Zwift vs RGT

05/04/23 21:43 Filed in: Riding

My journey into virtual cycling really began with a group trainer test I did the summer of 16/17. I spent a lot of that summer in the heat of the backyard riding virtual trainers for many hours so I could write with conviction about their differences and traits. Most (all but 1 or 2) worked with Zwift, so I used that for a portion of my testing.
Zwift was something I'd heard of, but never seen in person back then.
I've written about all this very recently so I won't go over it any more again.

After 2 months on Zwift, I cancelled my subscription and went back to Wahoo. I like the System training exercises, but I really do notice that going hard inside leaves me with a sore lower back. This has been the case for 25 years - possibly forever - so I can't blame getting old or anything else for this. It is simply that sitting and griding out power while not moving is different than doing it on the open road with the bike free to move underneath me. On Zwift I was doing a lot of Zone 2 stuff, with occasional efforts above that.

After a number of rides across a variety of locations (almost all of those available, including the latest Scotland roads in anticipation of this year's world champs) I have a very good feeling for Zwift. So it was very telling to jump back to RGT only a day later. They have many things in common. There are equipment choices and customising ones avatar to reflect how you look or how you want to look. There is drafting behind other riders. The scenery is pretty nice in both. Hills and their gradients seem to feel the same.
Zwift definitely wins for crowd size. I dropped into several paced rides (as opposed to organised group rides, which I never tried) with more than 50 other human riders. My last ride on RGT, up the Stelvio, had 2 other human riders present anywhere on the course (and about 100 bots each riding at a set Watts per kilogram).
Zwift wins for graphic efficiency. RGT is running on my AppleTv device. I had to set it at the lowest possible graphical quality. And it still will not run smoothly through corners or when other riders (computer and real riders) are in my view. And running it on the AppleTv was a response to trying to run it on my portable computer, where it didn't work at all sometimes. Zwift just works (on the AppleTV or the computer).
RGT wins for realism. As you approach a corner on a descent, the software applies virtual brakes and slows you down to a speed at which you could actually make it around the corner. In Zwift you rail round corners at 88 kmh like it is a rollercoaster ride.
RGT added audio comms between riders. I read that it hasn't been so successful, especially for female riders who can get harassed by male riders.
RGT added steering just recently. Zwift added it a while ago. I haven't tried it in either, but I have a screen in the phone companion app dedicated to steering in RGT. I think one of the wheel riser/steering input devices I've seen is the way to go with either as it ups the realism. Nearly 20 years ago I was using a CatEye accessory for PlayStation that used just such a device to add steering input. This wasn't cycling specific - one could play any game (auto racing was best) where acceleration was provided by pedalling input, braking was a button on the handlebars and steering was done with by steering the bike. It was brutal for most car races as you wanted to accelerate out of corners quickly so you spun up the pedals hard - everyone got tired quickly. Anyway, nothing is new under the sun.
RGT has about as many locations as Zwift, but within a Zwift location there are numerous route options and RGT seems to have only one per location.
RGT and Zwift both have racing and group rides - I haven't tried them anywhere. Both have set workouts as well (which I haven't used because if I want a set workout I have the full System resources to work with), and I know I set up custom Zwift workouts for a client once - don't think you can do that in RGT.

On paper, then, they seem pretty comparable. But the bottom line for me is that I could go back to Zwift regularly. As their own ads say "fun is fast and fast is fun". Zwift is both fast and fun. RGT just lacks something that makes it fun. If it didn't come as part of my System subscription I would never pay for it on its own.

Michael Hanslip Coaching

If you want to go faster, you have to pedal harder

Zwift vs RGT