Zwift Resource Megathread - October 2022 đź—ş

Hey all!

This thread is meant to capture links to interesting and useful Zwift-related resources. There’s a forum-imposed, 30-day time-limit for editing posts so my intent is to start a new thread at the beginning of each month, with the hopes forum staff will pin it.

The original thread that started it all: Links to Zwift Resources 🗺️


READ THESE FIRST

Maps, Routes, Worlds

Events, Challenges, Missions

Podcasts & Media

Clubs

Adaptive Athletes

  • Amputee, Disability, Under 1 w/kg group rides out there? - discussion on low-W/kg rides for adaptive athletes. IMPORTANT: there were replies by the NPE-CABLE team as well as the developer of the PainSled and RowedBiker apps on how to use that technology (see the “Software & Technology” section) to apply a wattage correction factor for adaptive athletes.
  • Introducing the Zwift Handcycle [2022]
  • Events - using the “Search” box on ZwiftHacks Events list, try “adaptive” or “handcycle”. You’ll come up with regular events catering to adaptive athletes, often with “keep together” (aka “rubberbanding”) enabled so that everyone can ride together.
  • Para-Zwift Cycling Community - private Facebook group with information on connecting paracycles to smart trainers.

Workouts, Training & Racing

Software & Technology

  • Zwift on PC: The Ultimate Guide to Running Zwift at Its Very Best | Zwift Insider - written by the forum’s own @Dave_ZPCMR with input from the author of Zwiftalizer, a guide to building a Zwift PC to minimize cost and maximize graphic detail and performance. In some regions (UK, USA) you can build a PC on the cheap that runs Zwift beautifully. In other regions, a refurb iPad or AppleTV may offer the best value.
  • https://refurb-tracker.com/ - if you want to go down the Apple iPad or AppleTV 4k route, Refurb Tracker can be used to create alerts when devices go back in stock on Apple’s online store. There’s little reason to buy on the used market as Apple’s prices often undercut used, the devices have been professionally refurbished and come with warranties.
  • https://www.zwiftalizer.com/ - analyze your system, GPU performance, network, bluetooth, ant+ dropouts, etc.
  • Borderless Gaming - Optional, for running Zwift on PC full-screen with fewer limitations than Windows defaults. (more info here)
  • RowedBiker and PainSled iOS & Android - apps that can bridge rowing machines into Zwift (converts rowing data to appear like a bike power sensor)
  • The "RoadCaptain” add-on available on GitHub - A clever bit of code you can run overtop (underneath?) Zwift on PC that enables you to auto-navigate. (also linked in “Maps, Routes, Worlds” section)
  • qDomyos-Zwift app for Android and iOS - another bridging app that can connect with a variety of non-standard exercise equipment (elliptical machines, exercise bikes, treadmills) and send the data to Zwift
  • Zwift Activity Monitor - GitHub - Allows Zwift users to monitor their moving average power and FTP in real-time
  • Sauce for Zwift - a data/stats-overlay add-on for Zwift on PC. (requires monthly Patreon subscription; discussion thread here)
  • NPE-CABLE pod - Converts/binds ANT+ sensors to a single BLE signal - great for dealing with AppleTV limitations. It can also be used to convert a RowERG power source to cycling, allowing Concept2 rowers to “Zwift”. Sadly, the global chip shortage has resulted in the NPE-CABLE being unavailable for purchase for some time.
  • 4iiii Viiiiva HRM & sensor bridge - not a chest strap HR monitor, 4iiii “Viiiiva” HRM acts as an ANT+ to BLE sensor bridge, much like the NPE-CABLE. There is one minor limitation versus the NPE-CABLE: it won’t alter a signal such that, say, someone on a rowing machine could trick Zwift into thinking they’re on a bike.

Hardware - Bicycles, Trainers, Misc.


Know of any I missed? Is there a better way to categorize what we’ve got? Hit reply and let me know!

Good work (again :rofl:). :+1:

Worth noting that Borderless Gaming is specifically for running Zwift in windowed mode (it hides the window, obviously). You don’t need it to run Zwift in full screen mode which is just selected in the game settings, though it’s often useful for those with multiple displays and/or who may have issues with the game minimising itself for no apparent reason. I use one display and have never had an issue with simply selecting full screen mode in the game after first installing it. No need for anything else.

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I don’t think Sauce for Zwift is mentioned GitHub - SauceLLC/sauce4zwift: Sauce for Zwift™

"A collection of add-ons and replacement widgets for Zwift

Sauce for Zwift™ extends the zwift cycling and running simulator with more stats and pretty things."

It requires you to be a Patrion and pay a small a mount each month to use it.

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Cool cool - noted! Is there a discussion thread on the forum that details why someone might or might not want to run Borderless Gaming? I can link to that as well as the GitHub repository.

Added!

It’s mentioned plenty of times but probably not in a concise format. Essentially you’d only need to use it if you have issues with the game minimising itself from full screen, and/or you specifically want to use windowed mode but with the same appearance as full screen mode. In my experience proper full screen mode runs much more smoothly than windowed (due to vsync control, which is a whole other topic), which is why I don’t think Borderless Gaming needs to be recommended for everyone. If that makes sense!

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…aaaaand your comment is now canon. :stuck_out_tongue:

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Haha, thanks. When it comes to using a PC dedicated for Zwift I’m a big proponent of clean installing Windows, letting it sort itself out and generally doing as little else as possible - unless you’re certain it’s needed, don’t bother doing anything manually.

Updated reference to “Pace Partner” to reflect new name, “RoboPacer.”

A couple media things to add:

The Pink Tron - a podcast from The Herd Racing League

Herd Racing on Zwift - YouTube channel. Weekly broadcast of multiple categories with commentary on Fridays, some other Zwift content

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Added to the “Podcasts & Media” section, with thanks. :slight_smile:

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Add linked to Pssst: yes, you do have another device connected, dummy in the “READ THESE FIRST” section.

Added https://zwifterbikes.web.app/

Discussion on that here: New resource - Zwifterbikes web app 🚲

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www.zwiftracing.app [BETA] - “The goal and intent of this project is merely to propose an alternative method for ranking riders for the purposes of race event rider pen distribution.”

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Added! Thanks!

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I’ve removed Best Bike for Route (Google sheet) from the first section as the change-log indicated the last updates were in April and it’s likely stale-dated.

Further, the recently added “ZwifterBike” web app seems to use the same dataset but offers a much more user-friendly interface.

Also added a link to the 4iiii Viiiiva HRM & sensor bridge in the technology section. Similar functionality to the NPE-CABLE, it will convert ANT+ signals from sensors to BLE and “bind” them over a single BLE channel. This is useful if you have ANT+ only sensors but want to run Zwift on a device (iPad, iPhone, AppleTV) that only recognize Bluetooth. Further, it can break the 2-device limit of the AppleTV by fusing multiple sensor signals. NOTE: you do NOT have to wear the HRM - it will function as a standalone converter.

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“Fog of Zwift” is an upgrade to ZwiftMap.com.

I’ll quote the author’s Reddit post here:

https://old.reddit.com/r/Zwift/comments/yaqemu/new_zwiftmap_features_fog_of_zwift/

Fog of Zwift

Zwift is not only about racing but also about exploring. With Fog of Zwift you are challenged to ride every single meter of road available on Zwift.

How to get started: Sign in to Strava at zwiftmap.com, and give permission to persist, and process activities. All unknown roads are covered in fog. After your next ride, the newly discovered streets are freed from fog and shown bright.

This feature is inspired by GCN’s video from February where Hank attempts to ride every road of Zwift in one go: https://youtu.be/3lBZZXjrExg.

It is currently not possible to import your past activities. I might introduce this in the future, but for now, I want to save the servers’ CPUs from too heavy processing and running into Strava rate limits.

Map of Watopia with a gray overlay. Roads and the area around them are bright. Stats shown in the sidebar: 96.9% unlocked, 1007km ridden, total roads in Watopia 101.2km

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Just added three new resources from the author of ZwiftMap.com:

ZwiftQuiz - to help you learn the shape of Zwift routes

TTT-Timer & TTT-Timer Discord bot - a website & Discord Bot that help you organize your team time trials

TTT-timer Discord bot is listed twice.

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Fixed, thanks!