This one’s coming in off left-field but I know plenty of you use trainers during the winter months. Here’s a new social platform that incorporates indoor cycling. Check the full scoop out on Zwift:
“Just in time for winter’s short days and blustery weather, Zwift, the new leader in virtual indoor cycling, has announced the official launch of its public Beta. Thanks to its unique Zengine–a massive, multiplayer video game platform – Zwift delivers a fun, social and entertaining indoor cycling experience. The company’s Beta launch was celebrated with an event that was held simultaneously at Rapha Cycle Clubs in London, New York and San Francisco. Zwift’s public Beta is initially open to several hundred people and the company expects to allow access to its virtual world to the general public this winter. The Zwift platform is hardware agnostic and connects to a wide range of devices. The minimum requirement is a trainer, ANT+ cadence/speed sensor and ANT+ dongle although an electronically controlled trainer can give you enhanced experience.”
“Anyone who’s ever ridden a trainer has probably thought about how much better the experience could be. We started Zwift because we’re busy people and many days we don’t have enough time to ride outdoors,” said Zwift co-Founder Eric Min. “The goal with Zwift is to improve the indoor cycling experience by making it entertaining, motivational, accessible and social. We call this “fitness entertainment”. Zwift allows anyone, anywhere with a trainer to ride with their friends. We believe that will get anyone to ride more often and to actually enjoy their time riding indoors. For the more competitive minded people, subscribing to Zwift could be the best training investment they can make. We also love riding outdoors but it’s not always convenient. Zwift is meant to complement the outdoor riding.”
Zwift is the first company to bring massive multi-player gaming technology to indoor fitness by connecting with existing hardware (e.g. trainers, power meters, heart rate monitors, etc.) through open industry standard ANT+. Athletes can follow their own workout plans or ride with each other in Zwift’s rich, 3D generated virtual worlds, pushing each other in friendly competition or just enjoying casual banter on a group ride. Zwift will allow athletes to take part in virtualized versions of real world events such as races, gran fondos and charity rides.
Cyclists all over the world will be able to gain access to the Zwift community and to experience its rich digital environment by paying a $10.00 monthly subscription fee. Access to well-known events and other features will be available for an additional fee.
Invitations to Zwift’s public beta can be requested on their website and are open to the first 1,000 users. Zwift plans to launch to the larger public in early 2015.”
