News reaches us that TrainingPeaks have acquired IndieVelo and changed its name to TP Virtual. This joins an already crowded market of indoor cycling apps of Zwift, Trainer Road, Rouvy, My Whoosh and Wattbike Hub to name a few.
I’ll admit straight away I’m not a fan of these apps with the exception of Wattbike Hub which is purely numbers and performance driven. It’s a personal preference and probably swayed by the brand of indoor bike I ride. Those I coach are also split 50/50 with some worshiping at the altar of Zwift, whilst others would rather stick pins in their eyes than actually have something come between them and a meaningful training session.
But…. as quite a lot of coaches use TP scheduling this new offering is enticing a few down ‘off the fence’. Cost has a bit to do with it. Zwift has become yet another monthly cost to your cycling enjoyment and at £12.99 pm doesn’t come cheap. There are obviously no free lunches in this world unless you’re a member of the new UK government. MyWhoosh is currently free but is being underwritten by UAE - that’s the country, not the team. The new TP Virtual has good DNA being developed from IndieVelo, a free Zwift clone with over 40k users and developed by the genius that is Dr Gilbert the man behind Zwift’s anti-cheating program. No we’re not talking about your mate who rides at under 70kg on Zwift but can’t get his huge carcass up hills on club rides, we’re talking about the pro side of the sport where he’s hung quite a few out to dry. I believe he also had a hand in the now defunct RGT.
The clever business model behind TP Virtual must be worrying for a few. While still under development its free till Spring 2025 then its included with your TP Premium subscription, which if you buy through your coach can be as little as £7 pm – OK you have to pay your coach as well but trust me that’s always money well spent.
Already there’s a app for Apple devices and the main thing for me is to get it to work seamlessly with TP training accounts as do the other established apps.
We’ll see, but in the next 18 months the world of online cycling could be a very different place and a few might have finally escaped Watopia.