I wanted to try Virtual Training to get some extra miles in over the UK winter months. Found Pinnacle HC smart trainers are heavily discounted at Evans, Sports Direct and others;
https://www.evanscycles.com/brand/pinnacle/hc-turbo-home-trainer-712633 so I took the plunge and ordered one for £200!
Comes with almost everything you need (just add a cassette) to ride on Rouvy & Zwift, but also found MyWhoosh.com as a completely free alternative. They say there’s no such thing as a free lunch, but from all I’ve read MyWhoosh sounds like a great platform. It’s lacking in users currently, but as this cost-of-living crisis drags on, folk may look for cheaper alternatives.
ICTrainer also worth checking for £20/year.
Although MyWhoosh sounds quite decent;
Rouvy has real world routes with video footage and an ‘augmented reality’ overlay, so you can ride around the streets of Paris, Bruges, California and 1000’s more earthly places, including mountain passes. Could be worth the £15/month.
**Update March 2024**
Rouvy and Zwift (phone & laptop apps) work fully with this trainer! Resistance adjusts to match the terrain; Power, Cadence, Speed are all recorded, both also get HR from my Garmin watch.
Google Phone Apps for MyWhoosh and ICTrainer don’t connect with the ‘Resistance’ side of this trainer, so you don’t feel hills at all. They read power, speed and cadence just fine. I’ve not tried their Windows Laptop apps yet.
Also going to try IndieVelo – currently free and growing a base;
I’ll be updating this page as I dive deeper into this indoor adventure, but for now that’s all folks.
Keep the rubber side down & take it steady. 🌞