[Closed] turbos and trainer road

Can still use HR or RPE.

RPE?

Perceived Exertion level, 1 walking to 10 I'm gonna die if I don't stop now.

Its been shown that RPE in experienced athletes is a very effective measure.

Can request your turbo to be added to the list? May also be possible to get the power curve and configure it yourself.

Not sure how accurate virtual power figures are, you might get away with selecting something with a similar curve so long as your settings are consistent.

I can only request its added to the list if I calibrate it somehow, ie work out power requirements at 5 mph increments between 5 and 30 mph. So unless I borrow a power meter or get someone who has one to use it then that isn't really an option.

There are other supercrono trainers on there, but not my specific model.

Will look into RPE however.

Its not just a case of knowing the power your outputting, you also need to know what that power is in relation to your current fitness, e.g. what % of FTP should you be working at?

If you're new to training and/or getting fitter, rather than maintaining fitness, then your FTP will change, (hopefully increase), quite a lot. This therefore requires you to get tested regularly, at a cost, or guess your FTP, in which case why worry about getting accurate power readings....

It would be better, (read cheaper), to perform some of the tests documented by Joe Friel, which don't need a power meter, as these are easily repeatable.

Looks to me like your trainer is (probably) listed.

http://support.trainerroad.com/entries/20843548-Elite-SuperCrono-Fluid

Isn't RPE a little bit of guess work though?

I thought this is where TrainerRoad is useful, it scales the Sufferfest workouts depending on your FTP and tells you how hard you should be going (relatively).

Going off HR will still work, not as accurate but it's consistency that counts?

Not sure how accurate virtual power figures are, you might get away with selecting something with a similar curve so long as your settings are consistent.

+1 this

Just use the profile for the SuperCrono listed by http404. Do the ftp test and use that as your baseline for the sufferfest vids.

mine is a mag rather than fluid trainer however, so I assume not the same.

Might not be exactly the same but it doesn't really matter. Using that profile will still give you a usable, albeit inaccurate FTP. Then just use that FTP to set the intensity of the sufferfest vids. Trainer Road virtual power is way off anyway.

Trainer Road virtual power is way off anyway

Glad you said that!

Post onto their forum.
Your trainer may be on their already but listed under a different name.

Ask elite, I asked minoura and they gave me the data for they hypermag.

As for the accuracy of trainerroad, it seems to vary, plenty of reviews saying it's spot on, others saying it's out by 10%. Fairly irelavent as long as it's consistent, you'd just be doing FTP intervals at 95% of a number that isn't in watts, call them who's or whens, maybe 1 watt is 1.3 whens, or 0.8 who's. I just stick my bike on with the same tyre at the same pressure and 20min x 95% always seems just as hard!

+1 for bam74 and thisisnotaspoon.
As long as you turbo is consistent and you use same tyre pressure & roller pressure just use it.
May not be perfect 'watts' but you will train consistently and have a measureable baseline to work against.

I'd certainly use virtual power over RPE or HR, takes me about 1/3 of a 20min interval to reach a constant HR, and over 20 minutes it always feels really difficult for some minutes, and really easy others, suppose it could be the trainer wavering but unlikely as it's magnetic, so going off HR I'd be going way too hard initialy, or wavering for the rest if going by RPE.

Bessides I find following the lines more entertaining than most other forms of turbo entertainment.