I use Rouvy to ride “outside”, and I never train outside. I like that I can choose outdoor routes that effectively replicate the ride profile and allow me to practise riding that route - especially great to be able to choose e.g. Ironman routes, so I can learn the climbs and corners. Not perfect but better than nothing at all.
SYSTM is quite different and I subsequently don’t believe they (or Zwift) are directly competing products. I don’t want SYSTM to try to include gamification or real routes (something that sort of worked when RGT was available), and I don’t want Rouvy to try to include workouts as their product focus.
SYSTM further includes yoga and strength (and mental toughness), which other apps don’t, setting it unique on the indoor training/riding landscape.
BIG NEWS: ROUVY has just acquired FULGAZ! I just got an email about this, having used the free trial, then let it go because it’s really only good to me as an ADD-ON, has some really nice video, but no audio, and just lacks LIFE. NO COMPARISON to SYSTM.
Then I did a FulGaz free trial, also has some really nice scenic video, some workouts that are more ZWIFT-like, IMO, but also lacks friendliness in the user interface and seems cumbersome to operate as far as finding what you want to ride.
Now that ROUVY has bought it, they are working to first bring over a lot of IRONMAN rides, and time will tell what will happen after that. Meantime, the FULGAZ app is still operational as it was until a fuller integration comes about.
I have no idea how they’ll handle the subscription pricing, etc, but ROUVY has had in place a multi-user subscription option that can bring the cost down to around $6 per month if you have 5 users on same plan, and that is not restricted to one household, so 5 buddies can team up and have a VERY cost-effective option for doing real location rides with scenery. (They just don’t have Mike Cotty guiding you, a definite loss indeed!)
As for how you fare using ROUVY alongside SYSTM at the same time, in theory it should work, allowing you to decide which app controls the trainer… But since ROUVY/FULGAZ both operated on idea that you are riding actual locations with GPX data controlling the resistance according to gradients, that will take some experimenting, I would think.
If there IS another app I would consider alongside SYSTM, it could be ROUVY simply because of that pricing structure option, assuming I could find some other willing to team up for it… but I wonder if that option might go away after the integration with FULGAZ is complete.
I would definitely NOT be willing to run these side-by-side at typical pricing though. I just don’t want to ride inside enough days to make it worth it. As it is, as much as I like SYSTM, I’ll be dropping it for warm weather months and only come back when I know I can justify the cost and spend more time inside. I rode outside yesterday at a low of 14 degrees F… Just to force myself to endure some cold… And it was GREAT!!
I have used ROUVY for years, and it is a nice complement to SYSTM.
I used to ride outside in cold weather, but as I have gotten older, I do not want to waste energy on temperature regulation that could be used to increase your training stimulus.
For me, there IS no wasted energy in outside rides. I’m far less concerned with training stimulus than I am with satisfying my soul with rides in the great outdoors. Indoor rides are a mere substitute, one I’m thankful to have when needed, but as long as I can be outdoors, I will be.
BTW, the exposure to cold is a definite positive for the body, as long as it isn’t overdone to the point of dangerous results. (Brown fat development is one area of likely benefit. Mental fortitude by enduring cold is another, and one of the reasons I intentionally chose an outdoor ride yesterday.) Frostbite is real, but by paying attention, I can manage that risk successfully.
