IndieVelo: Same but different
Can Cambridge-educated astrophysicist and ex-Zwift Esports guru, Dr George Gilbert, revolutionise the (virtual cycling) world?
Social media was abuzz earlier in the year with news of Zwift’s 33% price increase, adding around $10 extra per month to the cost here in Australia. Viewed in isolation, that’s not a huge amount of money, especially for cyclists who routinely splash crazy amounts of cash at everything from bikes and wheels, to clothes and gadgets.
But when combined with the upward price pressure on pretty much everything else in life right now, it’s enough to make people pause and consider their options. Which is exactly what unfolded yesterday.
Like many others, it seemed an opportune moment to pause and weigh up the various indoor training platforms now on offer. Which one (or ones) would I be willing to cough up my hard-earned cash for in the coming year or so?
Most of the main platforms, I was very familiar with having reviewed them for Bicycling Australia magazine at some point in recent years. Zwift (obviously). Fulgaz. Rouvy. MyWhoosh. Each has its strengths and, yes, its weaknesses. But one I didn’t know much about at all was IndieVelo. This morning I set out to rectify this.
Background
IndieVelo first appeared in mid-2023 and utilises a software platform called the Unity Gaming Engine. Development is being led by a British guy called Dr George Gilbert, a Cambridge-educated astrophysicist and former Director and Vice Chairman at British Cycling. Even more interestingly, Gilbert also served as Chief Commissaire at several UCI Esports Championships and, until last year, was Chairman of the Zwift Cycling Esports Commission. In other words, he has a pretty serious pedigree when it comes to cycling Esports.
First ride
As for using IndieVelo itself? My first impressions have been very positive. It’s incredibly easy and intuitive – if not just a tad slow – to download the software and get started. It syncs pretty much immediately with all of your devices. It also looks a l-o-t like Zwift, which I guess isn’t that surprising given the people behind it. I have no idea about the legal ramifications of this (if any), but to the naked eye I found the interface, heads-up displays and even rider avatars all felt more than just a little bit familiar.
For my maiden journey, I chose a relatively cruisy free ride of around 30km with just under 200 metres of elevation. Along the way I saw quite a few solo riders, as well as a several larger groups. The display suggested there were 2,300 people riding at the same time as me, which seemed like a bit of creative licence as I’m pretty sure a large portion were bots. That said, I certainly saw far more riders today than when Zwift first began 12+ years ago (and the empty spaces were filled with translucent ghost riders) which made for a more social, and less lonely, experience.
The road feel of IndieVelo was very good and, if I’m being honest, I didn’t really notice too much of a difference between IndieVelo and Zwift. First impressions were the graphics are significantly better than Rouvy and also probably a little better than MyWhoosh. As for ride choice? Well, there’s only one ‘world’ at the moment which isn’t that surprising given it’s still in the Beta stage. (When uploaded to Strava, closer inspection of the ride map shows it’s actually based on a real-world place called Mussau Island in the Bismarck Sea, north east of the main island of Papua New Guinea.) Whilst there may only be one world for now, there are numerous different courses and group events - training and racing - to choose from, and also a range of individual training programs, as per pretty much all platforms nowadays.
All in all, first impressions are very good. From what I’ve seen and experienced so far, IndieVelo holds tremendous promise and is a definitely platform to watch for the future. It’s getting better all the time, too.
IndieVelo is currently in its Beta development phase and, for now at least, is free to download and use. There’s also an option to help support further development of the platform with monthly and annual memberships. indievelo.com
This is an entirely independent, unpaid review. IndieVelo probably don’t even know I’ve written it ;-)