Rouvy is great but it has a few problems. Firstly, it comes with zero sounds which for all intents and purpouses makes riding unrealistic, something like Zwift's generated sounds of nature, wind, rain etc would help a lot. Then, it has a problem of avatar running away on descends where you can reach higher speeds than original video was shot at with videl lagging behind. And it has zero resistance simulation on descends so even not so steep descends for me result in spinning out unrealistically. Again, Zwift in those case leaves a bit of a resistance on a trainer to prevent this.
After many years, I starting riding again this year. I didn’t want to stop in the winter and a dear friend gave me her old Wahoo Kickr. Tried both Zwift and Rouvy, and decided to go for Rouvy because of its reality rides. For me, it’s better and more exciting than the ‘gamey’ feel of Zwift. Happy so far, on the bike 3-4 times a week on Rouvy and riding outside weather permitting. Feeling fitter everyday. Not bad for a 58-year okd like myself….❤☺️
I too was excited to have a "realistic" looking option, but what an incredible disappoinment it was to try Rouvy. It looks like absolute horseshit, even the "2K" version that's downloaded. It's just beyond bad quality, can't imagine how anyone would ever want to look at that crap.
I rode quite a long way up Pico Valeta last year with my cycling buddy and was overwhelmed by the climb and heat so we turned for home after he’d gained sufficient elevation. We spent hours on Rouvy this year building our climbing capacity and rode PV again. The intensity was there and so was the imagery that I knew. I was inspired to ride a bit further as I then had an inkling of what was still to do. We successfully completed the real thing in August and Rouvy was absolutely the key to our achievement being realised
I'm with Connor. I really enjoy riding the real life routes of Rouvy. For me, it's sorta like National Geographic for Cyclists. I love visiting all these awesome locations while keeping fit. I understand why others prefer the cartoon, virtual worlds of Zwift and the larger user base that allows for social engagement. But Rouvy much better suits my needs. So I hope it continues to develop with new software features that even further improve the "realness" of its riding experience. 👍
Exactly. I also like to choose a route and know, where my finish line is. On Zwift like virtual platforms you have to race to know your finish line. I don't like to ride neverending loops for dedicated time.
Been with Rouvy for many years now - actually thanks to GCN for pointing it out in a previous video. Now a World Class rider, and representing GCN with my GCN kit on my Avatar (reward for completing some gruelling GCN sponsored climbs challenges) , I am heading for my Legend status. It is a great platform.
I've been using both Rouvy and Zwift and prefer Rouvy. It takes me to places I want to visit or have visited. I'm more of a solo rider, and thus Rouvy suits me, although I sometimes ride with my father and sister Joy
Been on Rouvy for a few years and love it. I can see the appeal of gameification, but in the dead cold winter months I just want to go ride somewhere warm, not necessarily compete or race. I love it and plan on continuing.
I use Zwift and Rouvy. I have friends on Zwift and I like to do the group workouts with LeCol. I prefer Rouvy however for just plain old cycling indoors. I created two routes on Rouvy. Centennial Lake Nature Reserve and Matawatchan Canada. These are the roads I ride in real life at my cottage so it’s cool to be able to ride them through the winter time. I am hoping to make more next year.
I just rode (19/12/24) Centennial Lake Nature Reserve. Rouvy and Ontario, mine to discover. Thank you. I did Matawatchan last season. I'm waiting for Rouvy Route Creator as I have some GoPro 11 videos of 1000 Islands Parkway, Newcastle/ Port Hope loop that I recorded early this fall. Great colours in you video...and the Canadian Sheild.
Another fan and long-term ROUVY here. I love the realism and famous climbs. I use a Kickr Climb with it for added realism and so that I’m using my muscle group more like I would on the road. And the workouts are great for Zone 2 stuff, which I find hard to maintain on the road.
Have used ROUVY for a year now and as a motionist, I wouldn’t go back to any other platform. I road the Alpe D’Huez a lot of times before I went there in real life and it was fantastic prep for the ride😅😅😅
I have ridden using the Tacx app for Many years (15?) which also have a huge library of videos like this. I love the realism of it and have ridden many places around the world I will never get to in reality. Especially climbing is brilliant since I live in southern Sweden where the highest hill is ~100m and can't get proper climb training. Rouvy looks very similar but with the added avatar so I think I would like that to.
Literally talking about this in the office today. As someone who got board of the more virtual world of other apps, I gave up on indoor training all together. I’ve seen this for a few years now build from a lesser known brand, but now really seems like the ideal time to test it out with winter fast approaching & a fresh outlook. It is competitively priced too so not much to differentiate between that and other apps like Zwift. It will be interesting to look back in say March / April. Hopefully one day it will get to the point where you can ride local road so you can maybe check out other areas of your own country like for example The Lake District or Scotland if here in the UK!
I love the visual feedback of the current and upcoming gradients. (Visual steepness, colors, etc.) Perfect for getting in the right gear ahead of time.
Thanks for this one, Connor! I just started Rouvy this month for similar travel related reasons. Really great to scout out rides in areas you are headed to, and discover places that you might want to go to in the future! Zwift has been my go to for the last few years, and it still has a big place in my winter routine (thanks Canadian weather)... but I could actually see myself using Rouvy all year 'round for these reasons, whereas Zwift is typically Oct-Apr for me.
Love ROUVY. Ideal to do a ride after work in the dark winter months but I also kept doing it regularly during the season. The footage is so good. Set my stages SB20 smartbike to the exact gearing as my road bike and than off I go climbing the Angliru, Stelvio or the Mortirolo or doing a ride in Italy beside a lake or a stage of the Tour de France or the Vuelta…so much great rides to chose from and the weather is always ☀️😎🚴🏽♂️👍🏽
I’ve been riding ROUVY for at least 5 years now and I keep going back to it after dabbling in Zwift, Peleton, and Garmin. Particularly here in Chicagoland it helps break the monotony of long periods of indoor only activity thru the winters with their video in combo with AR. And they have some great training plans as Conor suggested.
Did my first ride on Rouvy today. Started cycling earlier this year and didn’t want to stop for the winter so I bought a smart trainer, which gives me Rouvy for free until 1st Jan. Really enjoyed it, especially as it was blowing a gale and raining cats and dogs outside I’ve a lot to learn (made lots of mistakes this time 🥵)
Very happy with Rouvy, like the feel of just going for a ride somewhere interesting and great for doing large climbs. I think as they get more and more locations it will only improve more by the large range of places to ride.
one key advantage wasn't mentioned: there are literally thousands of kilometers of different routes to ride along. not like those virtually built up worlds of zwift or mywhoosh, with their tiny 20 to 100-ish km 'worlds'... this is the real world, it's big and interesting. so if you're fed up riding always the same routes, it's a real gamechanger for you. explore some new countries and landscapes!
Left Zwift for Rouvy last week. Really enjoying the visuals and working my way around the routes. I have noticed that I have to change gear a lot more on a free ride in Rouvy….i assume that’s to do with Zwifts route design vs real world accuracy
I've tried Rouvy a few times and pay them a monthly subscription just in case it's icy out, but I haven't found myself enjoying it. There are some of my favorite local rides in Rouvy but something about the mechanics is off. An example would be a flat section of road with no grade (like say, the east side of Carter Lake) in real life, but Rouvy has applied as varying grade from -2% to 4% at random. So I'll be riding on a flat section and Rovy will be varying the trainer resistance all over the place. I find it difficult being immersed in it when it is so far off from the way the routes ride in the real.
I've found Rouvy really good. Because it uses a recorded video backdrop, it gives far smoother, high quality images (without buffering issues) on an old PC I have set up for dedicated use. And the Freestyle work outs are good - you can choose you route and power independently and just tap out Z2 base miles in the warm while visually going up the Stelvio or the Alpe for entertainment.
Its been a game changer for me. I was anti indoor training for yeas, but OMG I've got fitter and stronger than ever using this app ,i love it.I tried Zwift ,but could not get on with it as it was sooooo fake .I love the real world look of Rouvy.
It looks great if you don't mind riding on your own. I prefer Zwift, because I can continue peddling if I want to after the route is completed. Also, I like the downhills.That makes it more fun.
I've been on Rouvy for several years now. I like it a LOT better than the Nintendo-ish, game oriented platforms like Zwift, etc. I ride to train and I like that my training plan imports over from TrainingPeaks and my daily workouts are right there. Pick a route and go! I also prefer riding the "real" roads with the real scenery instead of the video game looks of some of the other platforms. Maybe I'm weird, but I like looking at the different buildings in the different countries and reading the street signs. LOL!! Anyway, to each their own, but I prefer Rouvy.
SUGGESTION: GCN should do a video of HOW to use a smart trainer WITHOUT a monthly/yearly software subscription fee! I don't need/want/use any of the "bells and whistles" of Zwift... I just want a simple program that I can use to run my Kickr. Don't need any fancy graphics, or graphics at all...
I thought that most smart trainers come with an app that, during a workout, allows you to manually alter resistance or target power (erg mode) at any time. This is what I used to do when my bike coach sent me interval workiouts, before I subscribed to any app that did things "automatically" for me.
I find this platform great for me, an opportunity to ride ‘real’ roads that I’ll never have chance to ride in reality. Not for everyone but ROUVY will hit the spot for a lot of cyclists 👍🏻🤩
I’ve seen that there is Rouvy integrated into the Technogym bike at my gym and as I’ll be using that for indoor training over winter, seems like it could be a better alternative to just staring at stats on the screen. Might be worth a go. Thanks GCN.
Rouvy just had a big racing event with 2,000 riders. For those that are motivated by the number of live riders, many routes on Rouvy would look empty. That's expected because they offer 1000s of AR routes. But there will always be some routes or events that would make you feel like you're riding in rush hour traffic.
Enjoy Rouvy now for over a year and love it during the winter months. Nothing beats the real deal. The AR is very realistic and indeed with a duo account for 20€ it is a good deal compared to Tacx where you cycle on a video without AR. P.S Conor, see that you just started on that platform as you are still only level 2.
I started on Zwift and went to Rouvy. I just preferred riding in a real setting opposed to a virtual one. I even found routes close to home but I much more enjoyed riding the routes in other countries I had visited before. It was close to when I used to ride a static trainer and watch old Tour de France footage of LeMond and Hinault on VHS tape. In the end I got rid of my trainer altogether because indoor training was horrible for me. Trainer miles just seems so much longer than actual miles. I'd prefer to go out in bad weather than sit inside on a trainer.
I've tried a few apps and I really like the Augmented Reality of Rouvy so have an annual subscription and exploring real roads in countries around the world is fantastic. Running it on my iPad but this winter I'm hoping to figure out how to run it on big screen TV along with the companion app (tech neophyte here).
Rouvy is pretty amazing, especially if you have done a lot of those climbes yourself. Training feels like reliving your holidays in wintertime.The fun factor makes it easier to get on the bike and training more fun and easy.
I liked Rouvy but I am amazed that the company doesn’t seem to care about its own best feature! For me, the best feature is that you can insert any augmented avatar onto the road with you - including yourself from past rides! You can race your own personal best time or just pace yourself on a mellower past ride, and you know it’s a pace you can do because it’s you. This wasn’t even mentioned! And for some reason Rouvy has made it ridiculously unnecessarily hard to do this on the user interface. At least last winter when I used it last. Am I the only one who thinks this is cool?
2 questions for Rouvy riders: 1. I have a 1X 11-28t (44t up front) bike setup currently (it's flat here). Is that going to work w/ augmented big climbs?, 2. How do you get Rouvy on a TV like Conor in the video? Is there an Apple TV or other streamer app?
1. I think Rouvy is available as a downloadable app for Apple TV, not sure about other devices. (2) If you are doing a major climb, in real life or virtually, not having a low gear will have same effect on your effort. I recently changed my RD and rear cassette to get lower gearing to do Rouvy virtual climbs without needing to out out power in zone 4 and 5.
Riding Rouvy for the last two years..Did 9000kms on it..Still experiencing software crashes while loading and riding..If you are not patient enough Rouvy will make you go mad..When it works it really is immersive when it's not it drives you nuts..Developers seem to do nothing to fix persistent and fundamental software problems while focusing on polishing the interface and the eyecandy..
Love Rouvy - easy to find and create workouts or just ride routes around the world. It's a more honest workout than having all kind of turbo or tailwind cheat buttons etc......(you still have drafting - unless you are in TT mode)
Joined rouvy in march as I'm struggling to ride outdoors due to recurring bppv (vertigo). I'm slowly getting stronger, love the routes and I don't have to worry if my balance is off. I didn't like zwift when I tried it, prefer the reality of rouvy.
I really enjoy riding on Rouvy. I like the workouts, but the best is to ride eg. Mt Ventoux, where I've been several times in real, too. Community aspects like on Zwift are probably not as good here, but I don't need them for riding.
I’m looking into this as my partner is building me a bike room in the garden. I like the look of this rather than Zwift but I’ve heard good things about the Garmin app too. Not all trainers can cope with 20% inclines, is that an issue? Interested in any opinions out there.
I like Rouvy but for one thing. In workout (erg) mode, it seems to use the power it gets from the smart trainer to control resistance to meet power targets, rather than using the power from my bike's actual power meter. I have an older Kickr (v. 1) and the power readings (which are not real power readings) are 5-10% lower than my PM readings. This results in my target power being set too high by Rouvy. Any thoughts on how to fix that? (I would prefer NOT to have to continually adjust settings using the "+" and "-" icons on the screen).
I like the real routes, but the most important thing for me is the natural feel of riding. Many of the Zwift competitors feel very static, I miss the natural dynamics of riding a bike. The feeling of speed is purely artificial, so you always feel slow and sluggish, which isn't fun or motivating. In these simulations, the programmers have to find the perfect balance between 1:1 simulation and fun, which is the key to a successful cycling app. And I almost forgot one very important point: there have to be lots of real people riding and racing with you - a simulated world with stupid bots is a terrible experience.
Problem I have with rouvy is the bike speed doesn't seem to match the speed shown .like if you are doing200 watts and going 40kmph..the bike looks pretty slow for 40kmph
I tried Zwift for a while but it just seems so 1990s. I just couldn't engage with the awful graphics. Rouvy actually lets me ride round some of my old local roads near Buxton. That's nice considering I live in South West France. It's just feels more realistic.
If you are doing a "workout" on Rouvy, ir uses erg mode. But NOT if you are doing a virtual ride. For a cirtual ride you adjust effort by chaging gears, just like outdoors.
You can do a "workout" on Rouvy. it uses erg mode so no need to shift gears, virtually or otherwise. And you can choose any of its virtual rides to view while doing the workout.
I ride on Rouvy at least once a week. Works like a charm whish they had some more options on what the dashboard shows. Also would like to be able to remove my avatar from the screen. But all in all it feels like I one week are riding in Taiwan the next in South Africa . . .vacation every week 🙂🙂🙂
The shaky blurry augmented is terrible, rather just have videos, for me, something like the highquality Tacx videos but with ERG/workout mode. For some reason this is not possible (erg adn videos). Next best thing is bkool and erg mode on. I think.
Not much riders out here, but there are some grouprides or races. I was in a race a week ago, but little drafting. I was trying to go with one rider that was going slightly to fast, got dropped after 30 minutes, and was on my own the last two hours. Most riders were too strong and those going slower than me, I dont know if they made it to the finish.
Although I love rouvy and it records energy (KJ) spent in the app, they don't export it accurately to Strava, Garmin etc as it's recorded as Joules in the fit file so it only records 1KJ at most. Even on their website they hail KJ as the gold standard, with all these influencers and organisations jumping on the Rouvy bandwagon can you put pressure on Rouvy to fix this, as this is the measure a large number of us use for progress.
The comment section gets spammed by rouvy bots. Notice how all have a 3 to 4 digit number in the end and talk about the same thing? Leaving zwift and prefering the realism of rouvy. Pretty shady there rouvy
Rouvy is soooo much better. I like the fact that I can choose the route I want to ride. Not like Zwift where you can only ride what they offer for the week. I love the fact that you get to see the real roads and locations.
Just FYI, you can ride any route whenever you want on Zwift now via custom workout or adding routes to "my list" on the companion app... you just won't see many other riders on worlds not in current rotation.
Rouvy all the way. I did a free trial on Zwift after having ridden Rouvy for some time. Zwift was like trying to ride a bike to Super Mario Brothers; including fake sounding audio. No thanks.
Just left zwift for Rouvy. Rouvy has a better UI and general better over all feel. Zwift is so far behind in its graphics and needs a major upgrade. The amount of money the company makes and they still run 1990's graphics.
Would prefer riding on augmented reality or something totally virtual? 🚴🎮
Virtual if it had pretty much every road
augmented, but in FPV
Rouvy is great but it has a few problems. Firstly, it comes with zero sounds which for all intents and purpouses makes riding unrealistic, something like Zwift's generated sounds of nature, wind, rain etc would help a lot. Then, it has a problem of avatar running away on descends where you can reach higher speeds than original video was shot at with videl lagging behind. And it has zero resistance simulation on descends so even not so steep descends for me result in spinning out unrealistically. Again, Zwift in those case leaves a bit of a resistance on a trainer to prevent this.
Whatever's cheapest
Rouvy needs virtual shifting!
After many years, I starting riding again this year. I didn’t want to stop in the winter and a dear friend gave me her old Wahoo Kickr. Tried both Zwift and Rouvy, and decided to go for Rouvy because of its reality rides. For me, it’s better and more exciting than the ‘gamey’ feel of Zwift.
Happy so far, on the bike 3-4 times a week on Rouvy and riding outside weather permitting. Feeling fitter everyday. Not bad for a 58-year okd like myself….❤☺️
I too was excited to have a "realistic" looking option, but what an incredible disappoinment it was to try Rouvy. It looks like absolute horseshit, even the "2K" version that's downloaded. It's just beyond bad quality, can't imagine how anyone would ever want to look at that crap.
I rode quite a long way up Pico Valeta last year with my cycling buddy and was overwhelmed by the climb and heat so we turned for home after he’d gained sufficient elevation. We spent hours on Rouvy this year building our climbing capacity and rode PV again. The intensity was there and so was the imagery that I knew. I was inspired to ride a bit further as I then had an inkling of what was still to do. We successfully completed the real thing in August and Rouvy was absolutely the key to our achievement being realised
I'm with Connor. I really enjoy riding the real life routes of Rouvy. For me, it's sorta like National Geographic for Cyclists. I love visiting all these awesome locations while keeping fit. I understand why others prefer the cartoon, virtual worlds of Zwift and the larger user base that allows for social engagement. But Rouvy much better suits my needs. So I hope it continues to develop with new software features that even further improve the "realness" of its riding experience. 👍
That route labeled "Geyser" sure would look interesting.
Totally agree! I can ride anywhere in the world on Rouvy.
Exactly. I also like to choose a route and know, where my finish line is. On Zwift like virtual platforms you have to race to know your finish line. I don't like to ride neverending loops for dedicated time.
Check out the Lake Isabella California route, that one is beautiful!
I do it to prepare or to relive those happy cycling holidays
I ride on Rouvy at least 6 hours a week and I love it!
I'm in my week trial on Rouvy, liking it so far. Good option for jumping on the bike after work at this time of year in the UK.
Been with Rouvy for many years now - actually thanks to GCN for pointing it out in a previous video. Now a World Class rider, and representing GCN with my GCN kit on my Avatar (reward for completing some gruelling GCN sponsored climbs challenges) , I am heading for my Legend status. It is a great platform.
I've been using both Rouvy and Zwift and prefer Rouvy. It takes me to places I want to visit or have visited. I'm more of a solo rider, and thus Rouvy suits me, although I sometimes ride with my father and sister Joy
Been on Rouvy for a few years and love it. I can see the appeal of gameification, but in the dead cold winter months I just want to go ride somewhere warm, not necessarily compete or race. I love it and plan on continuing.
I use Zwift and Rouvy. I have friends on Zwift and I like to do the group workouts with LeCol. I prefer Rouvy however for just plain old cycling indoors. I created two routes on Rouvy. Centennial Lake Nature Reserve and Matawatchan Canada. These are the roads I ride in real life at my cottage so it’s cool to be able to ride them through the winter time.
I am hoping to make more next year.
how do you make roads? is something like gopro enough?
I just rode (19/12/24) Centennial Lake Nature Reserve. Rouvy and Ontario, mine to discover. Thank you. I did Matawatchan last season. I'm waiting for Rouvy Route Creator as I have some GoPro 11 videos of 1000 Islands Parkway, Newcastle/ Port Hope loop that I recorded early this fall. Great colours in you video...and the Canadian Sheild.
Love Rouvy, it helped me improve my FTP
Another fan and long-term ROUVY here. I love the realism and famous climbs. I use a Kickr Climb with it for added realism and so that I’m using my muscle group more like I would on the road. And the workouts are great for Zone 2 stuff, which I find hard to maintain on the road.
Been ising Rouvy for a couple months and love it!
Have used ROUVY for a year now and as a motionist, I wouldn’t go back to any other platform. I road the Alpe D’Huez a lot of times before I went there in real life and it was fantastic prep for the ride😅😅😅
I have ridden using the Tacx app for Many years (15?) which also have a huge library of videos like this. I love the realism of it and have ridden many places around the world I will never get to in reality. Especially climbing is brilliant since I live in southern Sweden where the highest hill is ~100m and can't get proper climb training. Rouvy looks very similar but with the added avatar so I think I would like that to.
Literally talking about this in the office today. As someone who got board of the more virtual world of other apps, I gave up on indoor training all together. I’ve seen this for a few years now build from a lesser known brand, but now really seems like the ideal time to test it out with winter fast approaching & a fresh outlook. It is competitively priced too so not much to differentiate between that and other apps like Zwift. It will be interesting to look back in say March / April. Hopefully one day it will get to the point where you can ride local road so you can maybe check out other areas of your own country like for example The Lake District or Scotland if here in the UK!
I love this platform - I jump on it most days as I can’t ride around where I live. It gets better and better as the rides increase
I'm at level 80 on Rouvy, I really do like it! There seems to be more and more people on it lately.
Been using for 2yrs.....its freakin Awesome 👌. I live in Canada, so indoor riding is a must for 6months of the year....love Rouvy
I love the visual feedback of the current and upcoming gradients. (Visual steepness, colors, etc.) Perfect for getting in the right gear ahead of time.
Thanks for this one, Connor! I just started Rouvy this month for similar travel related reasons. Really great to scout out rides in areas you are headed to, and discover places that you might want to go to in the future! Zwift has been my go to for the last few years, and it still has a big place in my winter routine (thanks Canadian weather)... but I could actually see myself using Rouvy all year 'round for these reasons, whereas Zwift is typically Oct-Apr for me.
Love ROUVY. Ideal to do a ride after work in the dark winter months but I also kept doing it regularly during the season. The footage is so good. Set my stages SB20 smartbike to the exact gearing as my road bike and than off I go climbing the Angliru, Stelvio or the Mortirolo or doing a ride in Italy beside a lake or a stage of the Tour de France or the Vuelta…so much great rides to chose from and the weather is always ☀️😎🚴🏽♂️👍🏽
Have using Touvy for 3 years really like using , especially for the winter months ,
Rouvy blows the others out of the water. The fact that I can train on the routes that I will be racing next summer is amazing.
Been usi g rouvy for twelve months, love it, great for keeping goi g during dark winter days or summer evenings after work when time is tight
I’ve been riding ROUVY for at least 5 years now and I keep going back to it after dabbling in Zwift, Peleton, and Garmin. Particularly here in Chicagoland it helps break the monotony of long periods of indoor only activity thru the winters with their video in combo with AR. And they have some great training plans as Conor suggested.
We appreciate you sharing your experience with us
Did my first ride on Rouvy today.
Started cycling earlier this year and didn’t want to stop for the winter so I bought a smart trainer, which gives me Rouvy for free until 1st Jan.
Really enjoyed it, especially as it was blowing a gale and raining cats and dogs outside
I’ve a lot to learn (made lots of mistakes this time 🥵)
Very happy with Rouvy, like the feel of just going for a ride somewhere interesting and great for doing large climbs. I think as they get more and more locations it will only improve more by the large range of places to ride.
one key advantage wasn't mentioned: there are literally thousands of kilometers of different routes to ride along.
not like those virtually built up worlds of zwift or mywhoosh, with their tiny 20 to 100-ish km 'worlds'... this is the real world, it's big and interesting.
so if you're fed up riding always the same routes, it's a real gamechanger for you. explore some new countries and landscapes!
Left Zwift for Rouvy last week. Really enjoying the visuals and working my way around the routes.
I have noticed that I have to change gear a lot more on a free ride in Rouvy….i assume that’s to do with Zwifts route design vs real world accuracy
I've tried Rouvy a few times and pay them a monthly subscription just in case it's icy out, but I haven't found myself enjoying it. There are some of my favorite local rides in Rouvy but something about the mechanics is off. An example would be a flat section of road with no grade (like say, the east side of Carter Lake) in real life, but Rouvy has applied as varying grade from -2% to 4% at random. So I'll be riding on a flat section and Rovy will be varying the trainer resistance all over the place. I find it difficult being immersed in it when it is so far off from the way the routes ride in the real.
I've found Rouvy really good. Because it uses a recorded video backdrop, it gives far smoother, high quality images (without buffering issues) on an old PC I have set up for dedicated use.
And the Freestyle work outs are good - you can choose you route and power independently and just tap out Z2 base miles in the warm while visually going up the Stelvio or the Alpe for entertainment.
Its been a game changer for me. I was anti indoor training for yeas, but OMG I've got fitter and stronger than ever using this app ,i love it.I tried Zwift ,but could not get on with it as it was sooooo fake .I love the real world look of Rouvy.
It looks great if you don't mind riding on your own. I prefer Zwift, because I can continue peddling if I want to after the route is completed. Also, I like the downhills.That makes it more fun.
I've been on Rouvy for several years now. I like it a LOT better than the Nintendo-ish, game oriented platforms like Zwift, etc. I ride to train and I like that my training plan imports over from TrainingPeaks and my daily workouts are right there. Pick a route and go! I also prefer riding the "real" roads with the real scenery instead of the video game looks of some of the other platforms. Maybe I'm weird, but I like looking at the different buildings in the different countries and reading the street signs. LOL!! Anyway, to each their own, but I prefer Rouvy.
SUGGESTION: GCN should do a video of HOW to use a smart trainer WITHOUT a monthly/yearly software subscription fee! I don't need/want/use any of the "bells and whistles" of Zwift... I just want a simple program that I can use to run my Kickr. Don't need any fancy graphics, or graphics at all...
then you can always use the Wahoo app.
I thought that most smart trainers come with an app that, during a workout, allows you to manually alter resistance or target power (erg mode) at any time. This is what I used to do when my bike coach sent me interval workiouts, before I subscribed to any app that did things "automatically" for me.
You can use most trainers’ included apps, or even many head units. Sometimes I want to kick back and I just run a workout from my Garmin.
I use Trainer Road while watching UA-cam cycling vids or replays of races etc. Some of the GCN HIT vids are really good too.
I did same, but watched spanish lessons etc on UA-cam.
I find this platform great for me, an opportunity to ride ‘real’ roads that I’ll never have chance to ride in reality. Not for everyone but ROUVY will hit the spot for a lot of cyclists 👍🏻🤩
Rouvy motivates me much more because of the tracks I know from real life. 🙏🏼😃
I’ve seen that there is Rouvy integrated into the Technogym bike at my gym and as I’ll be using that for indoor training over winter, seems like it could be a better alternative to just staring at stats on the screen. Might be worth a go. Thanks GCN.
Rouvy just had a big racing event with 2,000 riders. For those that are motivated by the number of live riders, many routes on Rouvy would look empty. That's expected because they offer 1000s of AR routes. But there will always be some routes or events that would make you feel like you're riding in rush hour traffic.
Enjoy Rouvy now for over a year and love it during the winter months. Nothing beats the real deal. The AR is very realistic and indeed with a duo account for 20€ it is a good deal compared to Tacx where you cycle on a video without AR. P.S Conor, see that you just started on that platform as you are still only level 2.
That's AWESOME. I almost look forward to getting back on the trainer to try that out... almost...
I left Zwift for Rouvy long time ago and I am a very happy rider. Looking back, Zwift was a nervous, hectic fair.
I started on Zwift and went to Rouvy. I just preferred riding in a real setting opposed to a virtual one. I even found routes close to home but I much more enjoyed riding the routes in other countries I had visited before. It was close to when I used to ride a static trainer and watch old Tour de France footage of LeMond and Hinault on VHS tape. In the end I got rid of my trainer altogether because indoor training was horrible for me. Trainer miles just seems so much longer than actual miles. I'd prefer to go out in bad weather than sit inside on a trainer.
I used to subscribe to both Zwift and Rouvy. In the end I ditched Zwift. Love my Rouvy ,doing rides I've done in real life and exploring new places
I've tried a few apps and I really like the Augmented Reality of Rouvy so have an annual subscription and exploring real roads in countries around the world is fantastic. Running it on my iPad but this winter I'm hoping to figure out how to run it on big screen TV along with the companion app (tech neophyte here).
Rouvy is pretty amazing, especially if you have done a lot of those climbes yourself. Training feels like reliving your holidays in wintertime.The fun factor makes it easier to get on the bike and training more fun and easy.
Which is your favourite Rouvy climb?
@JonCannings Mont Ventoux from Bedoin, but maybe because I have done it in real so many times, I recognize every rock 🤣
Cheers Connor 👍👍
Love Rouvy, help me getting ready for the Tour de Station
Absolutely Love Rouvy, any idea when we will be able to use VR Headsets?
With the smart trainer, Rouvy is awesome!
Was I the only one who started singing Kaiser Chiefs: "Rouvy, Rouvy, Rouvy, Rouvy, Ahaa ahaa aaaaa" the moment Connor first said Rouvy? Probably...
if it has no snow on the street, i just go outside for a ride this would be interesting, if google maps can integrate stuff like this
I liked Rouvy but I am amazed that the company doesn’t seem to care about its own best feature! For me, the best feature is that you can insert any augmented avatar onto the road with you - including yourself from past rides! You can race your own personal best time or just pace yourself on a mellower past ride, and you know it’s a pace you can do because it’s you. This wasn’t even mentioned! And for some reason Rouvy has made it ridiculously unnecessarily hard to do this on the user interface. At least last winter when I used it last. Am I the only one who thinks this is cool?
2 questions for Rouvy riders: 1. I have a 1X 11-28t (44t up front) bike setup currently (it's flat here). Is that going to work w/ augmented big climbs?, 2. How do you get Rouvy on a TV like Conor in the video? Is there an Apple TV or other streamer app?
1. I think Rouvy is available as a downloadable app for Apple TV, not sure about other devices. (2) If you are doing a major climb, in real life or virtually, not having a low gear will have same effect on your effort. I recently changed my RD and rear cassette to get lower gearing to do Rouvy virtual climbs without needing to out out power in zone 4 and 5.
Riding Rouvy for the last two years..Did 9000kms on it..Still experiencing software crashes while loading and riding..If you are not patient enough Rouvy will make you go mad..When it works it really is immersive when it's not it drives you nuts..Developers seem to do nothing to fix persistent and fundamental software problems while focusing on polishing the interface and the eyecandy..
Love Rouvy - easy to find and create workouts or just ride routes around the world. It's a more honest workout than having all kind of turbo or tailwind cheat buttons etc......(you still have drafting - unless you are in TT mode)
I love Rouvy. If they add support to VIrtual Shifting would be great :)
Joined rouvy in march as I'm struggling to ride outdoors due to recurring bppv (vertigo). I'm slowly getting stronger, love the routes and I don't have to worry if my balance is off. I didn't like zwift when I tried it, prefer the reality of rouvy.
I’ve been happy with the Garmin Tacx app since it is real world riding. Although a number of their most recent video were shot from a car.
Rouvy is fantastic.
My only regret about Rouvy is that I don't ride it enough. Love it.
How do you set the gradient on the bike to what your riding?
Hey all you guys which smart trainer do you recommend? This is a tough decision. I already had a bad experience with the Tacx Neo 2T Thanks
I really enjoy riding on Rouvy. I like the workouts, but the best is to ride eg. Mt Ventoux, where I've been several times in real, too. Community aspects like on Zwift are probably not as good here, but I don't need them for riding.
which was easier/harder to ride Mt Ventoux, Rouvy or in real life?
@@JonCannings On Rouvy is easier - no wind, neutral conditions, but it is great to see (virtual) landmarks, which I know from my live experiences
How about the trainer difficulty setting? I hear it's not clear how gradients reflect their real life equivalent.
Are there multiple viewpoint options? Or are you always just behind the avatar on the road.
why is the playback of the videos so slow? is there a way to speed it up?
Any plans for rouvey to support the zwift one cog in the future?
I’m looking into this as my partner is building me a bike room in the garden. I like the look of this rather than Zwift but I’ve heard good things about the Garmin app too. Not all trainers can cope with 20% inclines, is that an issue? Interested in any opinions out there.
I like Rouvy but for one thing. In workout (erg) mode, it seems to use the power it gets from the smart trainer to control resistance to meet power targets, rather than using the power from my bike's actual power meter. I have an older Kickr (v. 1) and the power readings (which are not real power readings) are 5-10% lower than my PM readings. This results in my target power being set too high by Rouvy. Any thoughts on how to fix that? (I would prefer NOT to have to continually adjust settings using the "+" and "-" icons on the screen).
I like the real routes, but the most important thing for me is the natural feel of riding. Many of the Zwift competitors feel very static, I miss the natural dynamics of riding a bike. The feeling of speed is purely artificial, so you always feel slow and sluggish, which isn't fun or motivating. In these simulations, the programmers have to find the perfect balance between 1:1 simulation and fun, which is the key to a successful cycling app. And I almost forgot one very important point: there have to be lots of real people riding and racing with you - a simulated world with stupid bots is a terrible experience.
Problem I have with rouvy is the bike speed doesn't seem to match the speed shown .like if you are doing200 watts and going 40kmph..the bike looks pretty slow for 40kmph
I tried Zwift for a while but it just seems so 1990s. I just couldn't engage with the awful graphics. Rouvy actually lets me ride round some of my old local roads near Buxton. That's nice considering I live in South West France. It's just feels more realistic.
I'm a Rouvy Fan.
On your video it looks as you shift speed manually??? I thought that on Rouvy you have to live with the ERG mode. Am I wrong?
If you are doing a "workout" on Rouvy, ir uses erg mode. But NOT if you are doing a virtual ride. For a cirtual ride you adjust effort by chaging gears, just like outdoors.
I would like to try rouvy but I've just got into indoor training and I bought the zwift cog so I'm only able to use zwift
You can do a "workout" on Rouvy. it uses erg mode so no need to shift gears, virtually or otherwise. And you can choose any of its virtual rides to view while doing the workout.
I’m more of a FulGaz man myself, do a review of that next please.
I ride on Rouvy at least once a week. Works like a charm whish they had some more options on what the dashboard shows. Also would like to be able to remove my avatar from the screen. But all in all it feels like I one week are riding in Taiwan the next in South Africa . . .vacation every week 🙂🙂🙂
You can remove your avatar, in settings, for camera, select 'me'.
the ideal way to travel the globe!
When Connor said he was going to ride one of his favorite real world routes I thought for sure he was going to choose rural Kansas
poor Conor, he won't live this one down
Really nice. But why does the Avatar look like the Hunchback of Notre Dame???😂😅.
Seems like poor bike fitting even exists in the Digital World ...
Yeah... and the woman avatar looks great!!!!???..must be Woke plan to turn all man into woman??🎉😂
I started my cycling on Rouvy. Two years later i lost 51kg and have almost 21k km done...
I know a German woman who lost more than 30 kg in less than 6 months on Rouvy, I did meet her on Ventoux this summer. She was kicking my A' 🎉🤣
Are you riding in real time with other cyclist or just yourself?
If it's cheaper than Zwift then I'm in.
MyWhoosh is free…
The 2 are different, zwift is pure numbers and racing, Rouvy is realism!
MyWhoosh is cheaper as it costs $0.00 per month.
I prefer Rouvy. A common complaint about Rouvy is the lack of other riders compared to Zwift. These people clearly don't ride a real bike outside 😂.
The shaky blurry augmented is terrible, rather just have videos, for me, something like the highquality Tacx videos but with ERG/workout mode. For some reason this is not possible (erg adn videos). Next best thing is bkool and erg mode on. I think.
I really liked Rouvy but although the worlds looked great the routes always seemed so empty
Not much riders out here, but there are some grouprides or races. I was in a race a week ago, but little drafting. I was trying to go with one rider that was going slightly to fast, got dropped after 30 minutes, and was on my own the last two hours. Most riders were too strong and those going slower than me, I dont know if they made it to the finish.
@SnaxNoCo I'll definitely give it another go at some stage.
Love Rouvy .... way better than Zwift for my persoanal preferences.
we need this with virtual shifter like zwift click
Although I love rouvy and it records energy (KJ) spent in the app, they don't export it accurately to Strava, Garmin etc as it's recorded as Joules in the fit file so it only records 1KJ at most. Even on their website they hail KJ as the gold standard, with all these influencers and organisations jumping on the Rouvy bandwagon can you put pressure on Rouvy to fix this, as this is the measure a large number of us use for progress.
The comment section gets spammed by rouvy bots. Notice how all have a 3 to 4 digit number in the end and talk about the same thing? Leaving zwift and prefering the realism of rouvy. Pretty shady there rouvy
интересно сравнить время прохождения одного и того же участка одним и тем же велосипедистом, но на реальной трассе и в приложении.
Rouvy is soooo much better. I like the fact that I can choose the route I want to ride. Not like Zwift where you can only ride what they offer for the week.
I love the fact that you get to see the real roads and locations.
Just FYI, you can ride any route whenever you want on Zwift now via custom workout or adding routes to "my list" on the companion app... you just won't see many other riders on worlds not in current rotation.
The most "realistic" in ROUVY are descents 😂 and getting KOMs on descents on Strava
Rouvy all the way. I did a free trial on Zwift after having ridden Rouvy for some time. Zwift was like trying to ride a bike to Super Mario Brothers; including fake sounding audio. No thanks.
Only downside is the lack of gravel and off-road routes.
Check out FulGaz, they have some (admittedly, not loads but they do exist).
Just left zwift for Rouvy.
Rouvy has a better UI and general better over all feel.
Zwift is so far behind in its graphics and needs a major upgrade.
The amount of money the company makes and they still run 1990's graphics.
atm just try woosh and after see the over price of each app i gues i would ride in woosh
Connor is a giant. That frame looks 2 sizes too small.