Pain-cave photos/equipment ideas

2 fans: one mounted to the floor joists above and one on the floor. 3 screens: left for discord or course maps, upper, music/videos, lower for riding game(s).

ZCA: used to work on my Hammerhead k2 on my bars but now I’m back to my phone on the storage tubs to my right.

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Velcro on stem for 8’ tablet.

Edit: pic from the shed - can just see the white velcro under tablet.

Note - the SurfacePro is not used for Zwift and I’d never recommend one - it runs network diag stuff and Spotify / VLC while riding.

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I have the same trainer. I have an Apple TV 4K module and a 4K monitor on the wall, and on the bars I have a holder for the I-phone. It is fantastic. Sometimes I want to warm up or do a high intensity fitness session, guess what. I ride intensely for 15 minutes, get off the bike, lift weights, do squats, get back on the bike, repeat in fifteen minutes. I live in one of the best places in the world to road bike on Skyline Boulevard in Palo Alto, also one of the best places to Gravel Bike, and I just want variety on the trainer. What I like to do, watch Apple TV Music videos once I get off the bike, it is a blast, on the bike, Zwifting, off the bike, Music Videos it is a blast. I have a rule, if I Zwift, I have to go out and ride. Zwift is not a substitute for me, it is augmentation tool. I like the short rides with planks and gravel and cobbles the best for the road feel. I think the climbs are harder on Zwift. I like climbing. I have some favorite California Climbs, all spectacular, nothing climbs as beautifully as the North Entrance of Big Basin State Park.

Same trainer as …??? Pic or it didnt happen.

Decided this looked pretty shite so I bought a new case. :rofl: Same principle though. This one cost a fiver.


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I’m really curious how most people mount or store their phones when using the Companion App.

Nothing fancy. Can’t take a pic because my phone is my camera… but I got a cheap (~$3) “waterproof” phone case from Amazon and some stick-on Garmin mount adapters, and I put it on my out front mount.

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And… he did, LOL

Skip to 2:15 for Daren’s roast

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:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:

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“I don’t know if anything highly flammable is stored amongst all that, but I really hope so…”

“You know what this needs first, some speakers duct taped to my TV screen, that’s the priority here”

:rofl: :rofl:

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Isopropanol is flammable I’m pretty sure. Not sure how he missed that! :rofl:

Also, the speakers are in the perfect place for me to hear my music! Where else am I gonna put them? On the floor?! =)

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Saw someone that made an immersive screen on Reddit over the summer. Looked quite amazing and since I had one projector collecting dust I’d figure why not try? Although ideally you have more than one projector that would be besides my initial point of using something I had. Although might still get a second one in the future though…

Anyway, setup by it self:

However, better to see it yourself. Still need to fine-tune the screen display, fix up holes and put a proper paint for improved quality. Short clip uploaded to YouTube: Zwift Setup Test - YouTube

Much better than my old setup with old laptop on trainer table. In camera view three it feels immersive which was the point. So quite happy even though I theory it would be better with a second projector and especially with short throw ones (but that I didn’t have) as when Im in a full sprint standing on pedals I have a slight shadow at bottom now.

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That’s ace. Where’s the projector mounted, ceiling? You could do with a PC upgrade so that you can hold 60fps all the time. :wink:

Ceiling indeed! Still need to hide cables though.

New PC: First followed your advice that it doesn’t need to be expensive. So computer from 2018 with a NVidia card I had already far outperforms my old laptop. We still need things to desire so new PC might be for next year :-). Looked at your suggestions but couldn’t quite get it as cheap as you manage!

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When you want to run all the things.

That’s the Tacx Tablet holder with the DIY phone holder. Phone running Companion App, iPad running ZwiftGPS to show position on map, and an AppleTV driving the 32" TV.

This was a fun config for big events or particularly long rides. I also had a tab open on the iPad for ZwiftMap.com which I will never not put a plug in for - super easy tool for visualizing routes and seeing what you’ve got coming up for sprints and KOMs.

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Continuing the discussion from Forum sub-section request: pain-cave photos/equipment ideas:

Hey Otto! Nice riding with you today. Came to see your awesome Zwift setup!

Here’s a pic of our setup.
We’re using AppleTV’s, KICKR Bikes, 42" 4k Monitors - and I use a MacPro when I’m riding by myself (or one of us is racing) we take over both monitors with Sauce for Zwift! ha!

We just use up front garmin mounts (cheapo copies) for our iPhones. That way we don’t need remotes or keyboards - just use the phones for the AppleTV’s and the MacPro.

Music is really important, so we have a 12" subwoofer and a couple Yamaha powered studio monitors with a bluetooth setup so its easy to connect anyones phone to. (3 of us use the cave)

It’s backlight in pink and blue and looks great at night.

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55" Hisense 4K TV connected with HDMI, Kickr Bike. Lenovo Yoga mini-laptop. MacOS 12.6.2 and because someone will ask, the wallpaper is a Peugeot 905 Evo1B powered by Peugeot SA35-A1 3.0L V10. It is chassis EV13 which was restored and reactivated.


My former work Mac Pro now doing Zwift and FulGaz duties.

So that’s my trainer cave. Kickr Bike running through bluetooth or ANT+ depending on what is needed and industrial fan on the floor. Sound is via Bose Soundbar 700 (optical connection to Mac Pro) and Bose Bass Module 700. I’m using the current Apple wireless keyboard and a Logitech wireless mouse.

I’ve got two computers - the Lenovo laptop that goes overseas when I’m riding abroad for logging my rides and other general stuff. It also does the old fashioned PerfPro Studio which I use for intervals - that’s on Windows 10.

The “big mac” is the Mac Pro I got brand new in 2010 for AUD$5900 with a 27" LED Cinema Display. It was a single 3.2ghz quad-core Xeon and had a pitiful 8GB RAM, a Radeon 5870 GPU with 1GB RAM and very classic 1TB spinning HDD. I can’t even remember what MacOS it came with, but it was a very old one but it was a super reliable computer for my work use.

I ended up giving this unit an upgrade. I obtained an eight core (2x quad core) second hand Mac Pro from an ad-agency and swapped the CPU tray out, then this old thing got:

2x Intel Xeon X5690 Westmere 3.46ghz (each 6 core, 130w)
Radeon RX580 8GB
1TB Samsung SSD
Opencore 0.8.0
MacOS Monterey 12.6.2
128GB DDR3 1366mhz RAM (8x16GB ECC)
upgraded WIFI and bluetooth chip (for document hand-off, apple watch unlock, airdrop etc)

It started giving kernel panics mid way through last year so I replaced it with a modern 2019 Mac Pro for work, then I put the old thing away until I was physically able to get it out and try to solve the problem. The kernel panics related to one of the CPUs (CPU A, the one at the back) failing. I got a couple of X5690s from Amazon cheaply and replaced the dead CPU. And it’s back working.

So the old machine lives again and it runs Zwift. This one was never moved about so it has no scratches, dings or other marks on it and looks brand new.

The other donor Mac Pro has my old single CPU tray in it and has the same RX580 graphics card, a 2TB SSD and a Xeon X5690 and other similar upgrades. It was running Zwift before.

I’m quite lucky that they run Zwift very reliably. I’ve also got FulGaz running - I swap between FulGaz and Zwift.

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For me, it’s all about the immersion so a projector is a must. I also utilize a secondary monitor to help pass the time (YouTube, Netflix, etc) during easier paced rides.

In terms of computing hardware, I use an old gaming desktop which easily handles Zwift on the highest graphical settings.

Since I moved my WFH office upstairs, this room is a dedicated Pain Cave with miscellaneous other exercise equipment. Simple but effective:

[ edit: the projected image is much larger and sharper than it appears in the photo ]


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I have Gymrail Momentum X1 rockerplate with Elite Direto XR trainer on my Zwifting room.
I do have Wahoo Headwind there also, but photo was taken before I bought it.

Gymrail has improved ability to enjoy riding more, because it moves every direction front-back, left-right, tilting side to side and best of all is back unit yaw movement while sprinting hard.
Gymrail makes riding feel very very natural and enjoyable and you can easily ride hours with it.
I have used that combination over a year now and I would never ride indoors without Gymrail anymore.

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Could this be the future?

Why couldn’t this be the future?!

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