For a lot of indoor cyclists, music’s as essential as the bike itself. A pounding beat can turn those tough virtual climbs into a triumph, while a well timed chorus can push you through those final, burning pedal strokes.
If you’re new to the ROUVY indoor cycling app, you might be wondering: Does ROUVY have sound? The answer is no – there’s no built-in soundtrack or in-app music. But that’s not a drawback. In fact, it’s a unique advantage. Without a fixed playlist or pre-loaded tracks, you’re free to craft your own sonic environment. Whether that means firing up your favourite rock anthems, zoning in with ambient techno, grooving to the latest pop hits, or even letting recordings of bird songs and ocean waves wash over you, the choice is yours.
Many ROUVY cyclists treat this as a chance to design the perfect playlist for their training style. Some ride to upbeat spinning playlists, others power through intervals with a high-energy cycling workout playlist, and a few even prefer the storytelling immersion of podcasts or audiobooks. The flexibility makes it easy to adapt your sound to your mood, goals, and training plan.
Does ROUVY have sound?
The ROUVY app focuses on delivering an immersive visual and data-driven training experience, with thousands of real-world routes, structured workouts and pro-designed training plans, and augmented-reality features. By leaving out built-in music, ROUVY gives riders complete control over their auditory experience.
The absence of default audio is liberating. You’re not locked into some generic soundtrack that may not match your pace or personal tastes. Instead, you can choose music or spoken audio that fits your riding style.
Want a playlist heavy on EDM drops for a sprint session? Or perhaps a laid-back, yacht rock playlist to match a long, steady climb? You can make it happen.
This freedom means you can also adapt your listening to your energy levels and training goals. On days when rest and recovery gentle background music or an audiobook might be ideal. During hard HIIT workouts, a high-tempo playlist could provide the extra kick needed to hit your targets.
Why music matters for indoor training
Music doesn’t just make a workout more fun – it can improve performance. Studies have shown that music with a strong beat can increase endurance, cadence and reduce perceived effort. A peer-reviewed study in The Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research found that cyclists who pedalled in time with music maintained a higher cadence and power output than riding in silence. The rhythm acts as a metronome, helping you keep a consistent pace and push through fatigue.
From a psychological perspective music can also trigger emotional responses that make training feel more rewarding. A well timed track can give you a boost of motivation, tap into positive memories or just provide a nice distraction from the burn in your legs. In high intensity intervals, fast tracks can trigger a fight-or-flight response that helps you sustain peak power longer.
Podcasts and audiobooks can offer a different kind of benefit. Instead of focusing on rhythm, they provide mental engagement, making longer endurance rides fly by. Riders who listen to nature sounds often find them calming, creating a meditative rhythm that complements Zone 2 steady-state efforts.
In other words what you listen to while riding can shape your entire training experience – physically, mentally and emotionally.
How to ride with music on ROUVY
Cycling with your own music on ROUVY is simple. Just start your preferred streaming service – whether that’s Spotify, Apple Music, Amazon Music or YouTube Music – before you begin your ride. Crank up your chosen soundtrack as you explore ROUVY’s thousands of routes, from Alpine switchbacks to coastal roads.
If you’re not a fan of streaming, you can play local MP3s, pop in a CD, or even queue up a radio station. The app runs seamlessly alongside most media players, so your music won’t interfere with your ride metrics or visual experience.
For those who prefer spoken audio, podcast apps and audiobook players work just as easily. Some ROUVY riders mix it up – starting with a motivational playlist for warm-up and intervals, then switching to a podcast for the cooldown or endurance portion of their session.
The flexibility doesn’t stop at content – you can also fine-tune your sound environment with the right headphones or speakers. Wireless earbuds are a popular choice for their comfort and freedom of movement, while some riders use over-ear headphones for richer bass and noise isolation. If you’re in a private space, a good Bluetooth speaker can give you room-filling sound that makes indoor training feel like a live event.
What we’re listening to at ROUVY HQ
To get a feel for what people like to listen to out on the “virtual road,” I asked around the office for some tips. I quickly found that, on Team ROUVY, the tastes are as varied as the routes on the app.
Product marketing team lead Anita Skotnicová, who recently completed the IRONMAN 70.3 Nice, is another Spotify user. She cranks up her curated Alternative & Indie playlist on Spotify for interval training. “I pick songs with faster BPM and try to immerse myself into the music – and forget the pain a bit.” For just-ride mode on ROUVY, Anita turns to ‘70s rock. “It makes me feel like I’m on ‘indoor road trip.’”
Filip Kotrba, a specialist on ROUVY’s social media team who’s in training for the IRONMAN Kaernten-Klagenfurt, Austria, rides to his own “ROUVY paincave” Spotify playlist. It’s a high energy mix of DNB and electro.
ROUVY's resident Czech cowgirl, Anna-Marie Macková is a junior campaign specialist who's in training for her first triathlon. She said what she listens to on the bike “kinda depends on my mood, but I'm either listening to my country playlist on Spotify (go, Zach Bryan and Toby Keith!), or I have some beach-club vibes playlists with remixes and stuff. If I'm a bit angry, I put my rap playlist on.”
Content writer Danny Holman only recommended adding "Happy Cycling" by Boards of Canada to your playlist. But since my fellow scribe happens to be an Englishman of a certain age, I strongly suspect he also has Sting and Phil Collins in heavy rotation on the speakers in his pain cave as he rides ROUVY’s British routes. I could be wrong.
Over on the tech side of the office suite, backend chapter lead Stanislav Gurník – who also finished the IRONMAN 70.3 Nice – was one of the first to answer my call. He quickly recommended the “Tour de France” record by electronic pioneers Kraftwerk as a go-to cycling jam. Makes perfect sense for a techie cyclist, right?
After comparing notes and realizing (again) that I’m way less cool than my colleagues, I hesitated to share my own odd-ball “Gym / ROUVY tunes” playlist. It’s an eclectic mix that runs the gamut from ‘70s punk, to outlaw country, to blues and classic rock. But, hey, it works for me.
