Turbo Trainer Advice

did 2x15 at 95% FTP on ERG mode... felt like pure shit just wanted my legs back xx

did 1 hour last night averaging 95% FTP for the hour, 'racing'... really couldn't believe it. RIP my legs. I wanna run 2 u

Is it possible to switch erg mode on and off during a workout?

I can see it annoying me if I want to push myself at the end of a 15 min interval for example.

You definitely can in zwift, there is a button in the companion app to toggle erg off/on

I’d be surprised if TR hadn’t done the same in that case.

Using an old fluid turbo with a PM does mean I tend to overshoot power numbers by a few watts which is always a mental boost.

T to change trainer mode. Need to set resistance appropriately first though or your legs will get a nasty surprise. I guess set it in a workout at some point before and it’ll remember.

Cc @Fox

Anyone know anything about RGT races? Thinking of giving the ELV Virtual Winter Series a go but I know nothing of computer games or crits.

TR you can manually adjust intensity +/- in an erg session in 1% increments

A mate of mine did one last week, said the physics were much closer to real racing than Zwift. He was quite impressed.

Is there any “race craft” or is it just w/kg?

Cheers. Will it behave like my fluid turbo outside of erg? That only has one resistance setting.

🤷‍♂️

The physics are more realistic- e.g. there is more maximum speed that you can go around the corner, so on crit type course there is more sprinting like on a real life crit. In the races I did, start was more managable than usual Zwift all out effort.

I asked him some questions about it at the time and I’ll paste his answers.

“It does it's best to make up for the cues by showing the power in red when you are wasting watts by pushing too hard downhill and into corners. Sharp bends it actually scrubs off speed if you put in too much power going in which is clever. I think it's suited to smart trainers specifically as the resistance changes according to level of draft which is great. Also it tells you how many watts you are gaining when in the draft so quite intuitive but you have to watch the race a lot more carefully than in zwift”

“ Also the other nice feature is if you are being ridden over your avatar has to slot back into the draft which agaim is more like real life. It means that attacking is more worthwhile as in reality if you blast past someone the overtaken person doesn't just instantaneously become "in the draft" like in zwift”

Great, thanks for all the info. Sounds like there’s a proper learning curve. I was just hoping to replace mid week workout and smash the field apart with my gigawatts. Probs not then.

I just got one, used. It's great so far, easy to set up and much quieter than I was expecting. Only downside is no handle which newer turbos seem have built in

Wahoo have Kickr Cores in stock on their site if anyone is still hunting.

I’ve hit the weight loss target that I set before I rewarded myself with a new turbo.

I’ve decided I want a Saris H3 after what has been said in this thread and in other reviews.

One of the few places that has them in stock is SportsDirect and I’m a bit wary of buying from them and reluctant to support Mike Ashley.

If I had problems, would I be dealing directly with Saris rather than shipping a 20kg trainer back to SportsDirect?

Edit: probikekit have them. They’re probably no better than SportsDirect but seem a bit more palatable somehow. Has anybody had to deal with them?

Bought plenty from them in the past, no issues at all - had a bad run with couriers from anything Hut Group but recently fine.

Had no problems and am trying to sort out a warranty issue for a squeaky turbo I started last year with saris. They've accepted that saris have said yes and are now dealing with that. Dunno how long it'll take.

Hmmm - with PBK? Have you had to return the squeaker?

Damn only just seen this. And too late

It was near the end of warranty. It started squeaking. I got in touch with saris/cycleops because I figured pbk would pass the buck. I got saris to agree "that's fucked will send a new one". Then saris went quiet, picked it up with pbk, and they've said "normally no, but as you've got saris to agree we'll agree too".

Now I just need to try and get them to tell me when this is happening....

In the meantime, it's stopped squeaking.

Are you sure it wasn’t your knees?

Yeah. my knees are more of a pained shriek.