ROUVY: Real Indoor Cycling App

Okay, so I currently ride a Schwinn IC4 that I used to use Peloton. When they added new tiers and increased their price, I decided to look around. I tried the other Minecraft-looking app, which people seem to love, but it was buggy and not easy to do an FTP test, and connecting to my bike was problematic. I switched to Rouvy. It has a super clean interface, is intuitive, and is easy to use. I love the percentage power meter, which allows me to adjust the resistance or pedal harder and super easy not to focus on exact Wattage. What I love is the real-world videos. I have it on my TV and going downhill, I find myself pedaling faster as if I’m going downhill. I love seeing actual places and feel like I’m on a sightseeing tour. There are only two enhancements I’d make. The first would be to share data with Apple Health. The lack of integration isn’t too much of a big deal, as it’s available through Strava. The second would be to have the option to connect Bluetooth devices during the ride, as opposed to just before a ride. I’m looking forward to upgrading my trainer to one the app can control so I can get out of turning dials and enjoy my rides.

I’ve been riding Rouvy AR about 4-6 days per week for most a year now, and I love it. Unlike another popular indoor training app, Rouvy uses real-world video (and you can upload your own), so that you see the real world as you ride, without video game features. In hundreds of rides, I’ve only repeated a few and that was just because I enjoyed them; I still have hundreds more saved to try. I also get great motivation from the challenges, races, and career ladder, and have made new riding friends through using it. Most fundamentally, it’s also made me a much stronger rider, despite many years of prior experience. I like it so much that I sometimes choose to ride indoors even on nice days, just because I enjoy the app so much. The AR version is still fairly new and is evolving; most notably they have now added ANT+ functionality, but I’ve always used it with Bluetooth and never had any issues. There’s still plenty of room for it to grow and improve, but if Rouvy stayed as it is I would still be using it years from now.

I’ve been adapting to riding indoors and it’s a challenge. Many choices out there. The one part of road cycling i have been looking for is in Rouvy. Rouvy takes my setup and makes the experience the closest i’ve come to being on the road. Get this, climbs feel like climbs. But when you get to the top of the climb you feel some float in the pedals. Then the drop comes and you’re on a nice descent that feels like you’re actually descending. The app is not perfect but the feel is . So let’s let these cool maps and rider community mature or grow. i’m more forgiving of less than perfect if it’s fun to ride and Rouvy does that. Do you want to recalibrate your riding for an app? Did you spend your money to have to learn to do it “their way”? I invested in myself when i bought my trainer. As that should be everyone’s goal. (** Tacx Neo 2 T for power and my Quarq power unit for cadence.) The apps should work for the riders not the other way. Give this a chance and i think you’ll get past the marketing and wow factor the competitors are banking on in a few short rides. Not that Rouvy lacks in wow factor. 😏 Cycling is personal and i’m reviewing this from a cyclists stance.