*Not a sponsored post
The Kona Triathlon World Championships are one of my favorite weeks of the year. I love watching videos of anything and everything related to the event. For me, one of the most interesting things is the technology that companies debut.
At 7:10 in this video, Zwift debuted their new indoor trainer, the Hub One. I haven't become a fan of trainers until recently. Why would I ride indoors and not go anywhere when I can ride outside all year? I've started to come around. I love the fact I can stay with my dogs, watch a movie, and just zone out while riding.
When I saw this trainer for the first time, it caught my interest. There were so many interesting things. No wheel is needed nor is a cassette. I had always had a wheel-on trainer, as I didn't want to have to haul a trainer to a bike shop when my cassette needed to be replaced. My husband was impressed as well and told me to get it for Christmas. I researched the trainer and did reviews, and became excited to order it.
Part of me was nervous, I had heard stories from my stronger cycling friends of how competitive Zwift was. Did I want to have their trainer, and be on their program when so many strong cyclists were on there? There's only one way to get better and that is to train and be out there with people better than you. December rolled around and I ordered the trainer and a trainer table. I purchased a floor fan from Amazon. https://us.zwift.com/collections/all/products/zwift-hub-one?variant=43813101699328
I am pleased with all three items. The trainer is fairly easy to assemble. It was simply taking it out of the box and adjusting it to your bike, plugging it in and it was ready to go.
Tips for assembling this trainer:
Use a better wrench than what it comes with. If you have tools and the right size wrench, your life will be much easier using your personal wrench.
Take your time.
You may have to shift your bike to a different gear than where you started so the derailleur and chain are perfectly in line so the chain doesn't skip. Once I figured this out, the trainer is fantastic.
The table is easy as well, just make sure you put the adjustable part in the right way. I had to take mine apart and start over.
Here is my final setup. There is a television on the wall to the right. I am quite happy with it. I mirror my laptop to my television, connect my phone to our Amazon Echo for music, and am ready to go. Do you have to have Zwift on your television? No, you could easily watch Netflix or any other streaming service, but I am enjoying the scenery of the rides and seeing other Zwifters. It feels like a little unique community.
For my first ride, I chose to attempt a loop around Central Park in New York City. This was fun to watch my little icon ride through the park. I worked hard and didn't remember Central Park being as hilly as Zwift made the course. I loved every minute of it.
I can now say I am hooked on Zwift. My goal is to be at least a level 50 by the end of the year. I am doing an FTP training plan and trying out different routes. Another great thing about Zwift is I can turn the difficulty of the trainer down. Currently, I am working on raising my bike cadence, so rather than having high resistance on the trainer on climbs, it drops my speed to very low so I can continue to work on having a high cadence.
Overall, I am very pleased with the trainer, and can't wait to see the effect it has on my FTP, training and races this year.
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