Suggestion: Add a Manual speed entry option to Zwift Run to eliminate the need for a bluetooth device

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1

After having loads of trouble with two different Zwift RunPods, I’d like to suggest that you offer the ability to manually enter the speed of your treadmill into the Zwift App/Game so you can still participate even when you don’t have a Bluetooth connected cadence sensor like the RunPod, Milestone etc.

Run Social has this feature. You can change the speed that you’re going in the app as you change the speed of your treadmill.

It sure would have saved me a lot of frustration with using Zwift Run not being able to see the Zwift RunPod for more than a few seconds at a stretch. I just think the technology isn’t quite there yet.

For clarity - I do not mean that I want to have Zwift control the speed that my treadmill is running at. I just want to tell Zwift’s app the speed that I have my treadmill set to by manually inputting it.

Thanks!

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oh yes please ! awesome idea

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Wouldn’t this mean that you could say you’re running 5 minute miles while you sit on the sofa?

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Sure, you might be that person who sits on the sofa, but what would the point be? You’d never see the e-world :slight_smile:

At least with this option, you’d be able to actually go through the world without the frustration of inaccurate tech tools.

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5

Maybe a good solution would be some way of adjusting the reported speed being fed to Zwift via the footpod in small ways. I’d bet that 95% of out there have gotten something pretty close but for whatever reason it is still reporting a bit over or under. When I’ve done calibration and for whatever reason I’m using what I just calibrated and it is reading 6.9 MPH when I am doing 7.0 MPH on the treadmill, it would be nice to have some feature where you could bump it up to what the treadmill is doing and perhaps even have it feed into the profile for the footpod being used.

Most of the time people seem to be getting the calibration close but that close becomes off by .05 miles over the course of a mile or maybe a tenth of a mile over the course or two or three miles. It would be so nice to be able to give the calibration a small push in one direction or another when these small differences show up.

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Free XP! Winning races! :wink:

My point being we shouldn’t make it easier for people to cheat the game.

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The problem I am attempting to address is that the Zwift Footpod appears to not work very well. Read the Amazon reviews. I tried two before giving up.

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I suppose for those concerned about ‘cheating’ the manual mode could be used only outside of competitions.

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couldn’t anyone with a bluetooth enabled treadmill just leave it running when they aren’t on it anyway?

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Maybe, I’ve no idea. I thought Zwift only cared about footpod data.

But even if they could, that doesn’t mean Zwift should add more ways to abuse the game.

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You can use a foot pod or a Bluetooth treadmill to share your speed with Zwift, so in theory you could just leave it running as Chris Holton suggests.
https://support.zwift.com/en_us/what-treadmills-and-sensors-does-zwift-support-ByeebAJbBm

I suppose that cheaters gonna cheat in just about anything. :smiley:

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12

I was just about the make the same suggestion.

I’ve recently tried the ‘Treadmill Speed Transmitter’ Android app which does this over bluetooth, there’s also the ‘Treadmill Smart Speed’ iOS app. However, both are paid apps and it would be far neater if this was integrated into the Zwift companion app itself.

I’d obviously still use the Zwift Runpod for cadence.

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13

Yes please. I have a coros pace 2 which allows to set a manual speed (for a treadmill run). Works like a charm for any type (long, temp, interval etc) of a run. Would love this in zwift.