My Rouvy Gear

There is only so much you need to Rouvy. A bike, a PC (or phone or anything that can load Rouvy) and a smarttrainer. My basic gear is relatively simple: I use a Merida carbon-frame bike (which I also use as a road bike) installed on a Saris Hammer 3 smarttrainer which I purchased around June 2020 (yep, the pandemic had something to do with that). And then I have 2 computers in front of me: 1 to connect to Rouvy and to see the ride, 1 on which I can watch TV or Netflix. Finally, I use a floormat from Decathlon to catch the massive amounts of sweat that fall of my body during the workouts.

On top of that, I do use the airconditioning in the room, which I set at 20 degrees Celsuis. I sometimes also use a fan, but the aircon is key. And then there is the focus on hidration - with indoor cycling leading to a lot of sweating, I foresee at least 2 liters of water within reach for every ride.

First half of 2021 statistics (Jan-Jun 2021)

Let's have a deepdive in my 2021 Rouvy statistics halfway down the year. I did a total of 143 rides in 6 months, totalling 3795 km , or an average of 632km a month and 26.5 km on average per ride.

It was also interesting to map out the distance compared with the number of heightmeters conquered, as per below graph. You can clearly see that Feb 2021 was a top-climbing-month, featuring ascends such as the Nufenenpass, Col de La Colmiane, Stelvio, the Gotthard Pass and the climb of the Teide on the Island of Tenerife.

When looking at the time spent on my bike, I realized I have been spending a total of 178 hours on my Rouvy-bike over the last 6 months, or about 29 hours a month, i.e. close to an hour a day.

The most creative rides on Rouvy

Around the world with Rouvy

So you are stuck at home but want to see the world? Say no more! With Rouvy, you can discover many, many new places... and have some great discoveries along the way. Cycle in National Parks in the US, discover cities like Paris and London on the (Rouvy-)bike and see Japan's Mount Fuji from the comfort of your home.

Since I started riding with Rouvy, I virtually cycled in 52 unique countries

My Updated Rouvy Gear (Oct 2021)

There is only so much you need to Rouvy - a smarttrainer, a bike and a computer or phone to run the Rouvy app. That's it. But sometimes, you want an upgrade. Or sometimes, things break. And sometimes, you are just sick and tired of bending over your steering wheel of the bike in order to change the movie on the iPad and want an easier option but don't want to pay a fortune for a fit-for-purpose table. In this story, I will describe case 2 and 3.

After about a year and a half and a mileage estimated around 6000km, my Saris Hammer H3 smarttrainer started having some issues. What started as an occasional knocing noise, rapidly evolved into an ear-drummer loud screeching sound and loud bangs. I had the belt changed, but it didn't solve the problem. As Saris made me wait for more than a month before offering a solution, I decided to buy another trainer - I just couldn't wait that long. And this time, I bought the...

Tacx Neo 2T! Yep, I went for a proven brand with a good track record this time. At least, that is what I told my wife. Beats telling her I bought the most expensive trainer on the market :-). And no regrets to date. The Tacx Neo allows for strong workouts with low noise levels. On top of that, contrary to the Saris H3, the Tacx Neo T2 allows for flexible left-right movements, whereas the Saris feels like a block of concrete is attached to the back of the bike. On the other side, I don't like the behaviour of the Tacx in downhills, where a supposedly downhill simulation option gives a very weird feeling.

And then, there is my homemade high-table - a great tool to put your computer and/or tablet for both Rouvy and other entertainment. Instead of buying a specialised table, I got creative. I bought 3 LACK planks from IKEA, bought some hooks and some screws, and put togehter my home-made Rouvy table. What do you think? :-)