Am thinking of downloading one, just wondering how they work – do you get something coming up on the screen at various points in the video saying ‘do x / y / z’?

How is the effort measured, is it HR?

Any reccommendations for starter ones? Am thinking of Angels or Hunted

Yes there are on screen prompts.

It works on perceived effort, 10/10 all out sprint, 5/10 2 hour ride pace, that kinda thing.

It can take a while to get to know your level if your not that experienced in this type of measurement.

Angles and Hunted are two of the kinder ones, focusing on threshold work rather than pure intensity.

They work on perception of effort and speed, eg 100% speed, 80% effort etc. Yes, tells you on screen, along with instructions like “stand now” etc.
You can use a HRM to monitor it, or just guess, its not linked to the video.

Angels was my first I think and it’s the one I’ve done most times. Hunted is good too though.

It works on perceived effort so requires a little discipline but it does force you to be aware of your effort levels. The first time I tried Revolver I fell off the rollers after about 15 minutes and couldn’t start again.

its not linked to the video.

You can do this if you use Trainer Road though

TrainerRoad is bloody great!

Started using it a few weeks ago, very impressive bit of software, the integration with Sufferfest, (and the connection to the OP), the suggested and real time power output levels based on your own FTP is taking training to the next level.

cheers, will get Angels then i think

Will have to look up Trainer Road now as well!

I’ve used Angels and The Hunted a lot, but what I found that doing it on perceived effort meant that I was not doing the last workouts at the same pace as the first. I thought I was still pushing, but the actual effort had dropped.
I have also started using TrainerRoad and it has made a big difference in the quality of the workouts as you cannot cheat on perceived effort.

Excellent comment Shred, I did Downward Spiral in the week and the perceived effort for intervals one and two were through the roof compared to the actual power output.

A HR monitor is quite handy to make sure you’re actually going as hard as you should be, it’s not essential though.

I like Angels a lot more than the Hunted.

Blender’s a nice introduction 😉

Yep trainer road is excellent, well worth the money for the winter months.

I like “a very dark place” the segment with Cancellara in the Paris Roubaix is perfectly matched to the music, always feel extra inspired for that particular interval.

+1 for trainer road, with or without sufferfest. If you’ve not got a power meter they do a virtual power thing based on your turbo type and wheel speed. Then when you do a sufferfest it’ll give you specific power targets perfectly sync’d with the video. Works great… bloody hard though!

TrainerRoad have also got a deal on this week for a years subscription if you want to save a bit of cash.