Does erg mode on the turbo trainer make you fitter than on a dumb trainer?

My rationale being it’s harder to ‘phone it in’ and the trainer keeps you honest.

What’s the verdict?

WTF is Erg mode? I use HeartRate based intervals.

<div class=”bbp-reply-author”>jamesoz
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WTF is Erg mode? I use HeartRate based intervals.

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Erg mode is constant power. So if your cadence drops the resistance increases and vice versa.

The advantage over using HR is that if I was doing 2×20 for example my HR starts about 110 and ends at 170, drops to about 150 in the rest and then rises rapidly in the second interval. <span style=”font-size: 0.8rem;”>170 is a long way above what most guides would say is a threshold effort. If I was to try and maintain 155 for example in would be going much harder to start but barely pushing the pedals after 40min.</span>

Most training plans will prescribe a power so makes sense to program that into the erg mode, although I had no problem following the line on the screen in trainer road with a dumb trainer.

Trainer Road & Sufferfest keep me honest on the trainer, that and I now use a Watt Bike down the gym, perceived effort is just that, it’s as tired as you want to be

Can’t see how it would make any difference if you’re keeping to the prescribed watts?

I think the point being a trainer not giving feedback? So long as you can do virtual power you are off there

I find ERG mode easier as you don’t have to constantly make minor adjustment to hold the required power level or ride in a slighly non optimal cadence. Bumped up the FTP on the smart trainer for the same perceived effort when I switched.

You can just put you head down and keep the pedals turning at whatever cadence you want with ERG.

Would be interested to give ERG a go but at the moment I’m happy setting cadence and gearing to hit my watts and concentrating on holding it there.

Seems like a benefit to me since you get to focus on pedalling technique.

Not saying you can’t do that with ERG but I could imagine a few people getting lazy with it?

ERG is great for FTP tests. Takes the stress out of it.

It’s brilliant for structured intervals because you have no choice but to hold the programmed power level to the absolute end of each effort. No slacking off. No kidding yourself. If you drop cadence, it just ups the effort per pedal stroke.

Something like the Sufferfest videos on ERG is brutal. I’ve trained with perceived exertion and ERG and for me there’s no comparison when it comes to effectiveness. To be fair, I’ve never used a dumb trainer with a power meter and tried to sustain a particular wattage, but I can’t imagine it working as well.

There are downsides. With really short, sharp efforts, some smart trainers will find it hard to respond quickly enough, though something like a Kickr is pretty good and, if you drop to a really low cadence you can disappear into a sort of downward spiral where it becomes almost impossible to keep the pedals moving, but mostly it’s great.

The trouble with using ERG mode for an FTP test is that you’re basically going to have to guess your FTP in advance then pedal at that level. You’ll never know if you could have gone harder, which is kind of the point of an FTP test. Sure, it takes the pacing side of it out of the equation, but all it’s really going to tell you is whether you can sustain that targeted level for 20 minutes, not whether that’s the hardest effort you can sustain.

So yes, potentially it makes individual sessions more effective and, with the right programme, could make you fitter. Doesn’t mean you can’t work just as hard without ERG mode, but takes a lot of the thought out of it. All you really need to do is keep to the right cadence and the trainer does the rest.

Probably doesn’t make you fitter, but I find it makes it easier to hit targets in a workout. It works particularly well with over-unders – when you’re hovering about your threshold then a few watts out can really change the feel (and presumably, outcome) of the session. It also means that you spend less time at the start of intervals finding the right gear.

All that said, I wouldn’t send anyone out rushing to buy a smart trainer if they already had a set-up that worked.