I am one of those newer subscribers, with really only starting with SYSTM and Sufferfest a couple of years ago. The humour is what drew me; as I said in an earlier post–if I just want to workout with intervals, I can do that far cheaper by using pure Zwift and/or my own interval sessions…the storylines and jokes are incredibly motivating to get you to go harder than you would think you can otherwise.
(Then discovering the support group and culture around Sufferfest, which was even better to help with motivation.)
Wouldn’t it be funny if it’s the humorous (or humourous), often sarcastic written content that was secretly licensed to Wahoo by Sir David et. al., and that’s the part they really have to remaster out of it when they do this. Lol
Nice. Better than the echo chamber the forum has become. Let’s see how he responds (or if he just passes it on to the comms folks for a “corporate” answer about “broadening the appeal” blah blah blah.
I tend to be one of those users who is not that deep into the “Sufferlandria lore”. I love the workouts more for the music and the (so far) great video material. But unfortunately I have to agree. The remastered workouts and the new SUF video leave a lot to be desired. They seem uninspired. I also have to think about whether it’s worth renewing my subscription. As others have written, in my opinion other training platforms offer better content for less money (e.g. adaptive training). The videos have been Systm’s USP so far…
Apologies for the late response. I’ve been thinking about this and then I battered myself to a standstill while doing TBTITW
As much as I suspect that there isn’t “a will”, it’s unlikely that anyone here will really know how the original licensing arrangement was constructed or why it couldn’t be extended.
Conjecture on the forum (and, probably understandably, mostly negative conjecture at that), wouldn’t be my chosen way forward, but now even I am starting to lose my stoic exterior (or maybe my de-Britification is nearing completion ).
I support your notion that directly contacting the new CEO may be the best approach, although I expect the “corporate” response.
I (idly) wonder what percentage of SYSTM subscribers are the hard-core Sufferlandrians. From a business perspective, if Wahoo see an uptick in subscribers since the de-SUFFing then they are unlikely to reverse that process to keep the handful here quiet and happy.
Since they effectively abandoned RGT not long after the take-over I thought that was a positive sign that they believed in their unique product but now it seems my confidence was misplaced as they have brought out “routes”.
I wrote a while ago that I didn’t think this was a good move to try to “compete” in the virtual world, but I’m not a wicked smart business person, so what would I know.
I can’t imagine that I’ll subscribe anywhere else for training, so I’ll have to get used to suffering through workouts without a wry smile on my face.
To be clear, I think the best (though maybe not the nicest) way to get some traction and/or action would be to respond to the CEO’s social media posts (not sure where he is as I’m not on any of these atm: LinkedIN, Insta, FB, X/Twitter, BlueSky, TikTok, Threads) about The Company. Some public “challenges” may actually provoke some real responses. It’s easy to hide behind private messages and emails by having someone else respond on your behalf with the sanitized answer.
Also, to be clear again, as much as I will miss some of the actual footage, as another person mentioned it’s not so much the change in footage and loss of The Shark in Thin Air or Coryn Labecki (Rivera) in Who Dares as it’s a careless exchange of cycling footage that is no longer directly linked to the story, or, as in Rollercoaster, there really is no story at all, and all the de-SUFing is making the classics, humourless and dull. The workout actions need to match the cycling footage action otherwise it’s not nearly as motivating. I have to remind myself, of course, that I am preaching to the choir so won’t go on and on and on and on and on and on and on and…
I have had a thought. What if all the dumbing down of Sufferfest workouts and replacing well matched engaging content with bland generic footage is actually more SUF than we realised. Have we been looking at it all wrong. After all a good quality engaging video with some humour thrown in, helps us to get through these workouts, because it distracts us. Maybe wahoo have just taken the idea that ‘nothing shall dull the suffering’ very seriously. They could do great videos but to be more SUF are intentionally making shit ones so you can fully focus on the suffering. Maybe they should just cut to the chase, make them all no vids, and we can all sit staring at the wall (or perhaps stem) while we revel in the glory of pure unfiltered suffering.
This is a worrying development concerning reworking old classics.
Makes think about what sufferlanderia really is.
I haven’t gone as far as getting a knighthood but to me, I get a real sense of community knowing that others of a similar like mind - with similar sense of humour and relish for a good workout - have suffered alongside me (in space/time) during the key moments of these workouts.
Such a sense of community, that I’ve actually been paying subscription for the past 2 years on a very threadbare diet of suffering whilst I took an extended holiday in couchlandria. I considered it was a visa to a land I wanted immediate access to.
Weird hey?? But jeez - what a magical product.
But…if the content is essentially morphed into something else I am just worried this spell might be broken.
I’m not quite ready to give up hope yet. Recent changes have not been great but that doesn’t mean they can’t pivot and change course. Naive? Yeh, I know. But until it’s really dead, it’s not dead.
The messages of concern need to leave the forum though and reach The Company where they can actually be heard.
It’s really not bad at all. Okay, some language changes, but the peloton surges for intervals, topped by the GOAT sprinting to a win… great. Plus GvA features happily.
In the same boat brother. Been a customer for 8 years. Orignally started in the old computrainer days so when I found Sufferfest I loved it! It was tough but engaging and funny. With nothing new being made and favorites being remastered I’m becoming uninspired. Once my subscription is up this year I will be moving on.
Nice. I’ve done something similar but am not quite ready to bail on the app. It’s imminently salvageable if they’d only listen to the voices in their community. At least we can say we tried to help them stop the completely unnecessary bleeding.
just let sleeping dogs lie
