I got one to try to keep my fitness during the winter, testing it out today using the same road bike as usual, so same power meter, I know I can do 300 watts for 20 minutes on the road but on the turbo 300 feels like 400 or even 500

it’s HARD but surely the numbers don’t lie, is it just in my head?

Oh good, this thread again 😀

Buy a fan and man up

Buy five fans, a large workout mat a dehumidifier… And man up. 😆

well that’s what I want to know really, you say buy a fan, is that more to trick me into thinking I’m on the road than keep me cool?

the feel of the trainer is really good, the resistance has a very road like feel, but it just seems a lot harder to do the same power

I will absolutely man up, just interested in the psychology of it

Weirdly I always find a turbo feels easy, for about 15 minutes then all of a sudden FTP becomes a whole world of pain. I think because there isn’t the feedback, on the road if you push too hard you go faster, on the turbo the note just changes imperceptibly.

What power meter are you using?

Big 18″ fan from screwfix to simulate a headwind (being hot makes it feel 10x harder, science fact).

Outside in the warmer months, your forward motion allows you body to easily release generated heat into the countryside (or wherever you ride).

Outside in the winter, you will often wear extra layers, simulating the turbo trainer effect to some degree.

On a turbo, you are boldly going nowhere. You will sweat like the son of an unmarried couple and still overheat easily. 😉

Zwift and a fan

yeah but heat is not my problem at the moment, it just feels harder to do the same power

I’ll try an FTP test and see what happens

“As you ride outside on the road, your bike continues to move forward with momentum from the force that you exerted onto the pedals from roughly the 1 o’clock to 5 o’clock position in the pedal stroke. Across the bottom and top of the pedal stroke, the legs have little ability to create any meaningful force against the pedals because of biomechanical inefficiencies in body position due to being seated almost directly above the crank. This lack of resistance to pedal against may even give the legs a micro-rest in each pedal stroke as the momentum of the rear wheel continues moving forward and the legs try to keep up with the rpm’s needed to move the crank.

“On a rear wheel resistance trainer, there is little to no momentum of the rear wheel. If you stop pedaling the rear wheel comes to an almost immediate stop. Because there is resistance around the entire pedal circle, your legs are not used to having to produce power throughout the entire pedal stroke. As a result of this inefficiency, more strain is put on your cardiovascular system. As a result, this reduces your ability to create the same wattages as outdoors.

“To be clear, it isn’t just the momentum (stored kinetic energy) of the rear wheel that keeps us moving out on the road, but rather that of our body plus the bicycle as a whole. An easy way of envisioning this is to imagine trying to stop the rear wheel of your bike wheel when it’s spinning rapidly in the workstand by grabbing the tire with your hand versus trying to stop that wheel while spinning out on the road using the same technique. In general, until you are “trained” to ride on a rear wheel resistance trainer, your watts will be 20 to 30 watts lower on the trainer than outside. As you become trained to this way of pedaling, this gap will narrow and quite likely go away.”

https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/adjusting-your-functional-threshold-power-for-indoor-riding/

For me it’s because riding bikes is fun and riding turbo trainers is shite, I work harder at things that I don’t hate- same reason I’m stronger on the enduro bike than on the road bike. Some people enjoy the turbo, some people like their wives to poo in their mouths, vive la difference I say.

@rutland

great explanation, makes sense to me

thanks for that!

Music. There’s research that shows it’s a powerful mood enhancer and actually makes hard efforts more bearable / you can work more intensely for the same perceived effort.

Or get a turbo with a flywheel – pretty lifelike

Earlier today…

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/indoor-outdoor-power

(And with a quick google probably yesterday and the day before and the day before that…)

Heat is also definitely a factor on the turbo trainer. With no cooling at any given effort your body temperature will be higher and your heart will pump blood around your body faster to try and cool down.

Therefore for any given effort your heartrate will be higher and the perceived effort will also be higher. That’s why with no fan the turbo trainer also seems harder.

Get a coat, mudguards and an attitude. Then you don’t have to worry about the
difference. Personally I hate the things!

Oh and ride fixed to give the smooth pedal stroke turbos need to produce power.

Earlier today…

http://singletrackworld.com/forum/topic/indoor-outdoor-power

(And with a quick google probably yesterday and the day before and the day before that…)sorry didn’t know it was such a common topic

but I’m glad I’m not the only one who feels it!

Oh and ride fixed to give the smooth pedal stroke turbos need to produce power.

Interesting that as I’d have thought that fixed is about as far from a dumb turbo as you can get as your legs are being driven through the dead spots, whereas a lot of the issues with turbo is that you have to push more through the dead spots as the resistance is constant throughout the pedal stroke.

I ride fixed on the turbo too sometimes – what’s a dead spot :-). I believe that’s know as spinning.