Zwiftcast

Episode 42 - World Switching, the Zwift Light Show, Cloud Gaming and Rehabbing with a Broken Neck

Simon, Shane and Nathan are back with a packed episode, which kicks off with the Zwifcasters unanimously agreeing “it’s time” for Zwift to enable world switching. Zwift creator Jon Mayfield concurs, telling the podcast that be believes critical mass has now arrived as numbers on the platform grow ever larger.

The trio move on to discuss the Tour Down Under, where a duathlon race in the Zwft pop-up drew massive numbers. . . and was rated by Shane as the blue riband event – a sign of things to come perhaps as Zwift Run develops?

Graphics card giant NVidia announced its Cloud Gaming feature at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas – Simon takes a look at what this might mean for Zwift along with tech expert Mike Hanney, inventor of the Zwiftaliser tool. They conclude that whist the impact on Zwifters may not be immediate, cloud gaming could be a huge development for gaming.

Zwift is often used as a rehab tool, but for Dereck Bowen, it’s been a life saver. Dereck tells Simon how an ill-advised leap into a snowdrift cost him a broken neck – and how the platform has kept him sane as he recovers.

There’s a fascinating discussion around Jon Mayfield’s “weekend project” – a system that links Zwift to wi-fi controlled lighting – changing the ambience in your Zwift room to match the game.

The Zwiftcasters discuss the perennial problem of fliers in group rides with a thoughtful contribution from veteran Zwifter and ride leader Christian Wiedemann.

And this episode rounds up with a discussion about cheese!

We hope you enjoy listening or watching.

Episode 41 - Zwift Grows! The coming club portal and trainers sound tested

The Zwiftcasters welcome 2018 with lots of chat about the Zwift getting bigger – in both senses. The roads are longer, with the London expansion, and the roads are busier, are thousands of new Zwifters flooding on to the platform.

Simon, Shane and Nathan try to make sense of it all – and look at the statistics, combining insight, public information and naked guesswork to try to assess the scale of the Zwift universe.

Meanwhile the chaps discuss the Surrey Hills expansion. It may not be as visually spectacular as recent developments, but there could be some very interesting business reasons behind the new roads.

The consequences of growth is a continuing theme as Simon sits down for a chat with Zwift’s VP of Events, Charlie Issendorf. Amongst other things, Charlie reveals that the Zwift HQ is seriously considering limiting entry to some events – Shane sniffs a clever marketing ruse. Charlie also reveals that a “club portal” is soon to launch, giving benefits like private rides and club kit to qualifying groups.

Simon puts three of the best trainers, the Neo, Drivo and Kickr into the Zwiftcast sound lab to get a rounded picture of just how loud or quiet are the competing top offerings from Tacx, Elite and Wahoo.

ZwiftQuest could be a whole new way of Zwifting – it’s competitive but it’s not a conventional race. Simon talks to ZwiftQuest pioneer Jonny Noblett.

And finally the boys riff on When Good Rides Go Bad.