The Indoor Riding/ Zwift/ TrainerRoad etc. Thread

[batfink]

Has anyone tried Xert?

I've used it in the past and quite liked it but....

- it has a very steep learning curve. It's worth listening to all their podcasts
- you need to ride a lot or it will tell you that you aren't training enough (I ride 3-4 days per week and that still wasn't enough)
- some of the workouts are more complicated than they need to be

It's a couple of years since I last gave it a go but it's certainly worth giving the free trial ago to see how it fits in with your riding. Join.cc is also worth a look. I preferred the simplicity of their workouts.

 

[PikeyPriest]

I've used it in the past and quite liked it but....

- it has a very steep learning curve. It's worth listening to all their podcasts
- you need to ride a lot or it will tell you that you aren't training enough (I ride 3-4 days per week and that still wasn't enough)
- some of the workouts are more complicated than they need to be

It's a couple of years since I last gave it a go but it's certainly worth giving the free trial ago to see how it fits in with your riding. Join.cc is also worth a look. I preferred the simplicity of their workouts.

Ahh, I’m 3-4 times per week (5-7 hours). Join.cc looks good and I see you can export to Zwift. Will try that if Xert remains a challenge!

 

[Vandle]

Upgraded the saddle yesterday, and I had a little go at using an 'AI' bike fitting app. (MyVeloFit).

It picked up that I needed the saddle lowering, and bars raising (which hopefully explains why I was feeling a bit more weight on my hands). I find indoor fitting really hard, as you don't have all the 'distractions' of road riding, and you're not shifting about as much.
Will have a go at round two this evening

Interested in further Velofit thoughts. Did you do the free version?

 

[Shadowness]

Interested in further Velofit thoughts. Did you do the free version?

Started with that, and uploaded the video, but you get a very limited analysis back. Essentially said some ‘major’ adjustments were needed. So paid the $35 to give me two weeks access, didnt get around to doing it last night but will by the weekend.

 

[Vandle]

Started with that, and uploaded the video, but you get a very limited analysis back. Essentially said some ‘major’ adjustments were needed. So paid the $35 to give me two weeks access, didnt get around to doing it last night but will by the weekend.

Update us as you go. Cheers.

 

[Roady]

Rode it for that ZRL on Tuesday. Also tried my NoPinz ice packs for the first time, as it’s not really winter yet. So I was getting hot just warming up!

Only rider in our A team too Surprisingly lumpy course for a ‘flat’ route.

Solo!? Seriously if you wanna get into an A team riding ZRL I can get you in Race3R fairly easily... Got Avengers & Nirvana in Shamrock A1 (Nirvana actually need riders - a couple of technicals & a racepass issue meant they rode as a 2up!).

Also got 5 B teams and 2 C teams. Massive resurgence in Race3r this season - 3 years ago it was just me running my Wasp B team

 

[Trifid]

Wow that is pretty retarded, or did they just get so much backlash and hundreds of threads with the date issue they had?

I think they want it to be a blog more than a forum. Ultimately with the renewing the classic Sufferfest videos they are further alienating their customers.

 

[Defy Belief]

Do people recommend any Trained Road plans here for increasing FTP? Was looking at the high volume zwift FTP builder, doesn't look excessive at all compared to what I've been doing for 70.3 training.

Currently say at 3.20w/kg and would love to get to 4 or close to that number, so I'm all ears to what plans anyone has had a good experience with

Not tied to trainer road either!

 

[UTmaniac]

Do people recommend any Trained Road plans here for increasing FTP? Was looking at the high volume zwift FTP builder, doesn't look excessive at all compared to what I've been doing for 70.3 training.

Currently say at 3.20w/kg and would love to get to 4 or close to that number, so I'm all ears to what plans anyone has had a good experience with

Not tied to trainer road either!

Zwift workouts: TT TuneUp | What's on Zwift?

An overview of all TT TuneUp workouts in Zwift, including all workout details.

whatsonzwift.com

Do not increase your FTP in Zwift during the plan, week 5 onwards are brutal!

 

[Roady]

https://www.strava.com/activities/15913723655

Brutal one last night in ZRL. Such a testing course for 4 laps of sprint efforts (Points race). 2 short hills and 2 sprints per lap! Disappointed I got gapped on a climb lap 3 - but had been chasing gaps a few efforts before it so was just a matter of time. My team still took the win! Massive results from them all, such consistent placings as our tactics had been to stay in the front group and no massive singular efforts. Sprinter (Tom) was more of an MVP - after I'd expected him to need some help on the climbs - nope! Bossed so many of the sprints for FAL, massive amounts of podiums and even cleared up 50% of the FTS points on offer! Even finishing 3rd. Wow.

Bumped my FTP to 264W on intervals.icu (from 21 min at 275w) which I'm not sure how accurate that is - but I'll take it. I don't really do long efforts or things focussed on FTP so not really something I test for. Fairly happy with that - although at 77-78kg could do with getting back to 'race weight' (75kg) with those numbers to be more competitive!

 

[Shadowness]

I gave it a miss, as I was really still feeling it the legs from Sunday. Hopefully doing next Tuesday, but I'm the only person in our club's A team riding at the moment

 

[Junglist]

Kickr Climb, talk to me. Does anyone have one? Do they continue to use it? Is it worth getting one 2nd hand?

 

[AndyCr15]

Hmm, I had one... erm... it was nice, but far from essential. I think it does add a little to your ride, as you glide up hill and down dale. If it's a good price, then why not!

 

[Junglist]

Hmm, I had one... erm... it was nice, but far from essential. I think it does add a little to your ride, as you glide up hill and down dale. If it's a good price, then why not!

I don't think I'd ever pay full price for one and I always thought i'd only ever get it if I were to buy the Kickr bike which it's built into.

There is one local to me for sale for £260 and I thought I'd throw in a, admittedly lowball, offer of £200 and see what they come back with.

I do like the idea of actually feeling a bit of gradient on the trainer as opposed to just feeling like I'm grinding big gears/headwind but I just can't work out if it's as good as what I think it would be like in my mind. Sort of like how I thought the Headwind's speed function would be incredible but in a practical sense, it was useless

 

[Syla5]

Sorry for the book post incoming but struggling at the minute and its really bugging me.

So im dealing with a bit of an odd situation. Around the end of July i carried out a firmware update on my Kickr V6 and ever since then my average wattage w/kg numbers were down. I made a few adjustments along the way to positioning and got the zwift ride adjustable cranks as well and moved to 165mm instead of 170mm, but even going back to original positions nothing changed.

Overall my average wattage dropped, before i was averaging 220-245w range during race sessions, but post update that range dropped to the 195-215w range. This is an overnight drop off in the range of 25-40w. Factoring in that i lost a little bit of weight 75kg --> 72kg my average w/kg also dropped off by 0.2-0.3+ not a small amount.

With no real change in my approach to getting on the bike and doing my sessions - 2-3 per week, 1 race and then some longer z2 rides with the pacer bots this is extremely frustrating.

I contacted wahoo support who got me to do a before and after target power ride, completely disconnecting the trainer and all other devices and only having the trainer connected in isolation on the after test. They didnt provide any feedback on what they saw but without me pushing for it they just jumped straight to "we will replace your trainer", so thats happening.

For context i started cycling at the start of 2024, my first FTP test was 213w, ive covered around 6700km, my ftp peaked at 253w, but on a retest (after the firmware update) it was down to 243w, given i had made progress after that 253w ftp test i would have expected further gains.

Outside of the obvious "its an issue with the trainer", with no real change in approach to training etc, am i right in thinking that it is exceptionally unusual to see a sudden drop in performance and a regression in performance to almost 1 year previous (i can barely match results from August 2024!).

Other context/comparisons point is Alp du Zwift, Aug24 1:06 time, Jan25 and then 1 week later Feb25 a 1:01 and then a 57:56, a 1:04 at the end of Jun at the end of the Quatch Quest ride (60km 4 climbs 2.5 hours roughly), then my after firmware update effort being a 1:08, this time on a fully upgrade frame and the best climbing wheelset, i lost 11 minutes on my best, and was slower then i was after going up at the end of long lead in with 700m of climbing already done. Im at a complete loose end here.

Here's hoping that it is a trainer issue because it makes no sense to me how from a BPM effort perspective im exerting harder then i was in races/session from over a year ago where i would get similar results with way less training behind me!

 

[fez]

@Syla5 I would assume that something in the update buggered it. Either that or it was buggered before

Thats the problem with power. Unless you have a couple of sources, its pretty hard to know if something is under or over-reporting. Theres the occasional post on reddit from someone who casually cycles on a peleton or at their gym and has an FTP of 4.5w/kg+. The comments are usually other people chiming in that theirs over-reports by 30%, others saying the opposite.

I assume you haven't got a PM on your bike of any kind to compare the two.

Honestly I wouldn't worry about it until the new one arrives. Either the old one was under-reporting and the firmware fixed it or the firmware broke it and now its under-reporting. I don't know which is better honestly. Probably makes no difference fundamentally.

 

[AndyCr15]

Either that or it was buggered before

Yeah, I was going to say... you're hoping it's broken now

I assume you haven't got a PM on your bike of any kind to compare the two.

I was also going to ask this too... Not that it's all that easy, as I'm sure I find it easier to sustain high numbers outside on a climb, than indoor on a trainer... unless PM's is inaccurate perhaps.

If you're main concern is 'have I become unfit overnight', then no, I doubt it.

 

[Syla5]

@Syla5 I would assume that something in the update buggered it. Either that or it was buggered before

Ha yeah this playing on my mind, but i would like to hope that the pre-issue data i do have available shows steady progress, no sudden uptick at any point before the sudden downtick either. Also the pre data is across 2 different Kickr trainers and 2 different bikes with a combination of manual gearing and virtual.

Sadly i dont have a second power meter to do comparisons and as i dont cycle outdoors it would be quite a hefty investment just to validate a trainer thats supposed to be 0.5%+/- variance to actuals.

 

[fez]

Ha yeah this playing on my mind, but i would like to hope that the pre-issue data i do have available shows steady progress, no sudden uptick at any point before the sudden downtick either. Also the pre data is across 2 different Kickr trainers and 2 different bikes with a combination of manual gearing and virtual.

Sadly i dont have a second power meter to do comparisons and as i dont cycle outdoors it would be quite a hefty investment just to validate a trainer thats supposed to be 0.5%+/- variance to actuals.

Sounds like you should be fine then and the new trainer should bring you back to where you were. If it was consistent over 2 trainers then its likely an under-reporting post firmware update.

 

[Syla5]

Sounds like you should be fine then and the new trainer should bring you back to where you were. If it was consistent over 2 trainers then its likely an under-reporting post firmware update.

Prepare for me to be at a complete loss next week when the new trainer arrives and im just rubbish, and it turns out my previous 2 trainers were over reading!