Zwift Rowing and Skiing

With the above message I bring up again an active conversation that is now archived and partially lost.

Last message posted, and guess never published, below.

Hi Yoda.

My comment on Linux wasn’t meant to be to be rude but anyway my fault and in return I’ll build for you, if necessary, a tailored image with debug enabled and the virtual doping set to 1.00

Starting now from your last question, yes in theory we don’t want to abruptly power off any host but this is not a real issue with the Raspberry because the flash card cannot be damaged like a spinning disk would. I always unplug mine and only connect keyboard and monitor if I need to do something special. And in the end if something weird will happen then will be easy to flash from scratch.

What could you be doing wrong?

Well, nothing apparently. Maybe shut down any other device (namely the CaBLE and the Neo) and try again. Keyboard and monitor are not needed.

What you should search for is something like this

https://
diana.bib.uniurb.it/pyRide/C2Zwift.jpg

Let me know. Paolo.

With the addition of run paths, being able to ‘roller ski’ on these paths, or even on the bike roads would be an awesome addition.

I too have a Skierg, seems like it would fit well into the Zwift world.

2 Likes

Zwift support for Concept2 Rowers and SkiErgs would be awesome! I htink particularly the Skiing community would love it!

5 Likes

I agree, rowing in Zwift would be AWESOME :slight_smile:
I also have the Concept2 rower @Vincent … would be really cool to be able to actually row, among rowers, inside Zwift ( without custom mod/hacks ) with a rowing avatar :muscle:

4 Likes

I currently ride with a C2-CABLE-CompanionApp setup to drive my avatar but I would love to have direct support for C2 rower (It must be an easy fix for Zwift to use the powerinfo from the C2 ant+ broadcast). Also, as suggested, it would be nice to have a special “roweravatar” but the thing a lot of us wish for is ofcource a “pond” to row in water.

1 Like

As it obviously isn’t any technical problem hooking the C2 up with Zwift, especially skiers could benefit. A roller ski avatar would be what it takes to make the experience better (I imagine the experience for rowers in a boat avatar on the Zwift roads would by somewhat bizarre… :wink: )

1 Like

:wink:

2 Likes

:joy:

That’s actually more weird than the eliptical bike.

Hey.

WaterTopia, IMHO, is not an option.

I’m a rower with more than 16 million (sic!) meters logged in 4 years. I row at least 5th in a week and NOW I row mostly if not only in Zwift.

Why this? Why I PAY for Zwift as a rower? Because on Zwift I always find people, events, challenges.

I own a RowPro perpetual license, I bought then but I don’t use the RowPro software anymore. The issue with RowPro is not the graphics, the issue with RowPro is the sad fact you end up rowing alone.

Within WaterTopia you’ll end up to row alone, too. We need to row in the same world the riders do and be able to enter the same event, group rides, races.

Is this an issue with data integrity and, say, virtual doping? Yes sure this is. But sorry, being honest with ourselves we perfectly know it’s only a game and the rowing cheat is far to be the main issue with Zwift races etc. etc.

So, in the end, I ride a C2 indoor rower in Zwift, I enjoy, and I avoid to compare my results with legitimate riders (do they exist?). My profile is public and I declare I’m riding a C2. If I would be allowed to wear a C2 avatar I’ll do and people around will know even better who I’m.

Full stop. IMHO.

Don’t go for something like Watertopia, is a loser. What we need is just an avatar.

Ride on. PaoloC

3 Likes

And native support. Having to use something like PainSled and two devices is rubbish. I use an iPad for PainSled and my Android phone running Companion as a bluetooth bridge. It would be so much better if Zwift would just take the ANT+ from my PM5.

1 Like

Yes native support would be helping. I’m a pro in IT and I built my own setup no problem but you’re true about native support.

PaoloC

1 Like

On native support, again.

Agreeing to Ant+ FE-C documentation

8.5.2.1 Equipment Type Bit Field
This bit field is a required field used to indicate the type of fitness equipment that is in use. Bits 5-7 are reserved and should not be interpreted. Bits 0-4 indicate the FE type as described in Table 8-8. Undefined values are reserved.
Table 8-8. Equipment Type Bit Field Description
Bit(s) Contents Value Meaning
0-4 FE Type 19 Treadmill
20 Elliptical
21 Reserved. Do Not Use
22 Rower
23 Climber
24 Nordic Skier
25 Trainer/Stationary Bike
5-7 Reserved 0 Do Not Interpret

C2 PM5 broadcasts a code 22 page (I’m going to prove this if needed, I have a working PoC) while the stationary bike sends a code 25 page.

Data are in, only needed to be read into the Zwift game. Of course.

Now, people at Zwift don’t need me to point at that. They know better than me or us. The issue is not a technical one, is a commercial issue. Zwift may open the doors to the indoor rowing world, nearly at no cost, and drop rowers to the same virtual reality where the riders are.

Is this going to upset the bike community? Maybe.

Riders may need to know if Zwift is a fair place to compete, not only to train. If what I want to do is to have a work out I’m going to ignore people with different power profiles. If what I want to do is to compete now I’d sensitive to virtual doping, and for sure a different power profile IS a kind of virtual doping.

Is the Zwitf a place to compete, like in real life?

Paolo

I just bought a Concept2 rower and found out how boring it is to just look on the PM5.
Please I want to row on Zwift!!!

6 Likes

How To Use Your Concept2 Rower on Zwift

1 Like

Please create a Zwift Rowing. I run and row, just started Zwift run and would love to be able to Zwift my rowing. I use a Concept 2, pretty much the industry standard, it has a PM5 that has both Bluetooth and Ant+. The PM5 also has a USB port but that isn’t really necessary as the treadmill broadcasts stroke rate and power via Bluetooth.

6 Likes

One more vote for rowing.
There is currently nothing softwarewise that is making this effective but rather boring sport… less boring :).
I will take a look into painsled, but I would prefer Zwift just to accept the C2 as a power source…

2 Likes

The CABLE device from NPE works great. It also has 2 preset configs available if you have a skier and a rower. This setup is good for me with windows BLE. PM5 ant+ FEC > CABLE (which translates actual ski/row watts from ANT+ to BLE) > Windows machine with BLE.

FWIW the PM5 is currently recognized by Zwift, however in its native form you cant get any Watts above 0.

The issue in Zwift offering PM5 compatibility in its native form would seem to be that when you stop rowing or skiing for a break the PM5 will display the last watts pulled. Though the PM5 will not calculate any additional meters during a break it will still display your last pulled wattage. This makes for an advantageous situation for all those cheaters out there looking for free watts/kms as the result is whenever you take a break your avatar is still riding at your last pulled watts in infinity.

Regardless of all the politics surrounding Zwift trainer compatibility, the infinite ways to hack better results, I’m happy to be cycling, rowing, and skiing on Zwift.

1 Like

Since there’s no coasting (well, very little) on a rowing machine, Zwift could stop the power as soon as the SR drops to zero. OK, there might be a little free power, but really not a lot. And compared to other ergers, it’s a level playing field. OK, more level. C2 ergs will never compete on a par with bike trainers anyway.

Zwift can’t stop the power as I understand. When you stop pulling on a Rower/Skier the PM5 reads watts of last pull, it never zeroes out. As far as reading actual wattage goes, concept2 is great, but when integrated into Zwift the achilles heel would seem to be the inherent nature of the PM5 and its inability to zero out watts when you stop pulling,