I LOVED this! Hope this becomes a permanent feature. I dread going back to the old screen. Here’s why:
I’ve never been able to appreciate the scenery before because of all the other crap on the screen; could never see much more than the road in front of me. I never realized how much of the screen we are missing. So kudos to your animators for the beautiful world they have created.
Much more realistic. It felt more like riding on a real road. I was able to see upcoming curves, could chase down riders in the distance, see the sky. About the only thing I missed was the road grade because I got caught unaware in the wrong gear a few times. But I would still rather have a pristine screen. As an old school rider, I also like to ride by feel rather than what the numbers tell me.
If you want to see your stats, you can follow along on the companion app.
This should be a permanent, toggle on-off feature. Another option would be to break the display into modules and let riders pick and choose the parts of the screen they use and hide the rest, though I appreciate that would take more work.
I agree, that was a lot of fun. The only thing that could have made it better would have been if I had found the Discord link before the ride. But I had a lot of fun nonetheless.
BTW, improved my FTP from 190->213…maybe because I could not see how hard I was pushing to stay in the draft.
I absolutely loved it. I paid attention to my legs and to the people around me more than I would in a “normal” group ride, and far more than I would in a free ride. I second the kudos to the Zwift modelling team, too; I want to wander around the world they’ve created. I’d even want to completely clear the interface, with no other rider names and no descending Rideons and associated sound effects. The hum of a nice group really came in to play once the group I was in was smaller and we’d all acknowledged each other appropriately.
One interesting thing - I think I was more aware of any lag between the visual terrain and my trainer (kickr '18, in good working order). That kind of pulled me out of the flow, but only a little, and only until I was good & lathered up with a decent effort level. I wonder if other people felt similarly?
I have had a similar experience. …didnot realize how hard I was pushing. I have done 2 Sights and sounds rides and the first time I did not use the companion app., completely unplugged
Second time with the app but found myself not wanting to check it unless I was pacing a rider so I could match watts
I enjoyed the ride very much, too. The clean screen was wonderful. I’d think it would be definitly something for racing, to have only basic informations like a lap counter or timer, not more.
Regards, Marcus
If you missed the Tuesday Sights and Sounds ride, there is another one on Friday where we’ll be exploring the Watopia Waistband route with our friend and ROCK SOLID ride leader, Jarvis the Bear.
See the Club Jarvis event list in Zwift Companion for details.
I agree with all your points, especially #4. I’d love to toggle on/off modules, or if not, just make the displays less opaque to open things up visually. Great ride!
I enjoyed it as well. Would love to try a race in this mode. And would love to have more immersive soundscapes!
@Wes: was it just me, or was resolution/level of detail increased for this ride? I’d love to know how this event mode differs (if at all) from the “mimial UI” prefs hack.
I had this experience yesterday.
I confirm everything you say. For me the best feature after the addition of first big climb to the antenna several years ago.
Would like to enable this mode on request now.
Happy to be part of the club to test this feature in advance.
I tried this last night for 30 minutes and I really enjoyed it. It stopped you spending all your time looking at the numbers and kept more of a watch on the other riders in the group and check for gaps etc. A bit more like riding IRL.
I do sort of agree with the comment about the road grade. The road def looked like it was rising but it felt really easy. Made me think. The toggle on / off feature for the HUD is probably the way to go though… I
had the companion app running at the same time though so I could see numbers if I wanted so maybe it can be added to the dashboard on there?
I think this is a generally positive feature. At first, I was thinking I would missing being able to see my speed and other stats, however, that’s what the Companion App is for. Also, since I have my phone clipped to my stem, it felt more like being on a real road and looking at a bike computer to see my numbers.
