plus in general the scenery was underwhelming.
I then loaded the 70.3 Chattanooga course and all that was presented looked like a cheap version of Relive. Basically a map with the trainer fed elevation and resistance
What am I missing or overlooking?
either they removed chattanooga course due to licensing, but most the courses should have a video associated with it. sometimes you have to toggle a button to go to video mode. Dont know how scenery can be underwhelming, you perfer cartoons to real life video?
There is a wide range of route quality on Rouvy. They go from just a map to 360 video that allows you to look ahead, behind, or a couple of other views. Older routes can questionable, especially the user created routes. The Worlds 70.3 Chattanooga course on Rouvy currently is one that is just based on the GPX with no video, which is why you only saw the map.
The newest routes, ones labeled as OmniMode should give you the best video quality and most features, like different camera angles/views. They still can have issues, like the horizon not being level all the time, but the overlaid graphics tend to be better connected to things in the video. You’ll find the avatars will usually avoid “Obstacles” in the video, but also will find that the avatars sometimes disappear momentarily when the camera encountered things like a red light and the video had to be edited. The user created HD and SD ones will often have floating CGI objects/avatars, or no CGI objects/avatars.
The quality order of Best to Worst on the routes typically goes OmniMode, 2K AR, HD AR, HD, SD. In the HD and SD you will find there are a bunch of user created routes that vary from really good, to awful, both in the video quality, the overlay accuracy, and the resistance/video sync up. But, I still find some of them valuable, because despite the sync and video issues the riding power requirements are pretty true to life, at least on the routes I’ve ridden both on Rouvy and in real life.
The default for Streaming videos is 720p, If you want to get the best video quality you will want to download the videos, but be warned that some of the new OmniMode courses are well over 10GB.
Thanks - can you also watch something else while on Rouvy? Especially where the graphics are not impressive?
You can always start Rouvy and then minimize the window and watch something else while you ride, but I don’t believe there is a way in the application to watch another video file.
I’m sure that would work, but if that’s what you’re looking for, you might be better off using something like Golden Cheetah, which I believe allows you to create a workout based on a TCX or GPX.
You mentioned upthread that the scenery was poor so I went to the route and previewed the video. You are right, there is a whole lot of highway/overpass going on. There are other courses that are spectacular though like the Colorado River |Utah| or the Stelvio downhill. I look on the my.rouvy page and do a search on the map using the filter to limit results to what I am looking for. When you find a route that looks good you can preview the video to get an idea of how good or bad it is.
Like someone said further up there is a wide variety of quality. Last year there were a bunch of new routes in Viet Nam which interested me but most of them were terrible…low res, camera at funny angles, not synced to the terrain (or all 3) but recently super high quality routes have been popping up there. There is also a route through Glacier NP that has the worst video of all, it’s not synced to the route and was filmed in segments that got pasted together out of order so the video has you going downhill while the effort is uphill.
This is why I did a zwift trial and was out. I don’t look at the scenery, I don’t look at or care about who else is riding, I don’t race, and I watch a show/game/movie so why do I need an app for that. I just do the intervals while watching something and I’m done. I’ve never tried Rouvy but does it offer something different?
I tried Rouvy and RGT because I wanted local race routes users created. I figured it would be like iFit which uses Google maps to show the actual street. Instead, Rouvy was just a map with a pin moving along as you ride (which i think you experienced). RGT had magic roads, which was an improvement over just a pin, but the user interface was just awful.
I was interested in Rouvy as it apparently had the 70.3 Chattanooga course and so I thought I would give it try.
I first did that introduction 2 mile ride and while that was on some actual course I was surprised by the poor graphics. My avatar and those near me looked to be bouncing above the saddle with some daylight visible every other stroke. Plus in general the scenery was underwhelming.
I then loaded the 70.3 Chattanooga course and all that was presented looked like a cheap version of Relive. Basically a map with the trainer fed elevation and resistance
What am I missing or overlooking?
My understanding that since FulGaz is now the official ride sponsor for Ironman, that Rouvy lost all the licensing for Ironman/70.3 courses. The Chattanooga 70.3 course is on FulGaz. I haven’t seen that one yet, but I have seen other FulGaz courses and the video quality is fantastic and of course it connects with your trainer to get the outdoor ride effect.
I have been using Rouvy for 5+ years now and actually like it better than the other options
Zwift was too much like a video game and it did not allow me to ride race courses I was prepping for- The main reason I use Rouvy
As has been stated Fulgaz has the IM license now but I have been able to find most of the IM courses I wanted still on Rouvy.
I tried Fulgaz and that lasted 3 rides. The glitching and shutting down of the program 10 minutes into a ride 3 times made me return to Rouvy.
Rouvy may not be perfect but the course videos are just to get an idea/something to have on the Ipad that is connected to a smaller TV with
my larger TV showing a movie/Futbol game/etc that is the true distraction,
Good luck, it seems everyone has their preferences, to each their own.