Who is doing rollers in Zwift? Regular or Smart? TV height? Distance from TV? etc…
I am using a dumb roller, Elite Antares, with speed sensor only.
I am new to Zwift and tried it only twice.
First time my speed (power) was much too high. To correct it I compared the energy consumption given by Zwift with the one given by my garmin heart rate monitor. Zwift energy was about 1.7 times higher.
As Energy is power moltiplicated by time and the two times were equal, it means Zwift power was about 1.7 times higher then the real one.
The only way I found to correct this was to change my wheel diameter in the speed sensor properties, I set it to 20" and on the second ride the energy consumption given by garmin and zwift were almost the same, also the feeling was similar to when I ride on the road at about the same speed.
It would be nice if there was a way to configure the power output of rollers, a simple “power factor” by which the Zwift power will be divided.
If you have an heart rate monitor you know at which speed you can cycle at a known HR, so you could adapt the “power factor” to that.
Regarding the distance from TV, I am using a laptop on a chair in front of the rollers. I have to be careful when there is a sharp turn, cause I tend to turn on the rollers and this is not very good…
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Hi Jerry,
I used rollers for my first Zwift year and a bit.
I really enjoy using rollers (Elite with 3 manual settings) but I felt I was missing out on the sprinting side of Zwift so I switched to a Neo and must say I really like that also.
One thing that used to catch me out with rollers at the beginning was feeling that I had to turn to follow the Zwift course. Not a good idea on rollers ( I started looking away from the screen to avoid going off the rollers LOL) the other was avoiding other Zwifters as we looked like we were going to crash, this used to catch me out more, LOL, but I never came off. I certainly gave myself a scare or two though.
I used the rollers with a power meter. TV was at least 1.1m (43") away from the bars as was the laptop. All controlled by a mouse and phone.
I have recently lowered the height of my TV to which I think is better. Centre is again 1.1m (43") from the floor.
I had a sturdy chest of draws next to me for phone, tv controls, mouse etc which also helped me to sprint as I steadied myself with it.
My Elite rollers had to be manually changed for the different resistance settings.
I generally used setting 0 and 1 for freeride/training etc but always needed the 2 level (hardest) for racing.
If I had spare money I would definitely like to get a set of the new Elite Nero Rollers which are controllable.
Hope some of that helps.
I know exactly what you mean about turns. When descending a mountain, I have to look down at the floor or the bottom of the TV frame or I will end up getting thrown across the room.
Unfortunately, right now my rollers and my bike are in mothballs. I have an upcoming surgery, and I have lost my “Pain Cave”. Until the new Cave is complete and I’m healed from the surgery, my bike season is on hold.
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I’ve report a similar problem and hope they’re going to correct it soon as some people
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Hi Jerry,
it seems funny in hindsight having to look away form the screen, but it really is the only way to avoid an accident. I did manage to over come it but it took a while.
I guess I would have a problem if I suddenly decided to go back to them.
I’m sorry to hear that you are off the bike for a while. I hope the surgery goes well and you are able to get on the road to recovery as soon as you can.
Take it easy and here’s to a speedy, safe recovery.