Sergey Fabersky: how Komon online races work and which trainer to choose

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Useful from the issue

1. Connect the trainer with a cable.

   Direct Ethernet connection eliminates communication interruptions and loss of resistance in the middle of the interval. In a studio with dozens of machines, this is a prerequisite.

2. Watch out for CO2 in the hall

   The studio needs ventilation and a CO2 sensor: keep the level around 400-500 units at full load, plus a fan in front of each rider.

3. Prepare a double power record

   In serious online races, the leaders must confirm the result by recording from the second power meter and video weighing. Without this, disqualification is possible.

4. Moving to a strong category is a success

   If you were transferred higher and you ended up in the tail, then the form has grown. This is a normal stage, not a reason to quit.

5. Consider the load on the trainer

   With high power and frequent use, some machines overheat electronics. Heavy riders should check the weight limits of bicycle machines.

6. Affordable indoor trainer for home — okay

   For smooth operation at home, an inexpensive trainer will suffice; limitations become apparent in sharp accelerations on steep climbs.

7. Try a stage race on the trainer.

   Ten stages in a row give the experience of accumulated fatigue, which is difficult to get in offline amateur races.

From Videos to Cycling and Zwift

Sergey's first sports career is roller skating: he is a master of sports of international class, has performed at international competitions for many years, including the European Championships, and the team has been supported by Sportmaster for almost fifteen years. In parallel, he worked as the head of the IT department. His career ended in 2007, and doctors sent him on a bicycle after knee injuries.

Cycling tightened him up: at his peak he had more than 5 watts / kg, and especially liked the time trial. In 2013, he tried Zwift, and two loves came together — for computers and for sports. In the early years of Zwift, Sergey communicated with its founder Eric Min and advised him what to add or remove in the game. Eight years ago, when he saw that teams, cities and countries were already racing in Europe, but there was no such thing in Russia, he launched Komon. The co—founder and marketer of the project is his wife.

Why races on a trainer are needed

The main thing in Komon, according to Sergey, is sociality: in winter you race with the same friends and rivals as in summer, and the season practically does not end for you. The second is the prize fund from partners: sometimes up to 500 thousand rubles per series, but not with money, but with products — machines, bicycle computers, heart rate monitors, food, coffee.

Thirdly, there are formats that are almost non-existent offline: for example, ten-day stage races. It's hard for an amateur to imagine the accumulated fatigue until they ride ten stages in a row. There are also minute-long drag races for sprinters. Professionals participate in the races, so an amateur can test themselves against them. In addition, the project hosts closed corporate races and develops an online academy where a coach leads a group live.

If Zwift stops working

Sergey explains interruptions with Zwift in Russia by non-targeted blocking: the game servers are hosted by Amazon, and their IP addresses periodically fall into other people's locks, more often from small providers. He considers it a temporary phenomenon. As a last resort, there are backup options: a local Zwift Offline server, which you can move to in about a week, MyWhoosh, where the project has a familiar developer, and a domestic WattAttack.

MyWhoosh, in his experience, loses noticeably: angular graphics, heavy load on the video card, bots in races, a weak community and events that have to be coordinated for several days. Sergey knows the developers of WattAttack personally: the project is promising, but raw, he needs investments, and the main feature would be voice chat in the races. The strength of Zwift is, first of all, the community and how easy it is to create your own event or private club there.

How to catch cheaters

A closed club system cuts out random people. Categories in 'Komon' are divided not by age, as offline, but by watts per kilogram. At the request of the organizers, especially category leaders, you need to provide double power recording — from the trainer and an external meter — otherwise you can get disqualified. Weighing is filmed in front of a mirror, with a control weighing of a known weight dumbbell.

The most time—consuming part of the work is the second-by-second analysis of two files from different devices for the entire race. Now the rules are settled, and the main disputes in the community are transfers to a stronger category: yesterday you fought for victory, and now you are riding in the tail. Sergey reminds that the transfer is a sign that the form has grown, and compares it with getting a sports category.

Studios and trainers

For studio accreditation, rider comfort is key: ventilation and CO2 sensors with levels not exceeding 400–500 units at full load (above 700, performance noticeably drops), a fan in front of each trainer, and showers. Such studios already exist in St. Petersburg, Moscow, Rostov, Novosibirsk, Samara, Saratov, Yekaterinburg, as well as in Belarus and Cyprus.

Sergey highlights the Wahoo KICKR starting from the sixth version, Tacx, and Magene; Elite in the middle segment, in his experience, loses in accuracy. Tacx and Elite overheat the boards at high power and studio load, while Wahoo he almost never saw that. The Wahoo KICKR Bike is his dream, but the seatpost can break for heavy riders. For home, a budget trainer under 30 thousand rubles will do if sharp accelerations on steep gradients are not needed.

The main advice for studios is to use a wired connection for trainers via Ethernet. When there are 20–30 trainers in the gym, wireless sensors interfere with each other and disconnect; after switching to a wired connection in the main studio in Krylatskoe, there were no more disconnections during the finals. Sergey considers a belt drive to be more reliable: the belt can be changed in ten minutes without a technician and does not heat the electronics.

Business, commentating and the growth of indore cycling

Komon for Sergey is the only serious business and life's work that he is not ready to sell: I want to leave something working behind. He comments on all the races himself. One day he couldn't talk for three weeks, and a friend replaced him. He brought the habit of not being afraid of the camera from roller sports. He and his wife haven't been on vacation for three years, but a flexible schedule, according to him, allows them not to burn out.

The number of unique participants is growing by 10-20% per year: the pandemic doubled it immediately, and it doubled again in the following years, to about 9 thousand per year. It's a long winter in Russia, and the online season is no shorter than offline, so Sergey considers indore cycling to be a promising direction for partners as well. The dream is a world series with national selections; international races with Spain, China and the Philippines have already been. At the end, Ilya calls Sergey to comment on his summer race on June 20.

Timestamps

1. 00:00Ilya's introduction
2. 01:39Sergey's acquaintance and journey
3. 09:02Sergey's bicycles
4. 13:03Why do we need a "Komon"
5. 18:41Zwift locks and Alternatives
6. 26:48Acquaintance with the founder of Zwift
7. 30:02MyWhoosh vs Zwift
8. 34:04How to catch cheaters
9. 38:10Categories and translations
10. 40:35Requirements for studios
11. 43:47Which trainer to choose
12. 54:17Team and partners
13. 58:19Betting, business and commentary
14. 1:07:09Summer series and holidays
15. 1:11:10The dream of the World Series and the growth of the market

Mentioned in this episode

Zwift · MyWhoosh · WattAttack · Zwift Offline · Wahoo KICKR · Tacx · Magene · Elite · Garden Ring · Cycling Race · UCI