RGT cycling Le virtual Tour

seanin4711

Hi all,


going to give the RGT cycling a go for there 3 weeks of racing to align to the tour de france.
looks like a very capable challenger to zwift.
need a power source such as smart trainer or power meter.
https://www.facebook.com/teamwkg/videos/628296421457101
register through mobile app and need a second screen such as laptop to broadcast the ride.

Crocked

Our club used RGT to run a mini club league during lockdown and I found it very solid. A couple of lads had issues with dropouts but it seemed to be same lads cropping up, so likely local issues with wifi/bluetooth causing the problem. You do need a relatively recent phone as the phone runs the main game. You then use a laptop or appletv to run the screen app.

The system auto brakes for corners and the draft/gradient seems a bit more realistic than Zwift is.

Magic roads are a cool feature as well, you can upload a gpx file and it will recreate the course (it generates generic scenery), so you can ride or race familiar roads. You may need to do some smoothing on the gpx file first depending on how clear the GPS was on the ride you are using.

The time slots for the Vive La France don't work for me but I hope to get on for a few of the stages.

Macy0161

Tried it a few times during The Cycling Podcast "Our Giro" and gave up. Always some issue with it, either not loading the route, or not controlling the turbo. I train pre-work - I don't need that hassle before 7am!

seanin4711

Macy0161 wrote: »

Tried it a few times during The Cycling Podcast "Our Giro" and gave up. Always some issue with it, either not loading the route, or not controlling the turbo. I train pre-work - I don't need that hassle before 7am!

I have had no issues with drop outs as I am in pain cave with 30mb/sec wifi so all good,using a modern laptop and phone.
Assioma uno with lemond revolution.
really looking forward to testing myself and training consistently over the 3 weeks.
Just leveraging off it to get some decent training done.
Used zwift for years and looking for an alternative,its rapidly becoming a very solid platform!

Macy0161

Actually, may try again, as I've improved the wifi out there thinking about it.

Crocked

I use TPlink plug things to extend wired and wifi coverage and it's been fine with that.

They had a update recently as well which may help. Magic roads also look much better now than they did when the Giro tour was on.

I have found the magic roads take a bit longer to load than the real roads but only an extra few seconds ,presume its while it creates the scenery.

I find AppleTV to be the most reliable for Zwift/RGT v a laptop, although my laptop would be lower end.

Macy0161

I was using Apple TV. Is it still free?

Crocked

Yeah still free. There is a premium service which unlocks some bits and bobs, like all real roads available at all times. No need for premium for races

monkeysnapper

Hi .... I saw this last night and set it up ... took a while for my trainer to be recognized.... haven't given it a good go yet ...

I'm sick of paying for zwift when I've only been using it couple of times a week. Doing a bit of night riding lately. I have apple tv 4k and seems really nice graphics.

Also I saw it was same price as zwift @ 14.99 but when I checked last night I saw 8 euros for full premium which is a hell of a lot better than 14.99 for us poor folk.

Any update on others how this is....

seanin4711

does what i need
inexpensive
racing and trainiing
more immersive than zwift imho.

Chips Lovell

I've used RGT a fair bit over the past few months. We did our entire club league on it this year.

Pros include:

• Much more realistic in terms of drafting and cornering
• Easy to organize your own races
• Ability to create your own routes from GPX files
• Unlimited time/distance on the free version (you are limited in what circuits you can use)
• Cheaper than Zwift

Cons:

• Way fewer races. They're usually only ever three or four hours. If you want to do a race in the morning, for example, the only available is usually 9am, which isn't great. With Zwift you've a race starting every half hour most of the time.
• Awkward set-up in that you need to have two different apps (mobile and screen) running.
• A lot fewer default routes than Zwift
• Buggier than Zwift

Macy0161

I never got around to trying it again. May have a go in the morning, as I've established I can't do a Friday evening race and a Saturday morning one after trying to do Team Ireland and then the CI one!

Crocked

Chips Lovell wrote: »

I've used RGT a fair bit over the past few months. We did our entire club league on it this year.

Pros include:

• Much more realistic in terms of drafting and cornering
• Easy to organize your own races
• Ability to create your own routes from GPX files
• Unlimited time/distance on the free version (you are limited in what circuits you can use)
• Cheaper than Zwift

Cons:

• Way fewer races. They're usually only ever three or four hours. If you want to do a race in the morning, for example, the only available is usually 9am, which isn't great. With Zwift you've a race starting every half hour most of the time.
• Awkward set-up in that you need to have two different apps (mobile and screen) running.
• A lot fewer default routes than Zwift
• Buggier than Zwift

Check out the RGT user group on FB. You'll find links to private races which happen more regularly

Chips Lovell

Crocked wrote: »

Check out the RGT user group on FB. You'll find links to private races which happen more regularly

Oooh. That's a good tip, thanks.

monkeysnapper

Crocked wrote: »

Check out the RGT user group on FB. You'll find links to private races which happen more regularly

I was looking for info and i friended on facebook ... yeh your correct on that .... but do you have to have sub to use that . .... prob silly question .. I dont have a problem paying but 15 quid is just a bit much ...I can live with 8 .

Chips Lovell

Crocked wrote: »

Check out the RGT user group on FB. You'll find links to private races which happen more regularly

This the group? https://www.facebook.com/groups/roadgrandtoursusers/

Is there any particular thread for races or are they all announced as events?

nilhg

Chips Lovell wrote: »

This the group? https://www.facebook.com/groups/roadgrandtoursusers/

Is there any particular thread for races or are they all announced as events?

Have a look here
https://www.facebook.com/groups/140335630752089

Chips Lovell

Weepsie wrote: »

People take riding together and drafting very seriously and get s bit p!ssy of you start hammering it I found. Like who gives a sh!t, it's not real, I'm happy to hammer it until I blow up and that be it.

They then moan on the FB group, which has an awful lot of unreasonabley expectant users, though they are in the minority.

Just like real world racing. It wouldn’t be the same without all the moaning. I told you, it’s the more realistic of the two!

cletus

This is probably a really stupid question, but it's prompted from the post above about people complaining. Can you crash into the other virtual riders (either accidentally or on purpose), and if you can, what happens?

Crocked

No, no crashes

Crocked

monkeysnapper wrote: »

I was looking for info and i friended on facebook ... yeh your correct on that .... but do you have to have sub to use that . .... prob silly question .. I dont have a problem paying but 15 quid is just a bit much ...I can live with 8 .

I haven't raced on RGT in a while but I think you just need a paid sub if you want to create a private event. Once you have the race code you can race on a free account

Macy0161

Did the Stelvio on Saturday morning, and was quite impressed up until the top, when it wouldn't let me turn around! Made me want to go there in real life even more!

monkeysnapper

Crocked wrote: »

I haven't raced on RGT in a while but I think you just need a paid sub if you want to create a private event. Once you have the race code you can race on a free account

Thanks .... I did a group ride on sunday morning ...I have to say I was very impressed with this .... you get a lot on the free account.....

I think I'll subscribe tho because I'd love to do some of my local routes on the magic roads.

Macy0161

Just another post - Zwift wouldn't connect for this morning (I think I was just cutting it too fine for the start of the Tour De Zwift). I did the Dirty Reiver as an out and back - not sure whether it's actually a lap so if you keep going you just carry on and do it again? After the fiasco at the top of the stelvio I turned around under one banner and rode it in reverse, but at the "start" it was letting me carry on.

Anyway, seems it was just network issues when I originally tried it at the start of lockdown, as no issues since I hard wired a router (and AppleTV) in the shed. Still not enough to justify another subscription at the moment - I'd need to be doing regular races on there. I may compare their Ventoux to Ven-top over the weekend though.

seanin4711

Macy0161 wrote: »

Just another post - Zwift wouldn't connect for this morning (I think I was just cutting it too fine for the start of the Tour De Zwift). I did the Dirty Reiver as an out and back - not sure whether it's actually a lap so if you keep going you just carry on and do it again? After the fiasco at the top of the stelvio I turned around under one banner and rode it in reverse, but at the "start" it was letting me carry on.

Anyway, seems it was just network issues when I originally tried it at the start of lockdown, as no issues since I hard wired a router (and AppleTV) in the shed. Still not enough to justify another subscription at the moment - I'd need to be doing regular races on there. I may compare their Ventoux to Ven-top over the weekend though.

i am on premium for 8 euro,bargain for what you get!

Macy0161

I'm still committed to TrainerRoad and follow a plan, so I'm only doing the a few spins/ races a week that aren't TrainerRoad workouts. This week was a recovery week, so was just doing a few free rides (not many have been endurance zones though!). There's still not enough on RGT for me to subscribe, but I wish I had my current set up when RGT did The Cycling Podcast Our Giro.

Crocked

For me the advantage Zwift have is Watopia, which is a proper world so you can ride around nearly endless roads and pick your own route. All the other competitors just have standalone courses so you are stuck in a loop or a single climb.

There is an open goal in racing if one of the competitors nailed that. It would pull a userbase/event organisers away from Zwift and set them out from the chasing pack so to speak. Zwift don't really seem to understand racing, or clubs for that matter, and seem to be a fairly poorly run company. They just got lucky with timing and don't seem to know what to do apart from spend investors money on marketing.

Macy0161

I think that's a bit harsh on zwift, they had plans and then had to go into firefighting mode with the a growth in user numbers that matched the rise of Covid19! I wouldn't be a massive fan of the company, but they're kinda stuck trying to manage the unexpected growth while keeping long term users happy.

Biggest issue with any virtual racing is the variance of power meter, as well as aspirational rider weight inputs.

TheBlaaMan

Macy0161 wrote: »

as well as aspirational rider weight inputs.

This. Big time. Getting a bit pissed seeing guys sustain 7w/kg on climbs.........not that I expect to win a race, but just not getting dropped in the first 5minutes would be nice

Macy0161

TheBlaaMan wrote: »

This. Big time. Getting a bit pissed seeing guys sustain 7w/kg on climbs.........not that I expect to win a race, but just not getting dropped in the first 5minutes would be nice

A couple of KG here and there is one thing, but one of the races I did I was beaten (to circa 150th place :pac:) by a fella that came flying past me in the sprint at 45kg! He wasn't a junior either.

In fairness, I haven't noticed it too much in the Team Ireland races, haven't done the CI races (as I'm too f*cked from the Friday evening Team Ireland ones!).

Crocked

Macy0161 wrote: »

I think that's a bit harsh on zwift, they had plans and then had to go into firefighting mode with the a growth in user numbers that matched the rise of Covid19! I wouldn't be a massive fan of the company, but they're kinda stuck trying to manage the unexpected growth while keeping long term users happy.

Biggest issue with any virtual racing is the variance of power meter, as well as aspirational rider weight inputs.

I don't think I'm being harsh, They have a billion dollar valuation and have received hundreds of millions in cash from investors.

They have done zero to try and run races properly. Give event organisers no proper tools, and despite having all the user data you could dream of still can't/wont enforce race categories.

They told us they had an updated AppleTV GUI ready to go at the start of Covid, then they said they were holding back releasing it until their onboarding numbers settled down, then we are told actually it was **** so we started again, now.....radio silence. They are always saying oh we are working on that but nothing ever changes.

Same with trainers, they bemoan lack of innovation from the trainer companies and then start to develop their own bike/trainer. Trainer companies launch new smart bikes but Zwift only yesterday opened up steering, and then for only one of them. This is despite them all being out over a year (multiple years in some cases) and being capable of steering. Hell Zwift won't even show you gear changes either.

They are badly run and haven't a clear plan or idea of what they want to be, apart from getting the UCI to use them for races and get into the Olympics. There is an opportunity for a properly focused competitor to steal the market away from them or at least give them pause for thought. But I don't think the rest have the capital to scale up/develope their products quickly enough at the moment