The official TrainerRoad thread

islwyn

Did my first FTP test last night after my first attempt failed as I didn't link up Turbo Trainer.

Feel disappointed with my result of 243, definitely feel stronger than that but I just couldn't hold the pace for the full 20 minutes, not sure if I went out too quick on 3 sprints & 5 minute effort.

I'm going to blame the fact it was after a roast, heating was on & had just driven 200 miles back from Devon... Trying to make myself feel better...

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/ride ... inute-Test

gotwood25

Islwyn wrote:

Did my first FTP test last night after my first attempt failed as I didn't link up Turbo Trainer.

Feel disappointed with my result of 243, definitely feel stronger than that but I just couldn't hold the pace for the full 20 minutes, not sure if I went out too quick on 3 sprints & 5 minute effort.

I'm going to blame the fact it was after a roast, heating was on & had just driven 200 miles back from Devon... Trying to make myself feel better...

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/ride ... inute-Test

If you are using the Trainer Road virtual power function I wouldn't be too worried about the number. Chances are it's not terribly accurate and if you repeated the test on a different turbo, or even the same turbo on a different resistance setting you would get a completely different number.

It should just be used as a way of tailoring your workouts and monitoring your progress.

islwyn

gotwood25 wrote:

If you are using the Trainer Road virtual power function I wouldn't be too worried about the number. Chances are it's not terribly accurate and if you repeated the test on a different turbo

gotwood25 wrote:

It should just be used as a way of tailoring your workouts and monitoring your progress.

This is true - guess they're all individual and now I have a number to begin my Intermediate Build II.

herzog

gotwood25 wrote:

Islwyn wrote:

Did my first FTP test last night after my first attempt failed as I didn't link up Turbo Trainer.

Feel disappointed with my result of 243, definitely feel stronger than that but I just couldn't hold the pace for the full 20 minutes, not sure if I went out too quick on 3 sprints & 5 minute effort.

I'm going to blame the fact it was after a roast, heating was on & had just driven 200 miles back from Devon... Trying to make myself feel better...

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/ride ... inute-Test

If you are using the Trainer Road virtual power function I wouldn't be too worried about the number. Chances are it's not terribly accurate and if you repeated the test on a different turbo, or even the same turbo on a different resistance setting you would get a completely different number.

It should just be used as a way of tailoring your workouts and monitoring your progress.

Wise advice; providing you're keeping all settings on the turbo (inc. tyre pressure) constant, progression can be monitored with a reasonable degree of accuracy and precision. How this information translates to 'real world' FTPs is anyone’s guess and, given you're not using power outside of Trainer Road, relatively unimportant. Good luck!

Smithster

Finally got going on trainer road after a few false starts. As it happens the resistance was stuck on 6 on my Tacx satori and was using L3 on the trainer road settings. I wondered why my heart was maxing out before I even got to the test intervals!

charlie_potatoes

Islwyn wrote:

Did my first FTP test last night after my first attempt failed as I didn't link up Turbo Trainer.

Feel disappointed with my result of 243, definitely feel stronger than that but I just couldn't hold the pace for the full 20 minutes, not sure if I went out too quick on 3 sprints & 5 minute effort.

I'm going to blame the fact it was after a roast, heating was on & had just driven 200 miles back from Devon... Trying to make myself feel better...

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/ride ... inute-Test

Your FTP/Kg is definitely higher than 3.06. :shock: I would say it is closer to 4 than 3.
Ask me how I know

bobgfish

So can someone tell me a nice easy way to create a workout which is based only on Wattage?

I'm not interested in a % of my FTP.

I'd just like to be able to set say 150 Watts for 1 min then 300 for 1 min etc etc

I've fudged it at the moment by using an FTP of 150 and then using 100% and 200% Of course later on when I want to adjust figures to say 160/320 I could just change my FTP again but nice to have explicit workouts at explicit levels without having to do this and then try and work out percentages each time for power...

Any easier way or another program?

jgsi

bobgfish wrote:

So can someone tell me a nice easy way to create a workout which is based only on Wattage?

I'm not interested in a % of my FTP.

I'd just like to be able to set say 150 Watts for 1 min then 300 for 1 min etc etc

I've fudged it at the moment by using an FTP of 150 and then using 100% and 200% Of course later on when I want to adjust figures to say 160/320 I could just change my FTP again but nice to have explicit workouts at explicit levels without having to do this and then try and work out percentages each time for power...

Any easier way or another program?

Trainer Road is probably not for you then...Golden Cheetah has a simpler train mode using a form of virtual power...
Power has to be based on capability to have any meaningful training effect.. so hence the dreaded FTP.
Maybe just save yourself a bit of money ..
Ride HARD
Ride EASY
in that order and repeat..x times

stringybob

As JGSI says, Golden Cheetah allows you to do exactly this. when you create a workout, just select "Absolute Power" instead of % of FTP

bobgfish

Can Golden Cheetah also drive the Trainer? I have a Wahoo KickR which I need to use a program to drive it. Works very well with TR but without TR I need something to act like the "head" unit. I've looked at GC in the past and not been that taken with the user interface...

jgsi

bobgfish wrote:

Can Golden Cheetah also drive the Trainer? I have a Wahoo KickR which I need to use a program to drive it. Works very well with TR but without TR I need something to act like the "head" unit. I've looked at GC in the past and not been that taken with the user interface...

Sadly not in its functionality.
Gc's train mode is not in the same league as TrainerRoad but then again it is freeware damned useful at that - thanks to all its creators..its PMC and reporting tools are the stuff that makes sense of the training done in TR and that only makes sense if you are training for competitive reasons.

stringybob

I also use this http://veloreality.com/ but only for virtual power ,so not sure if will control the KickR

bobgfish

The other app that I've found that might do the trick is Virtual Training by cycleops...anyone use this instead? There was a post somewhere on trainer road forums that they may introduce the watts only mode but it could be a while away...

michaelede

Anyone know of a trainer tyre bigger than 23C? 25C would be handy, thanks!

cougie

Just use any cheap 25mm slick tyre ?

I'm sure turbo tyres are a con.

CRAIGO5000

That.

When my normal road tyres get low they become "turbo" use tyres. I've got 4 waiting on the shelf.
Just remember to pump them up to 100psi or so and measure the wheel circumference in mm when changing tyres. Input the new figure into TrainerRoad and go...

I recently changed tyres for turbo use and went from 2079mm to 2118mm. That worked out at nearly 0.5mph at 20mph difference which obviously affects perceived virtual power.

Dodger747

bobgfish wrote:

Can Golden Cheetah also drive the Trainer? I have a Wahoo KickR which I need to use a program to drive it. Works very well with TR but without TR I need something to act like the "head" unit. I've looked at GC in the past and not been that taken with the user interface...

I have a kickr, can the Wahoo app not just lock in the resistance you want to workout at?

bobgfish

Which Wahoo app? PC or iPad...can't find much by them...a set power works for some of my workouts but I need say 300 watts for 1 min then 150 for 1 min. Rinse and repeat 100 times. I can't manually adjust hence trying to use something like trainer road. It just needs pure power rather than percentages of FTP added...

Dodger747

The fitness app allows you to change wattage but I don't think there's any way you could do if automatically after a set time...



I guess the only other way would be to create custom workouts on Trainerroad for each specific wattage/zone you wanted to work at?

bobgfish

I've relooked at Trainer road and although when you create the custom workouts it's all done as %'s when you actually run them it does display as watts..And you can preview before running it. I guess this means with a calculator and a bit more time I can work out what I need to set the workouts up the way I want.

Pigeons in flight

cougie wrote:

Just use any cheap 25mm slick tyre ?

I'm sure turbo tyres are a con.

I'm not sure they're a con! I use a Conti trainer tyre on the turbo. It is noticably quieter than a worn normal tyre, keeps cool and doesnt shed rubber. Although I think it's fair to say they fall into the 'nice to have' category rather than an essential.

I havent been on trainerroad for a while due to work commitments. Did the 8 minute test on Monday and my FTP's dropped by 5. Ah well....

dw300

bobgfish wrote:

So can someone tell me a nice easy way to create a workout which is based only on Wattage?

I'm not interested in a % of my FTP.

I'd just like to be able to set say 150 Watts for 1 min then 300 for 1 min etc etc

I've fudged it at the moment by using an FTP of 150 and then using 100% and 200% Of course later on when I want to adjust figures to say 160/320 I could just change my FTP again but nice to have explicit workouts at explicit levels without having to do this and then try and work out percentages each time for power...

Any easier way or another program?

Ride the FTP test.

(Desired Power / FTP) x 100 = The % for your interval

Tell me you're not only going to train by using a single steady state workout though .. If you want to improve then ride the FTP test, train a variety of workouts for a few weeks, retest, and repeat.

bobgfish

Ride the FTP test.

(Desired Power / FTP) x 100 = The % for your interval

Tell me you're not only going to train by using a single steady state workout though .. If you want to improve then ride the FTP test, train a variety of workouts for a few weeks, retest, and repeat.

I know my FTP. Measured in a lab. I am testing every 4 weeks.

I have explicit targets with explicit workouts to do. It's not going to be steady state. Rather than use % of FTP I have set goals of power to achieve. I'm lazy when it comes to the maths and hate to make mistakes and know that I've done a ride wrong.

Some of my planned rides are not all about power. They are about leg speed, endurance and recovery.

I have since learnt that you can create a custom ride and then check it before you start using power to ensure that it is close to desired figures. Just be nice to use power figures rather than a % of FTP.

napoleond

What you want is available on Cycleops Virtual Training. Or do it on Free Ride on trainer road...

Dodger747

Just did a new 8 minute test, before I head off to Tenerife next week...

http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/ride ... inute-Test

FTP 271
W/kg 4.67
LTHR 171

Can't recommend Trainerroad's training plans enough - 35.5% FTP increase in 12 weeks' worth of training!

Crashs2k

Which TrainerRoad plan did you do out of interest?

Dodger747

Advance build I
Half way through Advance Build II now

bobgfish

Can someone advise on the twenty min test? This this a few weeks ago and result was far far worse than my Lab tested FTP.

I have a Wahoo KickR which changes the mode from watts to Level Mode 3 as described here.

http://support.trainerroad.com/entries/23998285-What-do-the-Wahoo-KICKR-s-Modes-Indicate-

Basically I was small chain ring and it was too hard in one gear and too easy in the above gear. Should I have decreased to Level Mode 2 and upped the gearing instead? Is there a sweat spot or just suck it up and get tough?

Thanks

islwyn

Been on TrainerRoad for a couple weeks now and love the variety of workouts & plans! Wish I was on it ages ago! Feel like I've wasted years haha.

charlie_potatoes

Islwyn wrote:

Been on TrainerRoad for a couple weeks now and love the variety of workouts & plans! Wish I was on it ages ago! Feel like I've wasted years haha.

Is there anyone that you would like to thank for recommending it to you?

Just wondering