Trainerroad

urgh ftp test done. 256W which is ~4W/kg and 5min power of 330W ~5.25W/kg

Certainly something to work on. Power seemed much harder for perceived effort level on the turbo - I wonder if this is down to the lack of flywheel effect...

Alright; quite a noob to the world of indoor training; what I already have:

2x road bikes with same gear (50/34 - 12-23)
1x Tacx Elite rollers
1x Ant+ HRM
1x Ant+ powermeter
1x Ant+ USB stick
1x Desktop PC that I can turn around the monitor and look at while on rollers
No fan.
Very limited overall space aka London flat.

What do I need to do for maximum effectiveness?

What do I need to do for maximum effectiveness?

Build core strength and flexibility.

Have you considered yoga classes?

A fan, a very long attention span, and, if you want to use TR, an ANT+ USB stick.

You have everything else.

What do I need to do for maximum effectiveness?

A coach. Or a training plan at the very least.

Coach would be ideal true but I am not sure if I am there yet ..

Sorry forgot to mention I have Ant+ usb stick.

Will look into fans; any recommendations?

Beliebers?

(I'm just bitter as the exercise bike in the work gym has been changed and the power reading on the new one is a work of utter fiction. Light spinning is the usual 80W but I couldn't - even standing on the pedals - get it above 200W no matter what 'Level' I changed it to. A lack of consistent power reading means my work 5x5 intervals are a thing of the past, will probably just end up on the treadmill instead.)

Out of curiosity can anyone with experience comment on how much does a coach actually cost?

£80 to £350 per month generally depending on what you want

Though you can also pay a one off fee for a coach to write you a training plan with all the workouts etc.

No goals; no coach though..

Don't overthink it. Work out what you are training for (road? Crit? Track? TT? etc) and then work backwards from what you will need to be successful at that.
For example, there's little point spending all winter doing slow 5 hour slogs if you're hoping to become competitive at track sprinting - that time could be used a lot more effectively (sitting down, mainly).

Also - get a really big fan.

You have a power meter and the Coggan book right? There are some great workouts in there and if you've a bit of nouse you can build them into a plan.

Why the 43t inner ring? Or 34t typo?

There's loads of training stuff out there on the net, and as you have a powermeter you can assess what's working for you. At this stage I wouldn't worry too much as just about any session will generate improvement.

Just noticed the gearing - 50x12 is not a very big gear on the rollers. You will be in it constantly and will spin out fairly often, which isn't really ideal - unless you are training for track. Even then..

They're warm up rollers really.

Aren't all rollers for warmups? Get a turbo.

With a power meter and 53x11 you can do most workouts. Except for low cadence/high torque ones - you need a turbo for that.

Some have funky resistance using ...er... magnets I believe. They're supposed to be very good but cost a fortune.

Doing the coggan workouts in the wild; had a really soggy ride on Sunday so would like indoor as an option esp weekdays before/after work .. if the rollers arent ideal (I have basic tacx antares) I will get a turbo. I really enjoy doing the rollers tbh.

Goal is to race crit ideally or road whichever is easy to begin with. Cat 3/4 obviously. I do need direction/plan for sure.

Ride really fast, win all the races.

You're welcome.

What is a good trainerroad workout to judge if the rollers are ideal or not? Or should I just see if I can hold my FTP with the given gear(s)?

Spend a couple of weeks generating data on what you can and can't do with your present kit, then plan the next couple of weeks based on what you have learned.

Can you do 150% of ftp on them at your normal cadence for 1 minute?

Boom concrete answers FINALLY; will do and report back!

Ta

Pretty damn unlikely.

Edit: depending on ftp obviously.

What is a good trainerroad workout to judge if the rollers are ideal or not? Or should I just see if I can hold my FTP with the given gear(s)?

Do a max-beans sprint and see if you spin out. Something like 10 or 15s – whichever gets you maximum figures.

If you do spin out, then that setup isn't going to cut it as it'll not give you enough resistance.

Simple as that.