My thoughts on veloreality

[Machoman121]

Rode a complete 14km Oude Kwaremont (came free with the purchase of another velo video). I really like it. It's probably how i do my cycling - i'm not a racer - just pretty much a grinder. And i need something like the VR videos to keep the legs spinning and working. It's rather refreshing to see all these outdoor scenes as i'm cycling in my garage...!

Velo reality will be the reason why i've decided to keep the Kickr.

I also like how the videos are filmed - not from a swaying bobbing cyclist but probably from a car ( i think) - with a fairly stable viewpoint. And also how there's as few people and cars around as possible so the road looks quite open and personal at the same time. I'm looking at getting a few more now.

I can't say i fully understand the interface though - my avatar gets saved on the brown bar bit. Would be nice to have more elaborate instructions on the intricacies of the interface - yes - i've read the manual.

Another BIG plus it's also quite a robust software. that is critically important - it doesn't crash and you don't want to waste time setting it up or sorting it out.

Oh.....yes BIG ONE - VR is not dependent on the internet (no streaming needed) so the video is always 100% consistent since it's already stored on your hard drive.

[Machoman121]

And you can choose where you want to start to ride. So you're not forced to always start from the beginning. So a video can serve multiple ride types ie. easy spin - just choose the flatter section, wanna practice climbing - choose the uphills/climb section.

[admin]

And you can choose where you want to start to ride. So you're not forced to always start from the beginning. So a video can serve multiple ride types ie. easy spin - just choose the flatter section, wanna practice climbing - choose the uphills/climb section.

And you can create your own ride out of arbitrary segments of multiple videos, and your ride state is always preserved (even during crash) etc. etc

[Machoman121]

you know what - i can get hook to this VR thingy - woke up today and thought hey i wouldn't mind a spin on the Kickr with VR ! And it was a beautiful day outside !!!!!

[Dabber]

And you can choose where you want to start to ride. So you're not forced to always start from the beginning. So a video can serve multiple ride types ie. easy spin - just choose the flatter section, wanna practice climbing - choose the uphills/climb section.

And you can create your own ride out of arbitrary segments of multiple videos, and your ride state is always preserved (even during crash) etc. etc

I've created a ride out of Kwaremont, Paterberg and Flanders Hills.... repeat climbs of Kwaremount and Paterberg then heading off for the Koppenberg and Taaienberg. It all links up fairly seamlessly with a bit of fiddling around with the editing and makes for a very tough ride. https://www.strava.com/activities/889796585/overview

[Machoman121]

I've now bought a few VR rides - OUDE KWAREMONT is my favourite - it's got easy and hard bits. As I look for more videos i'm looking for rides that have ups and downs. Long descents on an indoor bike is different than in real life. Descending in real life is exhilarating. Descending on an indoor trainer even with a smart one like a kickr is pretty joyless.

[admin]

I've now bought a few VR rides - OUDE KWAREMONT is my favourite - it's got easy and hard bits. As I look for more videos i'm looking for rides that have ups and downs. Long descents on an indoor bike is different than in real life. Descending in real life is exhilarating. Descending on an indoor trainer even with a smart one like a kickr is pretty joyless.

You can buy 105" curved UHD LED TV for a mere $150,000 , top it up with some really powerful fan, mighty sound system with large speakers and finally with the trainer that can actively spin the wheel like our Lynx. After you can have some of that real life joy back. Moving surround scenery with the combination of nice loud music and proper cooling will do just that.

On a serious note there is a drop down list in grade reduction settings that says "descend grade limit" that can prohibit "smart" trainers from trying to simulate descends. Setting it to 0% will make downhills feel like flat (your on screen speed will still be correct as it is calculated based strictly on your wattage rather then trainer's current resistance)

[Machoman121]

Yes - i now prefer to remove descents on the settings - descending was quite disruptive to the cycling - VR would lose connection when my power went to zero because i was not generating any further power on the descent. The flywheel would continue to spin while i coast or pedal less and power would decrease until zero where VR would be triggered to pause. So i'll be forced to increase cadence just to catch up with the flywheel.

Removing the descents and letting VR set all descending to zero provided a much more smoother pedaling ride.

[Machoman121]

i've found the vertical bars in the graphs to be more accurate in representing the Kickr's resistance than the videos. As a rough estimate i'll say the videos are about 90% accurate - especially where undulation terrain is concern. you'll be going down a dip and a rise will be approaching and when you're in the midst of the rise the resistance continues to drop......Is there any smoothing than to the resistance?

To be in the right gearing and cadence i find i had to rely at the graphs/vertical bars more than the videos.

[admin]

i've found the vertical bars in the graphs to be more accurate in representing the Kickr's resistance than the videos. As a rough estimate i'll say the videos are about 90% accurate - especially where undulation terrain is concern. you'll be going down a dip and a rise will be approaching and when you're in the midst of the rise the resistance continues to drop......Is there any smoothing than to the resistance?

To be in the right gearing and cadence i find i had to rely at the graphs/vertical bars more than the videos.

I've already explained that it is hard to judge the grade by looking at the road. One can be wrong even in real life. And we do not control resistance. We report current road grade (you can see the current number in odometer) to trainer (KICKR in your case). Then it is up to the trainer to translate it to proper resistance. In real life when the grade changes you do not feel immediate change in resistance because you are carried by inertia. Some trainers can simulate effects of inertia (our Lynx does it perfectly) some are not. We do not have sudden big changes of grade in the software (it will not jump from 0% to 5% in one step), there is no need to smooth it. Whatever imperfection you might feel is the work of the trainer.