General Info.
People often ask why their bike readouts don’t match VZfit’s calories, power, speed, distance, etc. The main reason is that VZfit (and VZplay), were originally designed for fun and exercise, not realism. The second reason is that measurements have to be estimated from bikes/devices that don’t provide them to VZfit. Sometimes those devices will have them but cannot provide them to VZfit because of the bluetooth protocol they use, and sometimes those devices show stats they internally estimate in a different way than VZfit.
VZfit makes use of cadence, speed, and power measurements. Cadence is shown in your pedaling animation and the HUD rpms. Speed determines how fast you move and HUD distance. Power determines VZcals (our simplistic estimate of burned calories) and HUD watts.
All the fitness devices we have seen report measurements once per second, or once per revolution. VZfit therefore may react slower than expected (unless you have our original VZ Bike or Sensor which report them faster using custom protocols). Cadence and speed sensors are additionally delayed because they actually report “revolutions” of the pedal or rear wheel, and so require two reports to determine cadence (rpm) or speed (mph). And braking can feel even slower, because many fitness devices don’t report cadence or speed near zero. In these cases, VZfit must wait a few seconds before assuming you have stopped, but allows manual braking override using the Y/B button.
Your in-game (or virtual) speed can also be affected by road slope and HUD difficulty setting. On devices without resistance control (more on that below), virtual speed is reduced the more you go uphill, and increased the more you go downhill. The default difficulty of 5 provides a nominal “touring” experience, while more or less difficulty moves you slower or faster, with 1 being the fastest for the least effort and 10 being the hardest.
Cadence Speed & Power Sensors
Cadence sensors only provide cadence, so speed and power are estimated, and road slope and difficulty affect your virtual speed. Speed sensors provide speed, so cadence and power are estimated, and road slope and difficulty affect your virtual speed. Cadence and speed sensors talk to VZfit using the Cycling Speed & Cadence bluetooth protocol.
Power sensors, which use the Cycling Power bluetooth protocol, provide power, and optionally cadence or speed, which are estimated if not provided. Road slope and difficulty affect your virtual speed.
FTMS Devices
FTMS devices, which use the FTMS bluetooth protocol, typically provide all three of cadence, speed, and power, though sometimes not. FTMS devices may also provide heart rate, which we then show in the HUD.
Dynamic Resistance
FTMS devices may also optionally provide resistance control, in which case road slope and difficulty affect resistance rather than virtual speed. When used with resistance control, your virtual speed always matches the reported speed, and your pedaling resistance will match the road slope at the default difficulty of 5. Different difficulties will affect that slope by 1% in either direction.
Authentic Mode
Some customers coming from Zwift asked us for more realism in terms of speed and resistance control, which we obliged with the “authentic mode” option. Authentic mode is available for speed and FTMS devices, and is typically slower and harder than our default mode. When used without resistance control, you will move the reported speed on flat road and default difficulty, but different slopes and difficulties will still affect your virtual speed.
Renpho Bike
The Renpho stationary bike is our recommended device for VZfit because it provides FTMS measurements with resistance control at a good value and build. It has its own gear controls, which affect the pedaling resistance and speed reported at a given pedaling cadence. It also supports coasting, making hills even more realistic, though you will need to use Y/B to manually brake more often to stop moving.
Connecting Non Standard Devices
Some devices use non-standard bluetooth protocols, especially for resistance control. The QZ phone application can connect to these devices and separate heart rate sensors, and in turn present them to VZfit as an FTMS device. Users can further offset measurements and resistance in the QZ app to their liking.
Comments
0 comments
Article is closed for comments.