Indoor cycling with friends and your club

Talk while you ride

Voice is part of the ride. Hold R and talk: the riders on the course and your group hear you. You can pick another key, or switch on "Keep the mic on" if you'd rather talk freely. When you talk, a pill under the riders list says "On air". The voice chat guide explains who hears you, how loud, and what stays private.

• Voice is off until you switch it on, and the browser asks for your microphone first.
• Nothing is recorded. It goes live to the riders in your room and nowhere else.
• You hear up to ten riders at once. Riders who talk get a spot first, and your group's radio comes through on top.
• In hard intervals voice pauses, and comes back after the block.
• Mute or block a rider from the rider menu. Blocking stops voice both ways straight away.

Chat and quick phrases

Chat has three channels: Near for riders within 150 m, Chat for everyone riding, and Group for your ride group. Messages show in the log and as bubbles over riders' heads. If you'd rather not type mid-interval, pick a quick phrase: "Allez!", "On your wheel", "Easy now", "Who's coming?", "Merci" or "Café?". There are reactions too, a thumbs up and a bell, and kudos with K. Guests can read along; chatting needs a free account.

Stay together, whatever your watts

Riding with friends indoors usually falls apart on fitness: one rider pushes 180 W, another 300 W, and after ten minutes they're on different parts of the map. Tour du Pain fixes that with Ride with.

Click a rider in the list, or the name over their head, and pick "Ride with". From then on your wheel stays beside theirs, whatever your power. A pill under the riders list shows who you're with, and one click on it stops it. It works with the bots too.

It stays fair. Stop pedalling or stay under 30 W for 5 seconds and you drop; pedal again within 30 seconds and you're back. Your recording keeps your own watts, and baguettes count only your own work, so being carried earns nothing. On the Col du Pain you follow your friend onto the climb, then everyone climbs on their own legs, so every Col time is the rider's own.

Ride groups of up to 8

A ride group is up to 8 riders with their own chat channel and radio. Make one under Settings, Riding with friends, give it a name, and share the invite link or a code like BROOD-7K2QXM. You can also invite a rider you meet on the road: invites reach riders within 150 m and expire after 10 minutes. Your group stays together across rides, so Tuesday's group is still there on Thursday.

Plan a coffee ride

A coffee ride is a planned group ride with a link. Open "Coffee ride" on Home, give it a name if you like ("Thursday spin"), and pick the start: Now, or a day and a time on a big clock in 10-minute steps. Press "Make the link", then share it or add it to your calendar.

Anyone with the link sees who planned it and a countdown, and taps Join. Guests can join too; you need a free account to plan one. From 30 minutes before the start until 3 hours after, everyone rides beside the host whatever their watts, the same way as Ride with. Stop pedalling and you drop back until you pedal again.

The link works from the moment you make it and stays open for 24 hours after the start. After 3 hours the host can plan the next one, and the host can cancel a ride; an old or cancelled link says so. You can have up to 5 rides planned at once.

Clubs

If you ride with a club, there's more: your own club kit with the club tag behind your name, coffee rides planned for the whole club, club radio during club rides, one workout together on one clock, a weekly paper and a see-through clubmate to race up the Col. That's all in run your cycling club's indoor rides.

Never an empty road

Up to 50 riders share a room. When few people are online, bots fill the bunch: they ride as cycling and triathlon legends, a fresh bunch every ride, tagged as bots in the riders list. The pelotons are kept small, and the riders that frees up ride alone or in small groups all round the 8.3 km loop, so you hit fewer empty stretches. There's also LTD, a bikepacker on a loaded bike riding a steady ultra pace, and KB, your own riding companion, who rides near you.

So a solo ride still has company, and a group of four friends rides in a full bunch.

What your friends need

• Chrome or Edge on a Windows or Mac computer or a Chromebook, or Chrome, Edge or Opera on an Android phone or tablet. Safari, Firefox and any browser on iPhone or iPad can't reach Bluetooth, so they can't ride.
• A smart trainer or a power meter that talks Bluetooth. Check theirs in which smart trainers work. ANT+ only won't work in a browser.
• A headset or earbuds with a microphone, for voice.

A friend without a trainer can try the demo first, with a simulated trainer; voice is off there, but it shows how the bar works. For the bigger picture of playing in a tab, see cycling games that run in your browser.

Questions

Do my friends need to download an app?

No. They open tourdupain.app in Chrome or Edge on a computer, Chromebook or Android and connect their own trainer. Voice, chat and planning rides need a free account.

Is voice chat recorded?

No. Voice is off until you switch it on, it goes live to the riders in your room, and nothing is kept.

Can riders of different strength ride together?

Yes. With Ride with you stay beside another rider whatever your power, and a coffee ride does the same for everyone with the host. On the Col du Pain each rider climbs on their own legs and you meet again at the top.

How many riders can ride together?

A ride group holds up to 8 riders. A room holds up to 50 riders, and a club has no member limit.

Can I ride with friends on an iPhone or iPad?

No. Safari and every iPhone and iPad browser can't reach Bluetooth trainers. Your friends need Chrome or Edge on a computer or Chromebook, or Chrome, Edge or Opera on Android.

Does it cost anything?

No. Tour du Pain is free through 2027, everything included, for you and your friends. It runs on donations.