If you calibrate the Runn all you are doing is adding a fudge factor to make the speed on Zwift match the treadmill display. The Runn is factory calibrated for speed and will accurately measure the actual belt speed which depending upon which treadmill you have may or may not be the same as the display thinks it is.
I think the issue of liability is very real. If you goto McDonalds and decide to consume 1400 calories each day for breakfast, that is absolutely acceptable, and there is nothing that suggests not to overeat. One person burns themselves on hot coffee with no calories, they sue for a million dollars, and it is a very famous case. Some prominent people for some reason have died on treadmills. It is likely they had a cardiac arrest, and that the use of the treadmill through fitness actually extended their lives, but the treadmill was looked upon as the âsmoking gunâ, the âbut forâ cause of their âearly deathâ. In running, Zwift is not really making money, it seems an add on feature at this point for the computer to control the treadmill. The treadmills of today are really not smart treadmills. As noted, the bike trainers are all now smart trainers, and the bike is not accelerating you, and thatâs a valid point.
Life Fintess trendmill have auto incline on Thier machine when doing a scenery run and no one has problem with that.
When the video hits the stairs the trendmill inclines to a %.
Many trendmills like techogym have auto incline with Thier video scenery course why not Zwift.
I think it is potential liability. It cannot be technology. Itâs the McDonalds Hot Coffee problem exacerbated post-COVID, risk aversion. The stationary bike and the treadmill are controllers. If Sony and X-Box can deliver force feedback in a game controller, then the technology exists. I am not sure of any cases of injury on a stationary bike. There has been considerable cases of injury on treadmills even if the risks are extremely low. The problem with machines, strict products liability. If I go skiing and jump off a cliff, that is my choice, but if I am on a trainer, and the machine changes the incline, that is ânot my choiceâ, it is the machine.
Trendmill (Life Fintess) if you select one of the scenery courses and then it comes up with a window displaying what average incline you want in the run and 0% is a choice and it the default choice.
Just have default and give warring to the end user if selected the auto incline and the machine will auto incline.
It unsafe for a person running at high speed try to see small incline number and adjust it manually on the treadmill then trendmill auto incline.
Personal opinion on this is because it is Life Fitness software running on Life Fitness hardware so they have been able to thoroughly the integration and have full control.
As soon as you start letting 3rd party software control your hardware over open protocols then it is more difficult to ensure that bugs, interfernce etc cannot have an adverse effect and if there was an incident who would be to blame?
I think (hope) it will happen eventually with the correct disclaimers and opt ins etc on both the hardware and within Zwift that if you fall off the back for any reason then its your fault and not theirs.
When Run Social was working - it had incline automatically with life Fintess trendmill machine.
It was great to had auto incline and have speed recorded on the Run Social app.
I miss the days when Run Social was working back in 2018 - 19 with connection to Life Fintess machines.
I looked up Life Fitness and they were sold in 2019. âBrunswick to Sell Life Fitness for $490 Millionâ. From the report, the revenue was flat. Obviously during COVID, I would guess revenue went up, and now I assume revenue has declined again. When planning features, I would assume the operative decision relates to features generating hardware sales and in software generating new users, with the condition of selecting those features that are relatively inexpensive to implement, with anticipated low downstream liability. I think the reason the treadmill is not integrated so easily into software relates to the myriad of treadmills and varieties on the market, no set interface specifications, and potential liability should the computer speed up the treadmill causing the user to fall. I think Wahooâs founder capitalized on the blutooth low energy protocol, that is what he said in the podcast, and that one feature was critical to the spectacular revenue growth of the company.
Hello!
Theres an Italian that solves the problem in Domyos equipaments (pairing and auto incline)
His name is Roberto Viola and he is on YouTube explaining all.
It should be noted that this is a hack (a good one) that Zwift could block. It also doesnt work with every Bluetooth treadmill.
They could but i doubt they will.
Being able to use the app is effectively opening up Zwift to people that perhaps wouldnât be able to use it.
Itâs cheaper and more reliable than certain foot pods. For those on a limited budget this helps.
Also many runners with Zwift who pay nothing may then venture into cycling and therefore more revenue.
And given people are using a hack to get auto incline it absolves Zwift of any liability.
And youâre right it wonât work on every BT treadmill but then it depends on what it BT enabled on a treadmill.
If itâs only for reading a HR monitor youâre out of luck.
If your treadmill links with any app such as Ifit or JRNY to name a couple then the developer of the app will work tirelessly to get it to work.
Morgan at Assault Runner has been writing me. I was looking for a top quality runner, and the Assault Runner Pro looked fine. It is $2,999. It has the (1) Ability to self accelerate (2) Very Quiet (3) Nice form factor (4) Professional. Apparently, it is used at many Universities and Cross Fit Gyms. I asked him if they had one at Stanford, and they do not. My goal is combinatorial, Iâll combine the Assault Runner with say, studying for the Patent Bar for fun. My goal is innovation and working with a top quality team that wants to make a difference. My approach is to get âback on the bikeâ and learn at a very high level and that comes with that experience. I just got 4 Zwift bottles, I ordered from Zwift and I will start using them. I though they were a little short for use on the bike. Zwift has been doing what it has been doing for about 10 years, I think the platform was launched about 2014. A high quality indoor clothing line based on innovation could have been developed. Often the most innovative group is the most profitable, the one we do not immediately see, like the Gore Group in athletic clothing. Many times, the attention to detail is very real, and the desire to listen to earnest feedback by committed and intelligent users makes or breaks the product line. The reason is simple, product lines are often momentum driven, like a fly wheel. At any company, a person comes along, really brilliant, well, the fly wheel my keep trying to ground down the improvements through natural angular momentum. It happened at IBM, HP, many other companies.
I know this thread hasnt been active for a bit, but I wanted to concur that auto incline on the treadmills needs to be part of zwift. It is just crazy to me that it isnt already. Ive been using the Qdomyos-Zwift app and after some initial troubleshooting to get it to work, I was able to get it set up for my machine (the Horizon 7.0 AT, which I love btw). The developer had to help me a bit to figure it out and he is great and very responsive.
However,it blows my mind that one guy in Italy has to try and make this work for us because Zwift wont. They are missing a huge market they could potentially capture because the auto-incline is such a factor in making it more immersive.
Anyway, please, Zwift, add auto incline for us treadmill users. Thank you!
Agree, and about liability, just make a pop up screen before every run. With the text; use your kill-switch, without we can held responsible, bladiblaâŚâŚ.
Every treadmill has a kill switch, if you put it on, and your treadmill will auto incline and you canât keep up, your kill switch will sudden stop your treadmill.
Yes, thatâs what I have suggested some time ago