Workouts, challenges and group rides aside – gamification can play a major role in helping riders to stay motivated when it comes to indoor cycling. Because why just settle for the post-exercise rush when you can also get an additional hit of endorphins by levelling up and unlocking virtual rewards? Half training tool, half computer game – indoor training apps like ROUVY bring the fun factor to riding on the turbo.
And for those of us who’ll probably never get to realise our dream of making our way up the ranks of the PRO peloton to become the GC contender in real life. ROUVY’s ‘Career levels’ gamification lets you play out your elite cycling dreams in the virtual world instead.
If you’re new to the gamified world of indoor cycling and you’re wondering what it’s all about, we’ll talk you through the levels, how to earn experience points and what you can do with your virtual coins. Just be warned, it gets addictive!
What are the ROUVY Career levels?
There are 100 levels in ROUVY, divided up into nine categories. These are:
- Starter
- Rookie
- Talented
- Elite
- Regional class
- Professional
- National champ
- World class
- Legend
You don’t have to do anything to start working towards your ROUVY Career – simply sign up, start pedalling and you’ll start earning experience points. The more points you earn, the faster you’ll progress through the levels.
What are experience points and how are they calculated?
Just like a video game, experience points are earned to help you progress through the levels in ROUVY. What’s quite unique about ROUVY though, is these points are calculated based on your personal performance – it’s not a case of just riding easy more often. After a calibration phase, ROUVY gets to know your typical time/effort and your FTP. It then uses this data to measure your personal effort on every ride, awarding experience points in proportion to your personal effort. What this means is that you don’t have to be a PRO-level cyclist to earn the most points – as long as you’re working hard for you, you’ll unlock more points and level up faster.
You can keep a track of how many experience points you need to reach the next level in your dashboard. When you do level up, you’ll get a cool virtual badge.
If you’re the competitive type, there’s also a histogram which you can check out to see how many other people are on the same level as you.
Earn in-game experience points with real world activities
As well as earning experience points by riding on ROUVY, you can also sync third-party apps such as Strava and Wahoo so that your real world rides count towards your ROUVY experience points.
ROUVY Coins – what are they and how do I get them?
Experience points help you to level up, coins help you to customise your ROUVY avatar – giving you the ability to ‘buy’ different kit or bikes for your virtual character.
Coins are earned when you complete routes, workouts or participate in group rides. Longer routes or routes with a high level of difficulty come with more coins. Likewise, the more people in a group ride the more coins you’ll earn because you’ll get the base level of coins for completing the route, plus additional coins which increase in accordance with the number of people who started the event.
How do I customise my avatar in ROUVY?
To customise your avatar’s appearance and to use your virtual coins to upgrade your bike. Load up the ROUVY app and click the ROUVY icon in the top left corner. A drop down menu will appear. Select ‘Customization’ and you’ll be taken to a screen where you can play around with what kit and other gear you can swap out.
How can I get a better virtual bike in ROUVY – and why would I want to upgrade?
Dreaming of new bike day? Aren’t we all. Good news is you can scratch that itch by upgrading your bike in ROUVY – a slightly more wallet-friendly option to the real thing! The coins you earn by completing routes, workouts and group rides can be used to upgrade your frame and wheelset as well as your cycling kit and helmet.
Different bike frames will have benefits for different routes. For example, if you’re trying to complete a flat route as fast as possible, you’ll want to have the option to ride the most aero bike possible. Whereas if you’re taking on some of the iconic climbing routes, getting a lightweight frame will be more of a priority than aero dynamics.
