Recent indoor training platform price increases may have left you looking for an alternative, and if you’re one of those people, then good news because we have an alternative to share with you which is 9x times cheaper than the market leader.
The name of this app is of course, icTrainer and of all the paid for apps out there, icTrainer is leading the way in terms of cost, but what may surprise you is the number of features the platform packs into this very accessible price point.
Use the voucher code CWV24 for 44 days free trial, valid until the end of January 2025 – download here.
Live Data
What you’ll notice early on is that icTrainer makes one thing clear via the bold statement on its website, ‘Just Train – No Game’. It says that because icTrainer was built for those wanting to seriously develop their cycling ability while doing so in a cost effective manner.
But, this is also why you can enjoy the usual live metrics in the app such as, power, heart rate, cadence, left/right balance as well as the lesser seen, core body temperature, muscle oxygen saturation and gearing from your Di2. It really does offer a wealth of information allowing you to dig deep in your training.
(Image credit: icTrainer)
Ride your favourite roads, at home!
If you have a favourite route near where you live, or if you’ve been on holiday and fallen in love with the sights and want to relive the experience, then good news. icTrainer allows you to upload your own GPS routes so you can ride them from the comfort of your own home.
On the other hand, if there’s a climb or route you’ve always wanted to ride, then there’s a good chance you can find it in icTrainers library of more than 200 routes. Simply scroll through their catalogue of rides and you can enjoy tackling those climbs with video too.
Workouts & Training Plans
As I mentioned earlier, icTrainer is made for those who want to better themselves as athletes. As such, you’ll not be surprised to find pre-made workouts and training plans to help guide you through the process.
And an extra bonus is that you can even make use of the workout builder, if there’s a particular session that you’re wanting to create.
(Image credit: icTrainer)
Cross-platform Compatibility
We, as cyclists, are a finickity bunch as we all have our own favourite platforms to log and track our training on. So, to make life as simple as possible, icTrainer is compatible with a whole host of platforms including but not limited to Starva, Training Peaks, Garmin and many others.
This means that whatever other activities you’re tracking, you can ensure all your efforts are being logged in the same place and if for whatever reason icTrainer doesn’t happen to currently offer a platform you’re tracking on then, you can simply ask them to add it and they’ll do their best to get it connected.
The same goes for hardware too. icTriner is compatible with brands from Tacx, to Wahoo, to Saris, to Elite and so many others. So again, no matter what set up you either currently have or may look into buying, you’ll almost certainly be able to connect to icTrainer.
Entertainment
Indoor training can be a solitary pursuit but it doesn’t have to be. For group training, icTrainer can also offer video chats to keep you and your friends connected while you train. It means you can enjoy the groupride chats even through those cold winter months.
On the other hand, if you prefer to keep your head down and just train, but want a way to help pass the time through a long effort, then icTrainer’s integrated web browser means you can stream content from the likes of Netflix, Amazon Prime or even YouTube.
But don’t worry, if you don’t want to be on a video chat and you don’t want to stream video content then you also have the option to just listen to music through icTrainer which will match the cadence of your workout to give you an extra boost!
Partner Mode
You know what they say, ‘couples that train together stay together’… Right? Well, if there’s any truth behind that, you’ll be happy to know that two riders can train at the same time on the same computer.
And, because icTrainer doesn’t need an internet connection to work, you can take it one step further and train in the garden, or on the balcony, or in the basement. The only limitation is where you can think of to train!
This also has a big implication on how icTrainer is able to offer their platform at such a low price. By not running its system from the cloud, it doesn’t need to pay large sums of money for servers and in turn can pass that huge operational saving onto its users while also boasting a claimed climate-neutral operation.
Virtual Shifting
You may have clocked earlier that I mentioned you can connect your Di2 grouset to icTrainer and you may have wondered why that would be of any use at all.
Well, in addition to being able to see your gearing, you can also use the Di2 buttons to make virtual shifts. If you don’t have a groupset with this functionality then, you can always make virtual shifts via the interface.
So, as you can see, icTrainer is jam packed with features and to be honest, that wasn’t even all of them. Some of them are entirely unique to icTrainer and when you pair all of that functionality with the incredibly low price, it certainly makes it worthy of consideration.
Put it this way, the monthly fee of the market leader is only just less of what you’d pay for the entire year for icTrainer.
If you’re keen to give them a go you can use code CWV24 for 44 days of free riding, when you apply the code in app. So, head to this link to get started now.
