Sorry, had a good look through other threads, but can’t find the answer to my question (sorry if it is already there!).

On legolamb’s suggestion (!!) I am considering giving TrainerRoad a try to regain some fitness. We have an old Cycleops Fluid+, where the resistance is stuck in the middle setting. In the compatible trainers the nearest one is a Fluid2. Can I use that power curve or is it not worth it?

I don’t really want to shed out on another turbo plus sensors etc for something I will only use when the weather is bad. Would prefer another coat so I can get outside 😛

Can you borrow a PM and map out your own power curve using Trainer Road’s protocol?

Might be worth dropping Trainer Road an email and asking them for a recommended trainer. They are usually very good at responding.

Can you borrow a PM and map out your own power curve using Trainer Road’s protocol?

I dont think I know anyone with a PM. All my mates are too mtb based.

Might well drop them an email – thanks.

Email trainerroad, they’re really helpful. Trevor De Ruise (their resident MTBer) sometimes posts on here too.

PS I’m not stalking you – procrastinating at work!

I’d give it a go with what you have to get started. It’s all very rough approximations anyway and you may find it works fine.

I could be completely wrong, but I’m assuming you need this for the ‘virtual power’ capability? If so and you don’t also train with a PM, then as long as you do your 8 or 20 minute test it won’t matter. It could be wildly inaccurate but as long as its consistent it doesn’t matter. Eg you could be putting out 320w on virtual power when in real life, you’re only doing 200. So in relation to other peoples power output (which lets be honest, is only for bragging rights anyway) you’ll be miles out, but for effective training you’ll be fine. Select the one closest to yours and use that.

Flange – I’m not sure on that to be honest, I have a fluid trainer and the resistance/power curve is not linear by any stretch.

So in relation to other peoples power output (which lets be honest, is only for bragging rights anyway) you’ll be miles out, but for effective training you’ll be fine.

I see what you are saying. I don’t care on the actual numbers, just some sort of curve that makes the training make sense – i.e. looking at relative effort and improvement.

Funky raises a valid point if the curve isn’t linear though.

Hummmm….I’ll send them an email.

Won’t matter. Just do some hard intervals. People managed before Trainer Road existed. Get a heart rate monitor if you CBA.

Won’t matter. Just do some hard intervals. People managed before Trainer Road existed.

Lol. This is very much what any turbo work I did before consisted of. Maybe just stick with mashing myself periodically.

Ahsat, I have never used trainer road but I do use sufferfest which is based on perceived exertion over actual power based figures. Although if you spend a wee bit of time and get you HR zones down then it can be pretty bang on for the money. Maybe worth a look.

My turbo initially wasn’t listed on their site, but I sent them an email and they replied quickly to say which turbo I should select that they thought had a similar power curve. Then they emailed me about a week later to say that they’d added mine to the list, which I thought was pretty good service.

Won’t matter. Just do some hard intervals. People managed before Trainer Road existed.

As I said in the other thread, the great things about TR is that 1) it gives you a target to work towards (both in terms of individual workouts and overall), and 2) you don’t have to think about what kind of session you’re going to do that evening. The plans have a structure about them and are varied enough that they’re not too soul destroying.

Plus, it has pretty graphs, and everyone loves a pretty graph.

Plus, it has pretty graphs, and everyone loves a pretty graph.

And we all know the scientist in me loves numbers, graphs and figures!

Flange – I’m not sure on that to be honest, I have a fluid trainer and the resistance/power curve is not linear by any stretch.

A fair point and one I hadn’t thought of. So yes, an email to them may well be worth the effort just to clarify.

I did an 8 minute test last night and apart from the 2×8 intervals which were utter misery, the rest of it went by pretty quickly. Which is the polar opposite of just doing intervals without the plan in which time seems to slow down. I’ve definitely noticed a difference/improvement using it.

I would imagine the curve is pretty similar to the Fluid 2, but our support crew will know for sure. Shoot them an email at support@trainerroad.com and they’ll give you the go ahead to use that curve, or they may recommend a better one.
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Professional Mtb Racer & Community Manager at TrainerRoad – Cycling’s Most Effective Training Tool

Another advantage of TR is it allows you to track your progress. Doing an FTP test and finding an improvement is a real motivational boost.

Thanks Trevor – had literally just sent an email via the contact us form.

Much appreciated.

For info, TrainerRoad have replied speedily.

Thanks for contacting us about this! Unfortunately I couldn’t find much info on the Fluid+. It looks like the Fluid+ has 5 resistance settings, which may mean that it will line up with the CycleOps Mag/Mag+ pretty well, since it has 5 resistance levels as well. I would recommend giving that setting a try, and if it seems inaccurate, you could always try out some of the other settings until you find one that lines up close enough.

Consistency is the most important variable when training indoors. Even if your VirtualPower readings are not 100% representative of your outdoor power, you can still reap the benefits of training with power as long as you use the same trainer and VirtualPower curve for each workout. Doing so means your results will be comparable, and you’ll be able to track your progress.