Paddling through your indoor cycling stand, looking at how much calories you’ve burnt in this much amount of time, or you might have a sad, unused bicycle at your home and you are unable to find time to actually get out of your bed and ride it some time. Well, virtual reality bike training is in town to save unambitious calorie burners and lazy fellas. These stands are used to provide highly sophisticated cycling simulations in order to make your training as realistic as possible. They can be a bit difficult from time to time but the benefits are many.
Similar to your indoor bike stand, the front wheel of a virtual reality bike trainer is attached to a stand and the rear wheel is rotated via a motorized roller. Both the stand and the roller are attached to multiple sensors which provides resistance and are controlled by a computer. You can adjust virtual landscape according to your workout mood and the resistance and sensors work according to your landscape providing you a real time of experience of biking through mountains, or plains or wherever you want.
What’s new in virtual reality bike training?
Different versions of virtual reality bike trainers are available now, offering a variety of sensor, resistances and pressure pads which can provide better control over pedaling power, RPM’s and more. A basic computer program comes with each stand that provides basic trails. Latest versions are providing more trails for a better experience to virtual reality bike training.
What could be the best virtual reality bike trainer for you?
Whether you want to ride alone or be part of friendly riding community there are a number of indoor cycling apps available for you. Apart from that, these apps also keep a record of your workout so that you can analyze your progress time to time. Here are some of the popular virtual reality bike trainers trending now;
Zwift: It works just like any other social networking website, except for the fact that it is a social networking for athletes for a better experience of biking. You can ride with athletes around the globe just by connecting your trainer wirelessly via open industry standard ANT+. What’s cool about zwift? Well, let’s just say not only can you ride with your virtual friends, but also you can have friendly competitions with other athletes.
CycleOps Virtual Training: Whether you want to perform structured interval training, or you want the flexibility to ride virtual routes, CVT is the best app for you. The app is currently available for iOS, Android and PC and you have the option to run it on your favorite Bluetooth Smart enabled device or ANT+. With CVT, you can select the routes from all over the world while your workout data is maintained by the app. There is an option available for pre-programming your workout intervals and your resistance will automatically controlled by CVT. Also CVT offers a 2 week free trial to its new users and its worth a try.
Trainer Road: With Trainer Road, you are given the advantage of choosing your personalized workouts. The app records your power, speed and other metrics and then using this data, the app creates customized workout routines for you to match your fitness level. With Trainer Road, you might have a complete control over power meter, speed trainer or you might want to try Trainer Road’s Virtual Power feature as well provided you have a speed sensor and a supported trainer. Oh and it also comes with a 30 days money back guarantee in case you don’t think the trainer is good enough for you. The app is currently available for iOS, MAC and PC.
The Sufferfest: What’s different about Sufferfest? For starters, let just say their videos are one of the most popular training tools and if you have iOS you can have unlimited access to their library, available for live streaming or downloading. Whether you are looking for extra gym motivation or you want something more with the virtual reality, Sufferfest is the one stop for you. You can also keep a record of your heart rate, power and speed sensors and train accordingly. The app gives its users the advantage of a 7 day free trial, but once you have experienced it, you might wanna stick to it.
Kinomap Trainer: Kinomap Trainer is a more advanced version of the Sufferfest in that it features quite a large number of GPS videos generated by Kinomap users all over the world. Whether you want to go Moad for biking or you feel like Sahara is a place for you, Kinomap is the app for you. Moreover you can create your biking community and taking advantage of its multiplayer feature, you can ride along or compete with as much as 10 players at a time. It is compatible with almost all the trainers and you can change power meter or sensors according to your choice.
While this awesome new trend in biking is hitting people all across the globe. Some might not like it because, let’s be honest setting up all the wires and sensors would not be that easy of a task especially if you are a techno-phobic person, but you can always ask for help. Besides, what’s more exciting than paddling in your gym/lounge/living room and experiencing the mountains of Utah under your wheels, and no bad weather can never stop you now from going ‘’OUT’’ and ride. Also, with the minute detailing of your workouts, heart rates, power, sensors, virtual reality biking enables you to achieve your goals as quickly as possible since the trainers can create customized training for you. Now if you are ready to spend an enormous amount of money, or let’s just call it an investment for you, because it sure can cost you thousands of dollars and that’s just the cost of stand, without the cost for monitor, computer and the bike, you must give it a shot.
Victor is the Editor in Chief at Techtyche. He tests the performance and quality of new VR boxes, headsets, pedals, etc. He got promoted to the Senior Game Tester position in 2021. His past experience makes him very qualified to review gadgets, speakers, VR, games, Xbox, laptops, and more.
Feel free to check out his posts.
Victor is the Editor in Chief at Techtyche. He tests the performance and quality of new VR boxes, headsets, pedals, etc. He got promoted to the Senior Game Tester position in 2021. His past experience makes him very qualified to review gadgets, speakers, VR, games, Xbox, laptops, and more.
Feel free to check out his posts.
