TrainerRoad

[Rolls]

So.... Been reading up about this a bit...
Does anyone use it? What do you make of it?

[London424]

Yep I've started using it. For £6 per month it's very much worth it.

Structured plans...you basically just follow the number required. You can play DVDs over the top...it links in to Sufferfest vids if you have those.

[Vans]

Been using it for the last couple of months now, well worth the £6 fee

As above works well with Sufferfest etc.

[Chicken Chaser]

Weird, was just about to post a thread asking the very same. £6 aint bad, but can you pay month by month or is it 12 mth subscription only?

[GnuBee]

Chicken Chaser said:

Weird, was just about to post a thread asking the very same. £6 aint bad, but can you pay month by month or is it 12 mth subscription only?

Month by month

[London424]

It also has a lot of training plans built in. For example The Time Cruched Cyclist book has a number of plans in the book that you could buy and follow, but then you are the one who has to build a route and do all the timings etc. TrainerRoad has all of those plans, so you just select the workout it says to use and follow the lines

IMO it's the best value I've found in all of the stuff that I've bought in cycling yet. And as said above, you can quit when the weather gets nice and re-join again next winter.

[Rolls]

So... my understanding is I just need a Laptop and ant+ connection for said lap top? (as my PC is in the bedroom, and SWMBO would go banana's if I set my turbo + bike up in there....)

Then its just a case of opening up the plan you want to run, and in effect keeping your power / hr etc within the bands on the screen?
I gather you can drop sufferfest videos into the session, and run those at the same time (or any other video / program for that matter?)

[TKF]

As a minimum you need an ANT+ stick and an ANT+ speed sensor. Then you can have optional cadence and HR stuff.

Basically if you have Garmin Edge 500 or above you have everything you need.

I managed to break my Garmin ANT+ stick a while back and replaced with this from Suunto. http://www.amazon.co.uk/Suunto-SS016591000-Mini-Mo...

Much neater than the Garmin one and it basically just lives in the USB slot now.

I'm on the 2nd week of the Intermediate Base I plan and I'll be doing Eclipse later. http://www.trainerroad.com/cycling/workouts/1265

[London424]

Rolls said:

So... my understanding is I just need a Laptop and ant+ connection for said lap top? (as my PC is in the bedroom, and SWMBO would go banana's if I set my turbo + bike up in there....)

Then its just a case of opening up the plan you want to run, and in effect keeping your power / hr etc within the bands on the screen?
I gather you can drop sufferfest videos into the session, and run those at the same time (or any other video / program for that matter?)

Yep. Have you bought your turbo yet?

TrainerRoad use the power curves of the relevant turbo you have to create a virtual power number. It is this that is used as the visual you need to keep pace with.

If you haven't bought your turbo, then check the list that are already in use and you can look to buy one of them and get started straight away. If you already have a turbo that isn't on the list (as mine wasn't) you will need to drop them a note and ask them to add it. You can email the company that manufactures your turbo and they should send you the power curve figures.

I had to do this and it was created within a week.

[Rolls]

Cool - good info - thanks!
Yeah - got a turbo already - cycle-ops mag-pro, so i'll have a lookski to see if its supported... (expect it is, but will of course check)
I'll get one of the ant+ things, and sign up, if only to see aht all the fuss is about...
(Got a garmin 705 with HR + speed / cadence already, so sorted in that regard)

[Chicken Chaser]

I'll need an Ant+ stick too, as I dont have one.

Need to sort out another GSC10 for my second bike too

[madzo14]

Bit of a resurrection for this thread!!

Thinking about signing up to Trainerroad soon with the dark nights rolling in and to give a bit of variation to my turbo work outs.

Just want get your opinions on it whether its worth the £6 per month and if you've any success from using it e.g. race results etc.

Cheers!!

[neenaw]

I can't speak for everyone but for me it's worth every penny and then some.

I find that using things like Sufferfest videos it can be difficult to gauge effort required for some intervals but with TrainerRoad it tells you where you need to be which makes it much easier to follow the session correctly. The normal TrainerRoad sessions are pretty good and I often use them in the winter while watching the CX racing on the UCI YouTube channel which kills the boredom of turbo sessions.
The best thing for it I find is combining Sufferfest videos with TrainerRoad. It's not overly expensive as the videos work out at about £9 or so each but give you a damn good workout.

[Rolls]

worth it through the winter for defo...
don#t use it in the summer is my experience...

[lynus2004]

I use TrainerRoad in the winter as part of my training plan, Stop the payment when the weather improves but the profile remains so when I reactivate it all previous workouts are still there.

The estimated power reading was quite a bit out compared to my power meter (25-30w added to my FTP) but it was consistent with itself so gives a lower cost route into training with power, just don't go thinking that you are ready for the pro ranks based on any numbers.

I usually run it with a Sufferfest video, the data overlay gives you the target power to hit for each part of the workout based on your FTP so it keeps you honest during the session.

Certainly worth the £6 a month

[TonyHetherington]

Yep - I don't subscribe in summer, but in winter it's definitely worth it

[E65Ross]

Been using this for a couple of weeks now and also think it's well worth it. Great bit of kit, especially when combined with a trainer with ERG mode.

[jfdi]

Just restarted my subscription ready for the darker nights, I use it with a wahoo kickr and there is no escape. Whatever wattage trainerroad says you should be at you must deliver or you are going to grind to a halt. Absolute torture machine. Brilliant

[madzo14]

Sounds like fun!!

More than likely going to be using it with a Tacx Vortex Smart & Ant+ connection. Don't know why but I've always been interested to find out what my FTP is, even though it would be a rough estimate on TR without the power meter.

[E65Ross]

jfdi said:

Just restarted my subscription ready for the darker nights, I use it with a wahoo kickr and there is no escape. Whatever wattage trainerroad says you should be at you must deliver or you are going to grind to a halt. Absolute torture machine. Brilliant

You can make it easier or harder by having a keyboard next to you and pressing the up or down arrows.

I just did a session at 103%. If you do alter the % intensity of the session it's worth noting the target of the session..... If it's at threshold for example, you don't want to increase it so it becomes anaerobic, or if it's an anaerobic repeat it's not advisable to make it less so it becomes threshold. In those cases it's better to do more or less reps.

You have the same set up as me. TR plus a wahoo kickr..... Absolutely mega, isn't it.