Is Rouvy the Zwift Killer?

[@insidecyclingworld]

Jump into a Team GRC Sunday Short Race, we have a great group of regular racers and are attracting more every ride. All are welcome, all abilities

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

Man that’s awesome and I’ll pin it to the comments. I have cancelled the sub but good luck with it dude.

[@insidecyclingworld]

@@burgess_and_his_bike Thanks man I really enjoy the platform. If anyone wants to try it and they see this comment here's a code for one month free "COLIN1M" good for all of 2024

[@bikeanddogtripsvirtualcycling]

The muckers races Sunday morning and a few evenings plus the Sunday afternoon grc races are the most popular. Grc tend to be shorter flatter whilst muckers are often mountains. Tourmalet, zoncolan, plateau de beille etc. Race stats upload to Rouvy site after everyone has finished. The different bikes make a difference depending on the type of route and there are a lot of wheels to choose from. Ghost riders and avatars of previous riders are available. Kudos stuff is available now and maybe in game chat is on the way. I stream a lot of races if it helps give people an idea, as does team GRC in the pinned comment.

[@zeekryder7735]

For racing, Zwift can not be beaten. Indievelo is great (ugly and desolate) but no strava kind of kills all the fun of doing your best. Rouvy is an Atari version of zwift. (lol). I get tired of seeing traffic and pretty blah scenic rides. Even though it is authentic, I prefer zwift climb portals (yes, I said I disliked it at first). None of them are 100% worth the cost. But neither are groceries and gas.

[@BooksWithBrad]

I definitely wish more people would use rouvy. I really like being able to do all these famous climbs. Its also really nice to be able to do any of these climbs whenever i want. The world rotation schedule on zwift really bothered me. Like if i wanted to france or mont ventoux but its not the third weekend of the month or whatever then i dont get that option. I also really like that they have a loyalty program so it keeps getting a bit cheaper. If zwift had a loyalty program i would have probably stayed. But for $25 CAD its just too pricey. I do like the social aspect of zwift but lately ive just been watching netflix while rouvy runs on the ipad. Also i found that with all the people and drafting on zwift that my weekly kilometers were so heavily inflated. Constantly at 30km/h+ on flats while barely pedalling but irl i would be struggling to hold 30.

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

I agree with a lot of this. It is too pricey and yes, you seem to go wayyyy too fast on Zwift. I think that’s where Zwift succeeds though. Most people riding indoors want an experience that isn’t the same as riding outside. Zwift gives them a game and I think that is attractive.

[@BooksWithBrad]

@@burgess_and_his_bike yeah..i just wish that zwift would have group plans as well. Like if youre gonna be the most expensive at least give us some options to spread it out. Granted its only me right now in the house using online cycling but having a duo plan or family would be a nice token. But i think theyre too greedy to do that.

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

@@BooksWithBrad I agree with you here. I’ve heard a few people saying that they wish that Zwift had this so their kids could use it too or their wife. A bit like how Netflix has family accounts. Wouldn’t be hard to I guess the risk is I could jump on my wife’s account to win races.

[@BooksWithBrad]

@@burgess_and_his_bike i mean people have already been weight doping for years on zwift. Without zwift power there would be almost no reason to race because of all the cheaters.

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

@@BooksWithBrad that’s true mate

[@bjovers1]

Sucks that its empty. I feel they should've fleshed out the racing element and made it competitive to zwift while they were free. Now there's no incentive for people to move from zwift and pay almost the same and get less

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

Totally. Some people love it but it’s just stale for me.

[@bikeanddogtripsvirtualcycling]

Forgot to mention that Rouvy also has several route partnerships such as the vuelta, challenge triathlon and pedalitaly so you can try official race routes from grand tours, world championships etc.

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

Yeah it does and that's pretty cool. I just find that riding on those routes without people along the course is actually kinda drab, but that's me. I've been spoilt in the hypo world of Zwift.

[@bikeanddogtripsvirtualcycling]

@@burgess_and_his_bike if you have the time, sign up a free account and join us on Sunday morning at 9.15am for The Muckers race, or at 3.15 Sunday afternoon for the GRC race. The afternoon race tends to have more as the route is always easier. Obviously not hundreds like zwift but enough to form groups and create breakaways etc. would be great to see you there .

[@Xhadp]

I'd say another downfall with Rouvy and other bike trainer platforms not listed is the psychical component. Zwift has the Zwift hub which makes it super easy to put a bike on and swap it out. That initial barrier is huge in determining which platform someone goes with. Needing to find a trainer, and then needing the compatible adapter and then the correct cassette followed by having a correct secondary bike to match the cassette was just too much to wrap my brain around. Then Zwift came along and put it all into one nice package for me. If Rouvy and other platforms can at least make virtual shifting possible with a singular cog I might be willing to give them a more proper in-depth look.

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

That’s the advantage that Zwift has. First to market means they’ve developed those loyalty systems and have also had time to produce hardware for the system. I think those things are a long way off here sadly.

[@karlj711]

Recently deleted Rouvy, the real life videos were great but as a platform i found it dull, boring & bereft of other riders.

[@GS-pk9rd]

Good review and I agree on most points. I've been on it a while and it has seen many improvements, but there are still areas of weakness as mentioned. One thing you didn't mention is the ability to add previous rides people have done (not just ghosts), to race against as their avatars. You can put a load on with your approx w/kg and even your own time. Super motivational even though you know you're not racing against them 'live'.

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

I did see that you are able to create ghosts to race against and that is cool.

[@GS-pk9rd]

@@burgess_and_his_bike it really is, and no tougher competitor than yourself, attacking up a climb when you were on a good day!

[@morgano9832]

Hmm interesting review. First of all, competition is good for the consumer, so any alternatives to the big Z (well at least one!) rooting to succeed. Secondly is what consumers want out of a cycling app so hard? Maybe its that development teams are so small for these projects and the return on investment low that it doesnt attract big enough pools of talent. Zwift certainly started off completely different than where it is now. Personally I just want something that I can do group rides with if Im bored. I know I can do intervals and trainingpeaks pretty easy on Rouvy. But like you said the lack of people is frustrating. I do the group rides all the time especially when lacking motivation. Just seeing 40+ other people in a peloton on the screen is motivating to get through the long days.

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

I agree, and I’m rooting for Rouvy for sure, but I just don’t see why you’d use this if you get what Zwift has for $8 more. If this cost less, definitely, but I feel that for what they have they need to be more competitive on price, otherwise it’s not there for me. That being said, the app is gorgeous, and if they get their shit together they have something special here.

[@ralfmimoun2826]

That shows how good Zwift covers most, if not all bases. When I started with serious cycling (means: some hours per week), I was on Zwift social rides twice a day. I found friends from all over the world, and met them irl for epic rides (like Mallorca 312). Five years later, and all my social rides are outside, once or twice a week. The rest is all indoors, strictly by plan, no way to do that outdoors. Now I only need something that is easy to use, has some nice graphics when I get bored and records my activity reliably even when I switch to Netflix. The result: I cancelled Zwift and switched to Mywhoosh.

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

@@ralfmimoun2826 hey mate, thanks for the comment. Glad you found your place on Zwift. It got me through the pandemic so I have very fond feelings towards it. Still, I feel the same as you and am excited to test MyWhoosh. Looks like racing is good on there too so keen for that.

[@ralfmimoun2826]

@@burgess_and_his_bike Thanks four your video! I never did races there. What I like on MyWhoosh is that it loads faster than Zwift on Windows (as long as you don't need a 1.5GB update, but Zwift updates are also unbelieveable slow), the calendar with the training sessons is very easy to reach and even easier to use. Compare that to 10+ clicks in Zwift until you can start your session. Oh, and it's free, of course 🙂

[@morgano9832]

@ralfmimoun2826 Hey you met another friend!! We must have done 312 together then! I rode this year and last lol

[@frankpapaleo357]

What do you think about MyWhoosh or fulgaz for the 4K scenery? I’m using the big Z but other options are always welcome

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

Literally testing MyWhoosh right now, and based on what I’m seeing I’d cancel your Zwift membership.

[@bababaanarama]

check rolla and indievelo

[@anthonymian1242]

I am doing the same testing. Mywhoosh is free and feels very similar to zwift. Has training sorted and the world has enough people to not feel alone. Also free. Big factor.

[@Ecle888015]

Switched from Zwift to the free Mywhoosh, this was before the pay increase. Liking what I see.

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

@@Ecle888015 me too mate after my first ride

[@hucklejoko4838]

Mywhoosh is free (amd will always be)

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

I don’t know if it always will be. Did some reading and there isn’t a revenue stream. This week I’m looking at MyWhoosh so if you’re interested in my thoughts, hang tight.

[@MrLeovdmeer]

Rouvy is dead.

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

Yep. Lidl-Trek partnership won’t save it. If Lidl-Trek partnered with a corpse, corpse is still dead.

[@GS-pk9rd]

Disagree. I've been on it for 2.5 years and it's improved and grown a lot in that time. Mid winter northern hemisphere is much busier. There are definitely further areas of improvement needed. Seeing race results easily rather than hunting for them after you close the finish screen, choosing races more easily, more social stuff needed - agree with all those points in the review

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

@@GS-pk9rd glad to hear it man.

[@EvolveOutdoors]

Get outside.

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

Mate if I could I would, but I’ve got twin girls under 2 so I stay fit however I can. We’re all on our own journeys brother, and I’m just trying to keep it real.

[@markrussell4282]

@@burgess_and_his_bike man do I feel that! I have two boys, one 4 one 18m. You have to get what you can. Getting out for 4/5 hour rides take a lot of planning!

[@burgess_and_his_bike]

@@markrussell4282 mate if you can negotiate 4-5 rides with the missus while you’ve got two kids you should be in charge of negotiating the Middle East peace settlement. Thats my issue. I ride outdoors once to twice a week and the rest is in the garage with the monitor on 😂

[@roadcyclist1]

Comments like this usually come from people who never leave their couch.