Struggling to gain and keep momentum on the trails and feel its getting worse

steve_sordy

Best of luck with those ideas. It would be helpful I'm sure if you could report back later on this thread with the results.

As a further suggestion, research the benefit of doing 10,000 steps per day.

My wife was bought one of those wrist things that link to your phone. She set herself a target of 8,000, then 10,000 steps per day and her resting heart rate has dropped from 72 to 58. She has been slim all her life and always busy doing something, but just walking every day, rain or shine, has made a big difference to her general fitness. Once she was doing 10,000, she found it very easy to do a lot more. She now competes with our elder daughter on how many they can do in a week. Like you, my daughter is now working from home and easily spends 50 hours/week working. They both regularly exceed 100,000 steps in a week! (At least once per month).

danlightbulb

Im struggling to decide if dropping £700 on a smart turbo trainer and £12 a month on a Zwift subscription is a good idea. It all looks good from a functionality perspective but its just alot of money.

I could have three years of gym subscription for less.

But the idea of having access to the Zwift training tools in my living room is quite appealing. At best I would go to the gym twice a week, I might use the Zwift training more often and I could do it during the day as well as in the evening.

Does anyone here have one and can offer their thoughts? The one I'd get is the Kickr Core because I think if Im going to do it I may as well get a good one.

johngti

Why spend £700? I have a Tacx Flux S that was significantly less than that and which works perfectly well

johngti

For example, quick search gave https://www.biketart.com/accessories-c5/turbo-trainers-c310/turbo-trainers-c312/tacx-flux-s-smart-trainer-p49352/s149212?utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=tacx-flux-s-smart-trainer-t2900-s&utm_campaign=froogle&cid=GBP&glCurrency=GBP&glCountry=GB&glCurrency=GBP&glCountry=GB&gclid=EAIaIQobChMInpWG49288QIVgs13Ch32fQC0EAQYASABEgLYAPD_BwE

Less than £500, British company, 1 in stock. I’ve used biketart a few times and they’re pretty good.

elbowloh

Are prices coming down again a bit for smart trainers? They went a bit crazy and out of stock everywhere a few months back.

danlightbulb

Minimum is around £500 for a direct drive as johngti says.

But the Kickr Core seems to get really good reviews and reputation whereas others seem to be a bit hit and miss, hence why Im thinking its worth the extra cos £500 is still not cheap either so may as well go the whole hog.

katani

danlightbulb said:

Minimum is around £500 for a direct drive as johngti says.

But the Kickr Core seems to get really good reviews and reputation whereas others seem to be a bit hit and miss, hence why Im thinking its worth the extra cos £500 is still not cheap either so may as well go the whole hog.

Add the cost of purchasing a large fast speed fan. Or a couple of them . You will need it if you don't want to drown in your own sweat.

By the way, why not get suspension with lockouts and a remote switch on the handlebar to convert the bike to being completely (or partially) rigid when you need it with one move of the thumb?

danlightbulb

Thanks all for the advice. I have took the plunge and ordered a Kickr Core and when it comes I will join Zwift. Maybe in 10-12 weeks I'll be able to keep up with my mates on the trails...we shall see.

danlightbulb

Hi all, device came today and already Im having some issues, hopefully someone can help.

My understanding is that the ERG mode should be used in workouts and it keeps the power output stable whatever gear or cadence you are doing.

But when I was doing a workout I was really struggling to keep my power stable, it was going all over the place. Zwift was asking me to do 175W. I was in the hardest gear on my bike and pedalling at 110 rpm and still not doing 175W.

Then I tried a different workout and the first thing it said was to do a few minutes of warm up at 75W and a cadence of 80 rpm. But I couldn't get my wattage anywhere near this low whilst doing that cadence, my wattage was reading 120 ish.

Im rather confused.

Also I could get my heart rate monitor to pair but it kept reading zero when I started riding the bike.

Anyone help?

molteni_man

danlightbulb said:

Hi all, device came today and already Im having some issues, hopefully someone can help.

My understanding is that the ERG mode should be used in workouts and it keeps the power output stable whatever gear or cadence you are doing.

But when I was doing a workout I was really struggling to keep my power stable, it was going all over the place. Zwift was asking me to do 175W. I was in the hardest gear on my bike and pedalling at 110 rpm and still not doing 175W.

Then I tried a different workout and the first thing it said was to do a few minutes of warm up at 75W and a cadence of 80 rpm. But I couldn't get my wattage anywhere near this low whilst doing that cadence, my wattage was reading 120 ish.

Im rather confused.

Also I could get my heart rate monitor to pair but it kept reading zero when I started riding the bike.

Anyone help?

I would suggest just trying a few rides on Zwift first. There are flat routes and then the hilly ones so mix it up with a bit of both.Get a feel for the different places and use the Companion app to select a group ride or two. Aim for the lower E rated rides to begin with. From reading this thread you want to build your overall fitness and especially endurance so Zwift and the turbo will certainly help…. BUT a turbo can be extremely taxing especially as there are no breaks for the legs. Do give yourself a day of rest at least before heading out on the trails too. - a turbo ride saps the legs like nothing else!
Once you have got used to Zwift do try some of the training programmes. It’s worth following one of the six week programmes.
Also remember you are going from one 25km trail ride a week so build slowly and gradually. If you do this I am sure that you will see improvements. I certainly did when I started.
Don’t try to go ‘ full gas’ every time…. take it easy on some rides and work on your technique. My cadence out on the road improved massively by working on my technique.
Also remember there are people on Zwift who have been using it for a long time so you won’t keep up with lots of riders. Just enjoy the feeling of your fitness gradually getting better over a period of time… and it will take some weeks to begin to see the benefits!
Also the Zwift forum is v useful for any technical isssuch as your HRM so take a visit there.
Hope this helps. Good luck with it. Start gradually and just enjoy getting used to the world of Zwift,

danlightbulb

Thanks. Yeah it seems to be working now, I had to use the Zwift Companion app on my phone as a bridge and then everything connected ok and the ERG mode worked properly.

I just did a 20 minute workout on there going up about 180W in intervals. It was taxing but comfortable, but yeah, this is going to get me fitter for sure.

Ive linked it up to Strava now as well so I can see all the power, cadence charts etc. Its all very cool this.

I'll definitely use the workout programmes because I need structure rather than ambling round in the free ride mode.