Which do you like more and why? Is one superior to the other? It seems like they do the same thing except Zwift looks a little more social media-ish. TIA.
horses for courses. I use trainer road for serious training and zwift for ‘fun’ indoor rides
What the other guy said. If you’re interested in a serious training tool that will make you faster if you’re willing to put the work in, get trainerroad. If you just want something to entertain you while you mindlessly spin on the trainer, get zwift. (Though if you already pay for netflix, I recommend ditching zwift and just mindlessly spin to movies…)
Zwift. I can build my favorite workouts into Zwift and do them there.
How long do the trainerroad workouts typically run?
Depends on what training plan you choose. Trainerroad has literally over a thousand workouts of different lengths and varieties. You’ll never get bored.
And in response to the guy who says he can build your own workouts, trainerroad has a workout builder feature as well. So that’s a wash. But trainerroad’s training plans are phenomenal. IMO anyone can create their own workout. The strength in this training system is that you pick a plan and then let the program dictate what you do to get better, which usually forces you to work harder than you would if you were creating your own workouts.
I’ve been using Zwift since last fall, and while I love the experience of virtual riding on a paradise island, several things are starting to bug me to the point that I might cancel my subscription:
- the UX is really unintuitive. Just getting to the settings menu requires you to either know keyboard shortcuts or end a ride. And restart if resolutions etc are changed. I think. Anyways, it’s not there in your face when you log in. Not to mention that most important settings changes need to be done with a text editor directly into the settings xml file. Comenon guys, this is not an open source project.
- Call me unsocial, but I absolutely hate the virtual riders. And the list of other riders close to me. I don’t mind seing the other riders on the course, but I seriously don’t care what his/her name is nor where he is from. This is not social media, this is me riding a trainer in the basement for gods sake. I know I can disable the list by editing the settings file, but that eliminates the power/hr/cadence fields also. And why cant the minimal UI settings be changed via the UI?
- no map, and the terrain graph is pretty useless and also unintuitive (sometimes it shows just a portion of the route, sometimes the full hilly route even though you’re going for the flat etc). Seriously, how hard is it to display a map on screen?
- getting slightly bored with Watopia and Richmond. I know the watopia island so well by now that staring the wall is starting to feel like a compelling option.
I know, they’re a fresh startup and all, but it feel strange that they’ve come this far and now that they actually have real cash flow it seems like development has stagnated. Anyways, thinking about giving some of the competitors a spin if new features and routes fon’t start showing up.
TrainerRoad is, next to my Speedo endurance suit, the best dollar for dollar return on investment in this sport I have experienced.
On top of that, the guys are awesome.
How long do the trainerroad workouts typically run?
From 12 minutes to 6 hours but the bulk of them are between 60 and 90 minutes. The real key to TrainerRoad is not really the individual workouts themselves but the training plans of which there are a couple dozen to choose from. A progression of base, build, specialty blocks runs about 20-24 weeks.
I love Zwift, but am also considering cancelling my subscription. I underestimated how motivating the “leveling-up” was for me, and unlocking new bike goodies. I’ve been maxed out at level 25 for a while, and with no new scenery or achievements it feels stagnant. I typically run my work outs with TrainerRoad controlling my Kickr, but simultaneously running Zwift.
I think unless you’re going to take advantage of the group rides and the social aspects of Zwift, you’re better off with TrainerRoad. If you’re social, then Zwift is a great product to interact with other people.
I am going through this question as well. I have been using Trainer Road for a few years and can’t say enough about the results I have achieved. It works. I have been using that for training and Netflix to entertain me.
I just downloaded Zwift though as I thought I would give it a try. I was thinking of running Trainer Road in the horizontal mode below the Zwift screen so I can keep going with my plan in Trainer Road and get the feel of Zwift. Since I don’t know anyone that uses Zwift personally to group ride with and I also don’t have an electronic trainer to adjust for hill automatically, I am not sure what I am going to get out of it other than changing from watching Netflix to some avatar riding around but I thought I would give it a try.
If Zwift had the same training plans as Trainer Road for triathletes, that included the run training as well, I might go for a full switch and really test it but I can’t see leaving a proven success training tool for an uncertain one completely.
My 70.3 time dropped 20 minutes in a year and 15 of that was on the bike alone. Finally flirting with the sub 5 hour mark so I feel happy with my progress from Trainer Road alone. It’s just is a bit boring. Wish I could drop Trainer Road plans into Zwift like Sufferfest video can drop into Trainer Road.
very dependant of personality. i have seen spectacular results with Zwift. With some athletes…i can get them to push a lot harder than on any other bike program or session. As a coach…i really like Zwift. As for trainer road…if you already have a powermeter…i dont see much point in it.
for non coaches athletes…i can see trainer road been a very good resources…
Like others said, horses for courses. TR is for those who can keep up with focused training. Especially useful if you don’t have a coach and doubly useful with a smart trainer. Zwift is for being less bored on a trainer.
For me the workout library (and training plans) is the real defining difference. Yes you can build your own in each but Zwift has a comparatively limited library where TR has a massive library built by coaches accessible right out of the box. That is huge. Flip side, the TR workouts take a little more discipline to follow and stay motivated for without the visual eye candy.
I guess I see them as complimentary programs rather than competitive ones (if you can pay for both). Zwift’s big pull is the races/events. I have gone waaaaaay deeper on a trainer during a weekly ZTR than I ever could on my own. They are truly brutal. These started as ad-hoc groups and have gradually become pretty organized events. Zwift is developing so fast who knows what they will have in place come winter when I renew my subscription to one of them.
Admittedly - I have both subscriptions. I love the TR plans. best bargain out there in my mind. I typically run a TR workout in horizontal or I “port” the TR workout to a zwift formatted workout and run it in Zwift. To be clear I am a paying subscriber to both.
Where Zwift has differentiated to me is the social aspect. Through happenstance I have become part of one the of the “teams” organizing rides and races on the platform. When you plug in the social aspect and competition it becomes very compelling. A Sunday metric ride on the trainer goes from mundane to at least tolerable when you have a group of people sharing the ride to chat with.
Last night was doing TR Spencer 45 for an upcoming TT. One of the guys I know popped on and through Discord I suddenly went from a very boring TR workout to a workout with a training buddy to chat with between intervals. Then a guy helping guide / coach me popped on and continued the dialog about race prep. I can’t get any of that on TR.
I will also say that I love how the intervals begin and end on Zwift in the workout mode. More visual.
I think Zwift knows there are a lot of areas of improvement. Its still in its infancy.
For those of you who are using Zwift basically as a distraction while doing a TrainerRoad workout or otherwise doing your own thing and not a group ride, may I suggest YouTube. I spent last winter watching bike races on YouTube while doing TrainerRoad workouts. There are lots of full races up there. I found that way more interesting. For me, Zwift is cool if I am actually interacting with the other “riders” but it does not do much for me if I am just doing my own thing. At that point, I’m left with staring at a good, but no great, avatar and some repeating good but no where near real looking computer generated scenery with the distraction of other “riders” tempting me to get off my workout plan for the day. I find watching actual cyclists and real trees and fields more interesting even if the video is not 100% POV.
Question - what is the best way to chat, etc while riding Zwift? I have used Zwift a bit but never got beyond fumbling for my phone for basic controls and there is no way I can type on that and ride (at least not hard). What are the tricks?
MOst of the time I text. I find its easier to run the zwift app on my iPad and text there - bigger buttons. the computer keyboard is too unwieldy and I always forget to hit “m” to message and and up screwing up my ride with wild keystrokes.
The best way is to use TeamSpeak or Discord. They are aps designed for gamers to chat and they play their FPS games, etc. The ODZ group has been using them in rides/races since late last year. The drawback is getting people up to speed on how to use them. We did a team ride a week or so ago and having 15 guys chatting away while climbing and riding was pretty different. Made the ride much more “real”.
very dependant of personality. i have seen spectacular results with Zwift. With some athletes…i can get them to push a lot harder than on any other bike program or session. As a coach…i really like Zwift. **As for trainer road…if you already have a powermeter…i dont see much point in it. **
for non coaches athletes…i can see trainer road been a very good resources…
Could you elaborate about not much point with trainerroad if you already have a power meter?
very dependant of personality. i have seen spectacular results with Zwift. With some athletes…i can get them to push a lot harder than on any other bike program or session. As a coach…i really like Zwift. **As for trainer road…if you already have a powermeter…i dont see much point in it. **
for non coaches athletes…i can see trainer road been a very good resources…
Could you elaborate about not much point with trainerroad if you already have a power meter?
look at it the other way…what does trainer road as to offer that your powermeter at home cant do? taking into account that you have a coach and have a schedule to stick to…
look at it the other way…what does trainer road as to offer that your powermeter at home cant do? taking into account that you have a coach and have a schedule to stick to…
Nothing although I personally find the TrainerRoad workout display on a laptop set up in front of me with its graph and data display a bit easier to look at for an hour or two while on the trainer than my Garmin but you are correct that if you don’t need virtual power, the workouts or the plans, you are basically paying $10 for a Garmin alternative.
But, that is not how most people use TrainerRoad. TrainerRoad is the poor man’s coach so that is where we are getting our workouts and our schedules. The display is just a free with purchase item 