To get started with our Open Road app, you will need a PC with Windows and a stable internet connection.
The PC #
Open Road is probably the most PC-friendly video-based indoor cycling app on the market. It embraces a vast range of hardware configurations. You do not need a powerful PC to get started with Open Road. But to enjoy the high cinematic video quality of Open Road, we recommend downloading the rides in at least the standard HD format (default setting). To get the most out of this format, we suggest a configuration like the following:
CPU: Intel Core i5-7200U @ 2.50GHz
Hard drive size: 1-2 gigabytes per ride you want to store in the standard HD format.
RAM: 4 Gb
Screen resolution: minimum 1280×720.
You can also run Full HD with this configuration. But the playback will not be as smooth and realistic as with HD. If you want to opt for a slower CPU, you can easily do that, as you always have the option of downloading the DVD format.
You can use a CPU benchmark website such as this one to compare our reference CPU with other CPUs. The faster the CPU, the better and smoother is the playback.
The platform #
Open Road runs on the Windows platform and works on all Windows versions from Windows Vista (SP2) to Windows 11. We plan to support more platforms in the future.
Prerequisites #
To run Open Road you will need:
LAV video filter version 0.7.2 and up (Will automatically be installed on your PC during the installation of ‘Open Road’)
.NET 4.5.2 framework (pre-installed on most PC)
A stable internet connection.
Connecting to ANT+ devices #
The ANT+ wireless standard is extremely popular and supported by most reputable brands. It secures that devices are inter-compatible. That means that the devices can connect with other devices and apps that are ANT+ compatible. You can read more about the ANT+ standard here.
Open Road can connect to all smart trainers, power meters, speed/cadence sensors, and heart rate monitors that are ANT+ compatible. To use Open Road with ANT+ compatible devices, you need an ANT+ stick. An ANT+ stick is not expensive and is a great way to get the most out of your indoor cycling setup.
To prevent data loss in the wireless transmission between your ANT+ devices and your PC, we recommend using a USB extender cable. An extender cable will make it possible for the ANT+ stick to be close to your ANT+ devices as possible.
There are a lot of benefits in using the ANT+ standard over Bluetooth LE on the Windows platform. Once we support mobile platforms, we will start supporting Bluetooth LE as well.
Running Open Road without ANT+ #
If you do not have any ANT+ compatible devices or your devices only run Bluetooth LE, you have the option of running Open Road manually. Manually means you can set the speed of the video to your preference.
