Wahoo Buy RGT Cycling

Wahoo today announce the acquisition of RGT cycling. Expect it to be more thoroughly linked with Wahoo’s SYSTM training platform as things move forward but SYSTM users should already be able to sign into Wahoo RGT as of…now. I just tried. It worked. And the same is true in reverse for current RGT subscribers.

 

Q: What is the acquired RGT (Road Grand Tours) platform now called?

A: RGT Cycling is now Wahoo RGT

Q: What is Wahoo X

A: It represents a ‘unified’ platform or unified login between Wahoo SYSTM and Wahoo RGT. Although the term specifically refers to the subscription service.

Q: Why? Didn’t they just buy Sufferfest?

A: Yes SYSTM is a rebranded Sufferfest (2019). SYSTM majors in video content and structured training plans whereas Wahoo RGT is complementary and adds community racing and a degree of outdoor environment simulation

 

So what’s the story?

Powered by an advanced physics engine, Wahoo RGT provides realistic drafting, cornering and braking, making it less like a video game and more like an immersive cycling simulator.

Perhaps foolishly I have a loaner KICKR Core packed and by the front door ready to go back to Mr Wahoo. Luckily I have a KICKR and KICKR ROLLR spare, so I should just about be able to muster the kit to have a go on Wahoo RGT. Which I confess to knowing very little about.

Wahoo RGT’s most tantalising feature seems to be the rather strangely named “Magic Roads“. You upload a course file of your favourite route or perhaps the route of an upcoming race and then practice that at home. Don’t get me wrong I generally hate training at home but I am very much a creature of habit and if I can cycle 20 laps of Richmond Park in my pain shed on a rainy day rather than getting wet then, hey, count me in. there must be a decent chunk of people like me who would rather do that than play Zwift, which I don’t especially like but it’s OK occasionally.

It’s already possible for me to re-ride a FIT file from a previous outdoors workout on an indoor trainer however it looks like Wahoo RGT adds a bit of pretty scenery to it.

Now, if Wahoo were to also buy Best Bike Split (BBS) and bundle that in the subscription I’d be interested in that as well. BBS takes ‘every’ environmental factor into account (wind/slope) and melds it with your CP-profile to give you a FIT file that determines your exact pace on a course.

 

 

Wahoo RGT also offers virtual group rides and races (sound familiar? #Zwift), as well as a library of structured workouts to achieve race or fitness goals.

 

Thoughts?

Zwift & Zwift Racing is definitely not for me as a single indoors training platform. But I do need something for the winter or for necessary days of indoor riding when it’s wet outside

Now I’ve discovered that Wahoo ROLLR lets me rock with some degree of comfort then I’m going to make more of an effort to try out RGT for my next few indoor rides. I’m generally positive about this new hook up but then I generally like Wahoo stuff.

I think the winner of the end game for cycling platforms will be the one that properly integrates all (indoor and outdoor) training in one place. For example, if Wahoo SYSTM wants me to do a certain ride I just might want the option to do something ‘vaguely’ similar to the plan but outdoors and have that fed back into a unified SYSTM/Wahoo RGT/ELEMNT app. Clearly, there also needs to be a significant element of racing against others built into this. But there also needs to be a significant element of physiology stuff in there as well a-la Firstbeat. Wahoo already has sufficient hardware to wrap around that kind of solution, it’s just the software they lack. Something close to the opposite is true for Zwift/Zwift+Garmin.

So, I can see that Wahoo has an uphill struggle. But I can also see that they have several of the bits in place to give them a speed boost up that same hill, with the cash to fund it and the brand loyalty to drive it.

I sense interesting times lie ahead next Winter.