For years, my cycling life revolved around a pain cave in Leicester, riding virtual roads on Zwift and chasing fitness indoors.
But this year, everything changed.
Between business trips to Japan and Brussels, packing up a house, and one of the most stressful periods I’ve experienced in years, my wife and I made a huge decision: leave Leicester behind and move to Cornwall.
In this video, I share: 🚚 Why we decided to move ✈️ The chaos of moving while travelling for work 🎥 Building my new pain cave and YouTube studio 🌊 Why this move could completely change the future of the channel
Don’t worry—Zwift, indoor cycling, racing and all the things that built Chad Rides aren’t going anywhere.
But with stunning coastal roads, sea swimming, paddleboarding and new adventures right on my doorstep, this feels like the start of an exciting new chapter.
If you’ve been following the channel for a while, thank you for coming along for the ride.
After hundreds of hours riding on Zwift, Rouvy and other indoor cycling platforms, I’ve tried plenty of equipment—some brilliant, some a complete waste of money!
In this video I’m sharing the 10 indoor cycling essentials that have genuinely improved my setup and made riding indoors more comfortable, more enjoyable and ultimately helped me ride more consistently.
Whether you’re just getting started or looking to upgrade your pain cave, these are the items I’d buy again without hesitation.
In this video I cover: ✅ Smart trainers & the Zwift Ride ✅ Why a good fan is your best upgrade ✅ Rocker plates (and the cheap tennis ball alternative) ✅ Indoor cycling desks ✅ TVs & monitors for Zwift and Rouvy ✅ Computers & laptops ✅ Cycling shoes & pedals ✅ Indoor cycling clothing ✅ Towels & sweat protection ✅ Heart rate monitors
If you’re new to indoor cycling, I hope this helps you avoid spending money on the wrong things and focus on the upgrades that actually make a difference.
I wanted to love the FLEXTAIL Tiny Bike Pump Pro—but can something this small really replace a traditional bike pump?
In this independent review, I unbox the pump, look at what’s included and put it through a real-world battery test by inflating four bike tyres on a single charge. I also share what I liked and whether I think it’s worth roughly £50.
I bought this pump myself, and this video is not sponsored.
If you prefer to buy the Wahoo Kickr Core 2 with the frame or just the Kickr Core 2 on its own then here are the affiliate links to get discounts on them as well 👍
Gear I use (affiliate links support the channel and some have discounts for you as well!)
For the last four months my view has been staring at a TV, sweating buckets, and burying myself in my paincave and why do we do it? It’s not about winning races. It’s about having the fitness to actually enjoy the outdoor rides, chat on the climbs, and earn that coffee stop.
Let’s look at my cycling plans for the next few months;
Why I’ll still be cycling indoors even though I’m excited to get going outdoors through the spring & the summer
What I think the benefits that cycling indoors brings to my outdoor rides and can for you as well
and at the end of the video I’ve got some exciting news for the channel that I hope you’ll look forward to as much as I am. More on that in a few minutes
Indoor cycling is great
Let me start by saying that I love cycling indoors and if you’re a regular viewer then you’ll know that.
I love the racing, the challenges, the friends I’ve made in the teams I ride for.
I love it when new routes come out, the improvements I make in my performance and fitness and exploring the different platforms I ride on, like Zwift and Rouvy.
And it’s not all been plain sailing of course, my fitness has crashed and my weight has gone up, due to work or illness, in fact this has happened a few time this winter and I know we all experience this from time to time.
But I do love knowing that I can reset, get my mojo back and start again and that indoor cycling is always there ready to go when I need it.
Fundamental to all this, at least for me, and I’ve spoken about it before on the channel, has been the Zwift Ride.
I bought it with my own money more than a year ago and it has made all the difference in keeping me consistent in my indoor training and quest to keep fit and healthy. There’s a couple of review videos on the channel if you want to learn more about it.
And I have no doubt that during the spring and summer I will be continuing to ride indoors alongside getting out about in the fresh air. I’ll keep racing indoors with my teams and of course it will be there for me on the inevitable cold and rainy days that the UK summer will no doubt bring.
So indoor cycling will continue for me and the channel all year round, but there’s no doubt I am looking forward to getting back on those open roads, in the fresh air, with some friends.
Cycling indoors makes outdoors better
And there’s real benefits to all of that cycling indoors.
I guess, like me, you’ve probably spent quite a lot of time suffering away on your indoor cycling setup in your garage or spare room, building your fitness, your stamina and just generally getting healthier.
And if you have, we are going to reap those benefits outdoors, that hard work translates directly into more fun when you get outside.
And I’m not talking about racing here, although it would certainly help with that if that’s your thing.
What I’m talking about is that feeling of just enjoying those outdoor rides more, being able to comfortably ride, not having to wonder if you can keep up on the club rides and the fact that you are already saddle ready, so will be comfortable and ready to get more out of the ride in every way.
And all of that means that you’re ready to go further, faster. Visit more places, all while keeping fit and healthy. When the sun’s out and the wind is whistling through your helmet, well, I don’t know if there are many better feelings.
Personally I’ve put together my check list already in preparation for the summer, so let me take you through it
Outdoor checklist
You’ll probably start like I have with digging out last years kit.
And it’s all I can do not to get tempted by the latest cycling apparel out there of course, but in reality I have everything I need already. And then I have tights for those colder days and bib shorts for when the sun’s out. A few different layers to put on or shed as we go, a decent helmet and some waterproofs, I’m in the UK after all.
I’ve got my bike computer for navigation and of course uploading the rides to Strava, because if it’s not on Strava did you even do it! I’ve got my camera’s ready to record the ride so I can share them with you. Some snacks and water to keep the energy levels up and I’m ready to go.
And that’s kind of it.
The next step and just as important and enjoyable for me though, is thinking about and planning where to go. I mean it’s great sometimes to just set off and see where you end up, but I’ve always found that a bit of a plan makes a big difference. I like to find little coffee shops, visit interesting places, like historic sites or pretty towns and villages and just generally do some exploring while keeping fit.
Honestly I cant wait to get going!
Exciting channel news
And this year is going to be even better because …
….Were moving to Cornwall.
Famous for it’s stunning scenery, majestic coastlines, great weather (well, at least as far as the UK goes) and I cant wait to get exploring all of those new places down there and of course trying out all of those new coffee stops! With cake! Obviously!
But not this week, this has been the weather in cornwall over the last few days, not ideal for cycling!
Anyway, I’m sure it’ll be fine when we get there!
And if that wasn’t already exciting enough, just this week my Wife, Wendy, has bought her first road bike. She takes delivery this week.
And I have my new Specialized Roubaix, so we will be riding and exploring Cornwall together. I cant wait for you to see the rides and places that we’ve already started to plan.
And for my regular viewers and readers, thank you to you all by the way, I really appreciate all the support you give to the channel, there will of course be plenty of indoor cycling, fitness and strategy content as well over the summer but I hope you also join us and enjoy the outdoor videos as well.
So that’s what’s coming up on the channel over the next few months, I hope you enjoy the ride as much as I will.
In the meantime while I wait for the weather to improve and the movers to come and take us to our new home, you might still be thinking about doing some racing indoors and if so this video has all the info you’ll need.
I just finished in 106th place in a Zwift race. There were 129 riders, that’s in the bottom 5th.
By any objective measure, that’s a pretty terrible result. A failure, even.
I got dropped by the lead group and spent most of the race fighting for a position most people would call irrelevant. But here’s the thing… it was the best I’ve felt on the bike in months. It reminded me what the real prize is in virtual racing, and I promise you, it has nothing to do with the podium.
So, if you’ve ever felt discouraged by a race result, or you’ve been too intimidated to even start one, this is for you. Because that number on the screen? It’s the least important part of the story
A Sea of Digital Competitors
The Zwift Games is a huge race series that pulls in thousands of riders every week. Iweek one was a race on the new Kaze Kicker route in Makuri Islands. Its profile looks relatively flat, but don’t be fooled. As I sat in the virtual starting pens, watching the rider count tick up… 85… 100… 129… you feel that familiar buzz of adrenaline and nerves. My goal was simple, same as always: hang on to the front group for as long as humanly possible. In my head, that was a “good” race.
The start was the usual chaotic explosion of watts. A leg-searing scramble to stay in the draft as the peloton stretches and snaps like a rubber band. And for a while, I was there. Tucked in, trying to conserve energy, watching my heart rate slam into the red zone, but feeling like I was in the mix.
But Zwift racing is brutally honest. There’s just nowhere to hide. Just 3.2km in, we hit the first nasty little climb: the Pain Cavern. It’s a 2.1km climb at an average of 3%, but with sections kicking up to 6%. That’s where the elastic snapped. I saw the avatars ahead surge, a gap of a few meters opened up, and despite a desperate, lung-burning push, they were gone. The front of the race just vanished up the digital road.
The old script started playing in my head: “You’re not good enough.” “You blew up again.” “What’s even the point?” It’s a lonely feeling, watching the race you wanted to be in just ride away from you. I was in no-man’s-land, holding on to 106th place. And that’s when everything changed.
The Turning Point – Redefining The Win
Instead of quitting, instead of just soft-pedalling in disappointment, I glanced at my data. My heart rate was at 159, pretty high for me. My power was well above my threshold at 302 for the first 9 minutes. I was deep in the pain cave. But then I thought about how I had been riding recently and I was on track to set my best power PR’s for the last 2 months. Not by a little, but by a lot.
Insert power metrics from intervals here
And you can see that I set new PB’s in 2026 for 9 minutes, 20 minutes and all the way to the end of the race at 27 minutes, almost 10 watts better than my previous best.
And that was the moment. It hit me. I wasn’t failing; I was succeeding. My finishing position of 106th was just one data point in a sea of metrics telling a much bigger story. I had found a small group of other riders, all of us pushing our own limits, totally disconnected from the fight for first. We were in our own race—a race against what we thought we were capable of. And in that race, I wasn’t just competing; I was setting a new personal standard for 2026.
The final result on the screen became background noise. The real win was happening right there, in my legs and my lungs.
The “Why” – The Five Real Prizes of Virtual Racing
This whole experience really solidified for me why virtual racing is such a powerful tool. It led me to what I now consider the five real reasons we should all be racing, no matter where we finish.
First, and this is the big one, is Personal Growth Through Measurable Performance Gains. My 106th place finish is the perfect example. I lost the race, but I won the day against my former self. Virtual racing offers a controlled environment to track your progress. Unlike riding outside with wind, traffic, and changing terrain, Zwift is consistent. When you see your average power for a 20-minute climb go up, or set a new personal best, that’s a concrete win. That data doesn’t lie, and it’s a way more personal and motivating metric than your rank against 100 strangers. Your Zwift Racing Score can even update immediately if you set a new personal best, showing that the platform itself values your personal output over just your finishing position.
Second, the incredible Accessibility and Ease of Getting Started. Think about a real-world race: travel, registration fees, a whole day blocked off, and the risk of crashing. With virtual racing, all of that vanishes. You can decide to race 30 minutes before it starts, kitted up and ready in your own home. With races for all ability levels starting nearly every hour, all you need is a smart trainer to get access to global competition. It breaks down massive barriers and lets people who’d never pin on a number in real life feel the thrill of competition.
Third, is the surprisingly Inclusive and Vibrant Community. This is huge. In a real race, if you get dropped, you’re often truly alone. On Zwift, that almost never happens. With so many participants, there’s always someone to ride with, whether you’re fighting for 1st or 101st. After I got spat out the back, I found my “gruppetto”—my little band of riders all sharing the same glorious suffering. We weren’t talking, but we were working together, taking turns in the virtual wind, pushing each other to keep going. That sense of shared experience is an incredible feeling of belonging.
And that feeling of community and personal progress is something I see in the comments all the time. It’s what makes this all worthwhile. If you’re finding value in this and want to be part of a community that celebrates every kind of win, consider subscribing to the channel. I’d love to have you along for the ride.
Fourth, and this is a huge motivator, are the tangible Health and Fitness Benefits. Let’s be honest, just riding the trainer can feel like a chore sometimes. Racing completely flips that script. It’s a time-efficient, low-impact, and super effective way to build fitness. The competitive fire of a race pushes you to an intensity that’s hard to replicate on your own. Those moments where you dig deep to hold a wheel are essentially high-intensity intervals, just without the structure. My personal best wasn’t from a planned workout; it was because the race demanded more from me, and my body answered the call. That’s a fitness gain you can truly feel.
Finally, the fifth reason is simply the Pure Fun and the Joy of Competition. Zwift has brilliantly turned indoor cycling into a game. You get objectives, rewards, and rankings that make riding genuinely fun. It strips away the dangers and some of the logistical headaches of outdoor racing and boils it down to pure effort and tactics. The thrill of chasing someone down, the tactical use of a power-up, the final all-out sprint for the line—even if it’s for 105th place—is exhilarating. It’s a mental and physical challenge that keeps you coming back for more.
Conclusion
So, I finished 106th out of 129. That number will be forgotten by tomorrow. But what I won’t forget is the feeling of setting new 9, 20 and 27 minute power records. I won’t forget the silent teamwork with the riders I suffered alongside. And I won’t forget the simple, deep satisfaction of giving my absolute best effort, no matter the outcome.
For the vast majority of us, winning on Zwift isn’t about crossing the line first. It’s about beating the person you were yesterday. It’s about showing up, pushing your limits, and finding joy in the effort itself. That’s the real prize. And the best part is, it’s a prize every single rider can win, every single time they race. If you’re having fun and pushing yourself, you’ve already won.
Rouvy 2026 is here, and it is a completely different platform to what it was even six months ago. New features, new partnerships, new look — I’m going to break down every major change and tell you honestly whether it’s worth switching from Zwift.
The BKOOL Merger & Why This Matters
So first, a bit of context. In late 2025, Rouvy merged with BKOOL — if you don’t know BKOOL, they were another indoor cycling platform focused on real-world video routes. That merger basically consolidated the whole ‘indoor reality’ market under one roof.
And since then, the updates have been coming thick and fast. We’re now on version 4.5, and honestly, the platform has transformed. It’s gone from being ‘that app with nice video routes’ to something that genuinely competes with Zwift as a full training platform.
So let me take you through the big changes — there are about six or seven major ones — and then I’ll give you my honest verdict on whether it’s worth it.
2K Video Streaming
Right, let’s start with the one you’ll notice immediately — 2K video streaming. You can now toggle this on in your settings, and the difference is genuinely impressive.
When I first tried Rouvy about a year ago, the video quality was… decent. It was fine. But now in 2K, you’re riding through these routes and the detail on the road surface, the scenery, it’s sharp. Really sharp.
And this is where Rouvy has always had an edge over Zwift — you’re riding real roads, real places. Zwift gives you Watopia, which is great, but there’s something about riding through the actual Alps or a coastal road in Tenerife in high definition that just hits different.
Now, you will need a decent internet connection for this — and a device that can handle it. But if you’ve got that, it’s a noticeable step up
Now this next one is massive — pace partners. If you’ve used Zwift, you’ll know pace partners already. Those virtual riders you can latch onto and ride at a set W per kilo. Rouvy has now added these as well.
You can pick a pace partner, sit on their wheel, and you get proper drafting benefits. It’s a really nice way to do a steady ride without having to think too much about pacing yourself.
This was one of my biggest complaints with Rouvy before — it could feel a bit lonely. You’d be riding along a beautiful route and just… nobody there. That’s changed. It feels more alive now.
Giro d’Italia & Content Roadmap
Rouvy is now the official partner of the Giro d’Italia. And what that means is they’re going to be adding the actual iconic climbs and stages from the 2026 Giro into the app. You’ll be able to ride the Stelvio, the Mortirolo — the real stages, on real roads, in 2K video.
And the Giro is just part of a much bigger content roadmap for 2026. They’ve got:
Q1 — Winter training camps with Lidl-Trek and Visma-Lease a Bike, with routes in Calpe, Tenerife, and Girona
March — Spring Classics routes through Belgium
April — Tour of the Alps through Innsbruck and Bolzano
May — The Giro stages
June — Tour de Suisse with new alpine passes
July — French Grand Tour routes
That’s a serious calendar. And the pro team partnerships are clever — training camps with Lidl-Trek? That’s a unique selling point that Zwift doesn’t have in the same way
GPX Import & Community Voting
Two more features worth mentioning. First — GPX import. From version 4.4, you can now import your own GPX or FIT files and ride your outdoor routes virtually inside Rouvy. So if you’ve got a favourite local route, you can bring it indoors. That’s brilliant for race prep or just riding somewhere familiar when the weather’s rubbish.
And then there’s community voting. Active subscribers can now vote on what features get built next through the Riders Portal. I love this. It means Rouvy is actually listening to its community and letting riders shape the platform. That’s quite different from how Zwift tends to operate.
Interactive Segments & Training Improvements
Now for those of you who like a bit of competition — interactive segments. Rouvy now has timed segments on sprints and climbs, and you can see the segment leader’s avatar and your own personal best while you’re riding. It’s like Strava segments but in real-time. Really motivating.
They’ve also redesigned the training score in the companion app — you get this radial scale now for your daily training status, and you can reschedule workouts from your training plan much easier. Small change, but it makes the day-to-day experience of using the platform much smoother.
And virtual shifting has been expanded to more trainers — if you’ve got an Elite Direto XR for example, you’ve now got support. They had some delays with this in 2025, but it seems like they’ve caught up.
THE VERDICT — Is It Better Than Zwift?
So the big question — is Rouvy 2026 finally better than Zwift?
Here’s my honest take. For pure racing and the social side — large group rides, massive events, the competitive racing scene — Zwift is still ahead. It’s got the numbers, it’s got the community, and years of momentum there.
But for everything else? Rouvy is catching up fast. The video quality in 2K is gorgeous. The real-world routes are unmatched. The Giro partnership and pro team content is genuinely exciting. Pace partners and unified physics have made the platform feel alive in a way it didn’t before.
And honestly, the GPX import and community voting show a platform that’s moving in the right direction and actually listening to its users.
If you’re a Zwift rider who’s been curious about Rouvy — now is the time to give it a go. You don’t have to cancel Zwift. But try it. I think you’ll be surprised.
And if you’re new to indoor cycling and trying to choose between the two — I’d say start with Rouvy’s free trial, experience the real-world routes, and then decide. It’s a different vibe to Zwift, but for a lot of people, it might actually be the better fit.
