I have now 3 races with steering and think it’s a huge improvement. It really added tactics to the race simulation. The one concern I’ve seen is IRL things that happen in sprints, like swerving and blocking, can happen in RGT now. Maybe there should be auto-detection of deviations and relegation, just like IRL (if the officials notice).
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It seems a little too easy to be able to swing over and knock someone out of the draft. I guess it’s possible to fight back, but I think it would feel a bit more natural if there was some resistance, to give the knockee more of a chance to resist.
Rube Goldberg comes to mind.
I’ve not experienced this myself, but I suspect RGT could quickly fix it (assuming they want barging to exist) by requiring multiple attempts for it to work, for example 3 attempts within 3 seconds into the same rider in the same lane. That would mostly assure it had been intentional (of course if someone tilts their phone accidentally that would also generate repeated attempts).
So - I pulled the trigger and bought the Steer as well. Excited to get my phone mounted correctly vs. some precariously mounted manner with bungees…I unboxed the product. Great packaging (if you are into Apple-style boxing).
I went to mount the new out-front mount - and presto, no go with my Giant Defy contact brake system. Clunky middle of stem hydraulics…nowhere to mount an out front, off center stem mount.
Is there a work around? Is there an adaptor? Clearly I cant be the only Giant Defy user with funky brake system?
hey @Kurt_Fenstermacher welcome to the forums! That is some funky set up that Giant has created. As you know, the STEER’s outfront mount has those latches on it to receive the phone holder thingy and as far as I can see (from searching the internets) there isn’t any adapter made atm that would allow you to attach the STEER to your existing mount.
Time for a NEW BIKE 
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Or alternatively, purchase some hydraulic shifters, run some full length hydraulic lines and switch your whole setup to full hydraulic rather than the current mechanical to hydraulic mix. Hopefully you’re on 11s as not sure that hydraulic shifters exist for 10s.
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I don’t think there are too many folks out there with that Giant Conduct brake system.
Two suggestions that might work:
If you have the funky light mount underneath (circled in my pic), you can maybe shim to the STEER mount bracket. The mount would end up slightly to the right, but you could center the paddles. Also, the phone tray might be low and the way the adjustment arms are designed, the extension posts are meant to be underneath the phone tray and you may need to put them above the tray (which they can do). It would work but the posts could “block” the phone, but I think steering would be fine.
Another option could be this Topeak BarXtender - Amazon.com
Again, you would need to shim to the STEER mount as the crossbar on the BarXtender is 25.4mm versus 31.8mm. With the BarXtender, you can mount it on the stem as the crossbar adapter can be rotated 90 degrees. You could mount it so it is either above or below the stem. Maybe not elegant, but a potential workaround. (I used this for my daughter when she was younger. I had her on narrow handlebars with in-line cross brake levers mounted so she could brake from the tops. This left no room on her bars for a computer or headlight and this device was the ticket.)
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Nice!
It needs an option to auto steer if you don’t want this. Auto avoidance is not enough. You cannot draft anyone with auto avoidance on. The assumption is that everyone wants this ability to steer and for many of us, we just want to ride. The old system worked really well for doing that. Including steering makes it too complicated or restrictive to get your set up right. This might be fine for the user who is really into racing and who has got at remote app downloaded to their phone and whose bike will fit STEER. However, a new user who is coming to the RGT for the first time is going to be so confused. You have to download an app and then download a different app, and then buy a piece of plastic (if it will fit your bike / machine). I really doubt that people on a free trial will work this out, or have a keyboard near enough to them, or their phone near enough. This also assumes that you are not using your phone to see what gear you are in or not pedalling dynamics. Alas the experience if you don’t steer is now pretty disappointing particularly if you are in a race / ride with others that do steer. A simple auto steer would sort the issue out. Make it slower if you want to give those that do want to steer an advantage. Auto avoidance is not enough. Looks as if the same issue is true for auto steer vs auto avoidance for the bots reading other posts.
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@oldmannick they proposed a list of steering changes last week (on the RGT FB group).
There’s no plans to reinstate auto-draft for the majority of riders:
The decision to require manual steering for any drafting benefit was a core design principle that we will stick to for the foreseeable future.
We believe that this will evolve the experience of indoor riding.
The only exception from this rule: users with accessibility needs.
But bots will be back to auto-drafting in a couple of months.
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I like the looks of that roadmap. Auto-avoidance reset to back on after only 30 seconds might be a PITA until they make that an option that can be set (which is planned later in the road map).
Thank you for attaching the information.
That is very kind of you.
It seems strange to me to allow auto-draft for bots, auto-draft for hand cyclists & para cyclists and then restrict that function for other users.
Multiple specific keyboard keys assumes that its customers are using a PC, not an iPad, or Apple TV and that the PC is close to hand and in a position that you can you it when you are cycling.
I hope that RGT knows what it is doing.
My usage of the app has declined to about 20% of what it was before the introduction of steering.
My experience will clearly differ to what others users would like.
However, I fear that the problem for RGT is that it needs to attract more customers and losing some current customers is not a good starting point.
Thank you once again for the information which is very useful and it is the first time that I have seen it.
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This!
I suppose I’m not RGT’s primary audience. I’ve never played a video game in my life, so not only is a controller in my hands unnatural and awkward, but also a huge turn-off. Steering may make the experience more “realistic” in terms of results for racers, but its effect for a non-gamer is just to make it even less like actual riding. And having to buy extra equipment and use multiple apps is a certain demotivator for me. The one time I tried steering in a group ride, I was trying to use my phone to screen cast RGT, steer, and chat (to explain to other riders why I was wrecking their paceline!), failed at everything I attempted, and ended up riding silently and sullenly alone. It was such a steep learning curve for an effect I didn’t even want that I’m now using RGT only for solo rides. And there’s no way I can now encourage anyone else to start using it.
And now that I’m complaining… Having tour stages in RGT has pretty much put me off doing the tour. I’ll do my best, but my heart’s not in it, and I don’t see how having some people doing old-school suf workouts, some riding on their own in RGT, and some participating in group events is going to lead to the kind of rapport and shared suffering that makes it so worthwhile.
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Yeah, this.
I spent a couple of months before the implementation of steering thoroughly cheerleading RGT and trying to pull a Zwift crowd across, starting to get some traction with the value of Magic Roads.
Steering killed that dead, most of us have no interest in using it or adjusting our setups even just to be able to, but without it the experience is now rubbish, I’m not going to mince my words, it’s terrible.
My friends who were considering coming over from Zwift now aren’t and I’ve simply stopped using RGT myself.
There is currently a poll on the RGT Users group on Facebook that shows 30% of respondents either don’t like steering but feel they will try to adapt (14%) or plan to no longer use RGT at all (16%).
Given that some of the people who have given up on RGT won’t even be reading that forum anymore, 30% of users saying they think the platform is worse for it and more than half of those saying they have or plan to leave the platform is huge.
It doesn’t even make sense, this whole “The decision to require manual steering for any drafting benefit was a core design principle that we will stick to for the foreseeable future” extending into even private events is pure lunacy.
I’ll be honest, along with the loss of the Sufferlandrian branding of the Tour, it’s rather soured my view of the whole platform currently, which is a crying shame.
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The audience of racing cyclists / video gamers is quite limited and RGTs key competitor seems to have cornered that well. I always thought that RGT seemed like a friendly place to ride and that was a key selling point. It was really hard not to ride with people in a group and given the numbers you knew quickly who you could ride with. That was pretty special and you wanted to be part of it and promote it. It was like the friendly local cycling club rather than a racing cyclist club. I think that friendly local cycling clubs will probably grow membership more than racing cycling clubs over the next few years. Maybe you should be Wahoo’s primary audience???
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I think that Wahoo’s goal of making RGT the most realistic cycling platform with the introduction of manual steering are admirable. Those of us who mainly ride indoors can underperform when switching to IRL and more realism on RGT may help. RGT may also become the go to eRacing platform. I don’t feel that Wahoo’s current position of making manual steering compulsory is essential to achieving this.
I am pleased to see that the decision to restore realistic auto steering to the bots has been made. The fact that this is going to take several months to complete suggests that bot auto steering was removed to save time during the implementation of manual steering. In the meantime I have reluctantly renewed my Zwift account and I hardly use RGT anymore other than for a change of scenery on recovery rides. It is my impression that the number of real riders on RGT has fallen dramatically since the introduction of manual steering. In fact most times I only see bots. I feel that Wahoo should reconsider their decision to make manual steering compulsory for most riders, and should make it optional for all riders.
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I bought the steer at the reduced price, my experience of it is it’s badly made, doesn’t pair well with a Rocker Plate and swivel riser, and thanks to some bright RGT users helping others many of us have resorted to USB gamer keyboards( 1-3 buttons) or Bluetooth media controllers which is what I have resorted to paired with “AutoHotKeys”, it’s prone to going to sleep so not much use for instant real time racing which thankfully I don’t bother with… One good function of Bluetooth is the play/pause button mapped to “alt/enter” so you can get in/out of fullscreen without needing a keyboard( change tunes etc just need a mouse now). My prev/next buttons are 1 lane shifts, +/- are 3 lane shifts…but the thing is a distraction when you just want to zone out… Never thought I’d consider it but might give the 2week Z trial a go… I’ll stick with wahoo Systm for serious training though.
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I bought the Kickr Steer at the reduced price. It’s still sitting on my floor in the original packaging. I’m not sure if I will ever open it or use it.
I love Magic Roads. That was the key selling point for RGT that made it different/better. I kept waiting for Wahoo to make it even better.
But instead they’ve lost the plot and gone off on Manual Steering which has ruined RGT’s biggest selling point.
Feels like Wahoo was looking for a new product to sell to help their cash flow and they were hoping Steer would do it.
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