Winter often means time on the turbo trainer – and now with smart trainers and so many different Apps there is a lot of choice. But which one is best for you?

In this blog, I will explore five of the leading Apps that cover the different types of training that you can focus on during time on the turbo trainer:

1. Wahoo – an example of the free app that comes with your trainer and will record all of the sensor date from the session that you do. But you need to come with the plan.
2. Watt Bike – can only be used on a WattBike (but you can simply connect the app to a WattBike at the gym). As per the other tracking apps this will supply the data from your session. The key difference is that I believe that this is the only app that will give you detailed analysis of every part of your pedal stroke.
3. TrainerRoad – an example of focused intervals and programmes to develop your cycling. You ride alone (although there are vocal prompts to support your training within each interval set), but only interact with others via other media outside of the training.
4. Zwift – a Virtual Reality (VR) game-based app where you can join group rides and races, gain online kit for your avatar and interact with other riders during the ride (and indeed other times via the Zwift Companion App) as well as talking via a channel on Discord, or listening to the same music via a shared group playlist.
5. Rouvy – an Augmented Reality (AR) app where your avatar rides through the video of real routes, moving at the pace you are riding. You can see where other rides are on the route (or the race) and their avatar when you are within c.50m of them, but in general this is about the experience of going somewhere in the world and riding spectacular scenery.

I have spent time over the last couple of winters riding all of these, and also asking others what they like and dislike about them. The answer from most people is that they settle with one (mainly because there is a monthly cost to almost all of them), and they use it for a specific role in their training. This also includes taking a break from it when it all gets either a bit too intense, or a bit dull.

But which one is best?

The answer really seems to be ‘it depends on what you want!’

1. The Wahoo-style free app approach of simply recording the data is most useful for people who have a very specific plan that they are using the turbo for, as a part of a wider training and tracking plan. This means that they usually spend periods of an hour or less on the turbo and a maximum of 2-3 times per week. These people seem to like to listen to music whilst riding and tend to have a little list of the workout next to them, with a timer for their intervals (a GymBoss or the free Tabata timer on their phone). The app is simply a measurement tool for their workout.
2. The WattBike is a great way to really look at the mechanics of how you are putting the power into the bike. With work you can build the symmetry between the sides of your body, and the level of power that you put in across each of the pedal quadrants (developing the peanut to be more of a circle). This can be a really useful thing to work on for a while, and to then check every month or 6-weeks, but for most people the access to a WattBike is challenging, and this top-up approach is sufficient.
3. The TrainerRoad app of structured intervals and training plans tends to be very attractive to self-coached athletes. The programmes are well-structured, and supported with some excellent Podcasts and explanations. The coaching tips on the voiceover during the intervals are also insightful and useful for many athletes. TrainerRoad can also be very attractive for ultra-distance training. I know people who will set the bike into ERG mode and then watch films on their iPad or TV for multiple hours in order to get the long training sessions in, with minimal mental strain or boredom.
4. Zwift is probably the most talked about, and the largest and most popular of the apps. Clubs have found it a great way to stay connected through COVID lockdowns, and to train together through dark nights and icy days when road-riding is not possible. Additionally, there is a very strong (and highly competitive) racing scene. Individuals have found it a highly motivating community that draws them in, with new challenges being announced regularly via email, as well as all of the gaming tricks of the trade that constantly pull you back in. It is a completely immersive experience – in order to ride well, you need to have researched the route online beforehand, and then to be completely focused on the information on the screen and gaining the drafting benefit: using the fastest kit available for your level and playing the power-up buttons that you get from the random spins after each Sprint or King of the Mountain segment. The benefits that people most often quote about Zwift is that it always pulls them into the ride – so they do more riding, and that the intensity of the events has really improved their ability to work at over-threshold levels and to surge when needed (such that they have been able to keep up with more aggressive riding groups when back out on the road). Others love the badges and the different things that you unlock, as well as the constant stream of creative new content in the different ‘worlds’ that you ride in, and the fact that there are always a ton of people cheering you on, with thumbs-up ‘ride on’ kudos and comments, encouragement, and banter. But most find that at some stage it needs a bit of a rest – perhaps because the experience is so intense, or because it is so different from the real experience of riding a bike.
5. Rouvy is the outsider – but its proximity to real riding means that it can play a very different role in training. The smaller number of riders on this platform and the routes lend themselves to time-trialling, and you can ride real routes anywhere in the world. Indeed, a challenge by the GCN network in 2021 showed that the time on the Cheddar Gorge climb was fairly close in reality and on Rouvy. People who love Rouvy tend to use it to explore beautiful climbs in the high mountains all over the world, and to spend a number of hours on the bike doing the equivalent of a Sunday ride when the conditions outside are inclement. There is a real opportunity to use it to carefully recce and plan a race route – as even if it is not in the listing, if you can load a file of the route into the app then you can ride it (although obviously only with a map as visual, not the full AR video experience). This allows you to practice all of the gear-changes, power choices, fuelling etc. Previously there was a partnership with Ironman (used for racing the Virtual Ironman races during lockdown) and this enabled practice on the courses – but these have now been removed when the partnership ended at the end of 2021. So Rouvy is an engaging replacement for riding when riding is not possible, but there are a few warnings: the software is quite challenging to find your way around to get to the best routes, like all platforms they experience their fair share of tech issues but seem to be much slower than Zwift in solving them, and their current direction seems less clear since they were taken over by new Private Equity owners in August 2021.

How to choose?

I would start off by being clear what role the turbo trainer is going to have in your training.

We may be driven indoors by the fear of riding on slippery roads with difficult weather conditions that also increase the chance of collisions with drivers. But there are other choices – off-road riding on a mountain-bike or cyclo-cross bike is great fun! There are routes in every part of the country, new places to explore, and a very vibrant racing scene! The benefit of the bike handling skills, the short-duration high-power moments and the over-threshold work that comes with the obstacles of off-road riding will pay forward into the summer season. So a Sunday off-road ride with friends and a warming coffee at the end can be a great replacement (just take an extra layer to stay warm at the coffee stop!)

So is your turbo-time more about focused and structured work on specific things, or racing, or community? Are you good at getting on the turbo-trainer, or do you need an extra draw or incentive? When you are doing it, do you want an immersive experience, or something that you can zone out of and listen to music/watch films etc?

And if you have a very goal-focused personality (a lot of triathletes do!), how will you control that relentless urge to gather the levels/ badges/ kit/ challenges that is brilliant to engage you, but may be pushing you in a different direction from your overall season goal and training goals?

What’s next?

Each of the apps have a free week for you to try it out – so why not give it a go? The only word of warning here is that sometimes the sensors seem to get a little confused if there is a lot of switching between apps on the same device. So probably worth trying them sequentially rather than within the same week, just so that you do not suffer the dreaded dropouts that plague all of the apps and lead to long, sad and heartfelt posts on social media!

Good luck and happy riding – wherever it takes you!

Footnotes

I have not been fully fair in the above descriptions, as I have drawn out the differences in the platforms for the sake of simplicity. There are many things that are the same – for instance Zwift and Rouvy both have the option to do running rather than cycling. They both have sessions where you can ride group rides, ride with Pro cyclists, race or do interval sets. They both allow structured workouts of the type in TrainerRoad, they both allow you to ride in ERG mode (where the trainer decides the resistance) as well as RIDE mode where you change gears and ride as you would outdoors (with the choice on Rouvy of whether you connect the ‘Controllable’ to give the effect of the incline on the resistance).

That said, Zwift is much more developed: the larger number of users allows for more events – there is always numerous things going on at any time, day or night. You can do interval sets within a group with chat and music, as well as encouragement (it often feels like a spin class). And if you are a woman, there is female-only racing (whereas on Rouvy you will generally be at the back of the men’s races with just a few women racing).

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