After buying a smart trainer in Jan (Elite Direto) & initially starting with Zwift which I love, I have now prostituted myself & started to look as the alternatives on the market.
Thought I would post my initial thoughts here & also detail some of the current offers each have at the moment particularly related to the COVID-19 pandemic.
If you have tried any of them or others I haven't, then give us your thoughts as well.
RGT (pka: Road Grand Tours)
Much like Zwift uses Computer generated graphics (Unity engine) but looks more life like & not fictional (cartoon'ish) compared to Zwift.
Pretty easy to setup but is quirky as you need to use the phone app & pair it to the PC app to get it all running.
The 1 ride (Cap de Formentor) I have done was stunning & really enjoyable.
But it does lack the community that Zwift has, I have only seen a handful of ppl on each route & it only has 8 "real road" routes so far.
Free version give you access to all the "real road" routes & events. Paid version is USD$14.99/month which includes access to workouts & event creation mainly.
Current offer: ALL PREMIUM FEATURES ARE FREE DUE TO COVID-19
ROUVYHOW: To access RGT Cycling for free
- Download the app and register
- Send an empty email to rideitout@rgtcycling.com from the same email account you used to register for RGT.
- That’s it!
DO NOT SUBSCRIBE USING THE APP STORE UNLESS YOU WISH TO CONTRIBUTE TO OUR CAUSE!
Real word video's as Virtual Routes, 70 iconic places and race courses, 7,000 km of certified routes, 3,000 route films
Some routes also have Augment Roads which is animated 3D riders projected onto the 2D videos.
3D riders can be either real-time users on the same course or you add unlimited numbers of virtual 3D riders from other real riders previous timed rides (completed under the races option)
Stick to the ROUVY "AR, Certified & Created" routes as the community routes are a bit hit & miss in their quality, accuracy & video skips / footage cuts (for red lights, etc).
Again not many other users on each route & the 3D rider augmentation doesn't look that great but is very unique.
I have really enjoyed the two AR route / climbs I have done even when the video goes into slows motion when your riding slower than the speed they were recorded.
They offer Free 14 day trial period on initial sign-up. During the trial period all premium features are enabled. Once the trial expires the app will not allow rides to exceed 1 hour.
Paid version is tiered with the top tier Premium 12-month plan costing USD$10 / month.
Current offer: #RideForItaly (COVID-19) 30 day extended Free trial period
FULGAZ
Real word video's as Virtual Routes much like ROUVY without the 3D virtual riders but heavily focussed on offering 4K video content.
Haven't tried it yet but will do so after ROUVY trial ends.
They offer Free 14 day trial period on initial sign-up but once expired you need to subscribe to continue using it.
Paid version is either monthly @ AUD$18.99 or yearly @ AUD157.99), so not cheap...
BigRingVR
"high definition video quality and realistic virtual riding experience that incorporates easy integration with most cycling trainers. 368 rides from 11 countries (more coming), 8,674 kilometers, 280,995 meters of elevation gain. Epic climbs like Alpe d'Huez, Mont Ventoux, Monte Zoncolan, Passo Mortirolo, Passo Stelvio, Grossglockner, El Teide, many others."
Free 14 day trial period on initial sign-up but once expired you need to subscribe to continue using it. $10 / month or less per month if you take the 6 month or 12 month option.
ANT+ connection only at this time.
Bonus:
I successfully tested running Zwift without the trainer connected as controllable while riding ROUVY routes yesterday.
Is a great way to keep the Zwift km's & XP ticking along while using another virtual app.