Of course I don’t know everyone else’s situation, but many of us spend so much on other cycling expenses, to me even at $189, TR seems like a bargain. I just spent over $500 for a used rear wheel and felt like like I had a made a great deal.
I wonder what will make me faster, that wheel or three years of TR?
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Crazy Argument, as that is an extra $189 over essential expenses. Why not throw another $150+ in the street?
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Totally agree. I’ve been a subscriber for 5 years so I’ve paid my dues and supported them. But I just don’t feel the product has changed enough to keep me here. I’ve even stopped listening to the podcasts now as they are too long. I’d rather they invested that time creating product content rather than podcast content! 
I feel like I’m subscribing to a podcast rather than a training platform sometimes as that seems the main focus.
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The original killer feature for me was Virtual Power and being able to run through power based workouts and the training plans. Obviously that’s not as cutting edge as it was 8 years ago, especially after getting my Assioma’s. Other features have been added of course, but none have really spoke to me that much–I use the Calendar the most, but it’s so basic and not ideal for a triathlete so it’s kinda frustrating at times. I do like continuing my support for the TR team with the little teases that come out for upcoming features, but as I mentioned in another thread it would be nice if they didn’t take so long to come out and quit getting bogged down by complete software/app rebuilds that take forever.
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A published roadmap would be useful, i.e., showing what they are developing, rather than teases. Could keep some hesitant subscribers on the hook. I understand commercial sensitivity and all that…
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Agree with this too. I rather go to the source of the science rather than get the TR bias (which at times is strong, better recently though). Also I have found that TR seems to be a month or two behind what I have learnt else where. Still love the TR guys though. The best feature is this forum. I hope they don’t make me pay for this. I still recommend TR for anyone new to Structured training or in their first 2 year.s on the bike.
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Not only are they too long. But I feel like they just keep circulating the same topics over and over. Not much new has come to the table recently. The addition of Amber has been great, but that is about it.
Instead of just rehashing the same arguments over and over, I wish they would go into some of the more “hot topics” seen here in the forum. I.e the growing concern about the ramp test vs Kolie Moore, VO2 Max and the list goes on. just silence.
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I would throw another $150 or maybe $1500 in the street if I thought it would make me faster. lol
My point is that if it is our goal to get faster on the bike, to me anyway, I think that the $189 is much better spent on TR than about any other thing that I could spend that amount on.
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Listing the podcast as a subscription perk always makes me go 
Other than it being hosted by TR staff members it provides no direct benefit to subscribers since it’s free to everyone–it’s more of a marketing tool than a feature IMO.
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That’s great, but in a comparative feature list between between Free and Subscriber there would be a check in both columns so it really isn’t a feature that’s part of a subscription–of course there’d only be the forum and podcast as things you get for Free with TR so it wouldn’t be the best use of a list… 
Agree, but that’s my point. There is nothing in that $189 that you can’t get elsewhere and better deployed. It will get you faster… To an extent. But after 3 or 4 seasons it’s run its course of what it can offer.
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Understood.
I am just now starting my second year of TR, but I can see how it may run it’s course after several seasons.
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The app on phones or iPad is to basic… Things like see what the upcoming interval is, skipping or repeating intervals, switching from erg to slope. The interaction with the calendar is terrible. The workout creator is awful. People have been calling out for a polarised training plan. Maybe block training. Intelligent training rather than FTP based zone setting. I’ve been 5 years on TR and it’s pretty much the same training offering. After a few years you plateau following the same plan.
I must admit, the app is the real annoyance for me. It’s stable but surely it should have been higher up the priority list than group workouts.
I’m not saying it’s bad, far from it. But there is nothing they do that is best in class. Loyalty has kept me here. I really like the guys but I just feel it’s lacked any major development in its core offering… training. They will say if it ain’t broke don’t fix it… I’d say… Same input… Same output and the minute you stop looking to the future you get left in the past.
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The new iOS and “soon” after Android app updates are hopefully nearing completion (so other features can finally be pushed forward…) and the Group Workouts feature sounded like it came about really fast/easily when the pandemic hit. I would agree it normally would be a lower ranked feature, but it doesn’t sound like it took too many resources to get going–it would be nice if other features came about as organically and quickly as that one did! 
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Whilst I don’t disagree with you, I actually appreciate that TR doesn’t jump immediately on the latest bandwagon of new training ideas any time someone publishes something. I find consistency in training good and don’t want to feel like I subscribed to a lifestyle magazine that gives me every week a new killer workout to get my six-pack in 4 weeks.
I’m a big fan of KISS (keep it short and simple). I imagine if TR includes polarised plans, reverses polarised plans, etc… a beginner will be lost and they would also contradict themselves and probably wouldn’t base their plans on solid science.
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But not everyone is a beginner. It would be very easy to put in place a beginner’s guide. As it is, in not after a polarised plan myself and I’m not asking for new plans every week. But I do feel TR is very beginner focused. Plenty of people in these forums talk about plateauing. Maybe TR see that as their market… beginners and expect a shelf life of 5 years say for subscribers… Who knows?
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Harsh but as they say beauty is in the eye of the beholder… on the other hand I think the TR app and control of my Kickr via PowerMatch is one of the best features!
Maybe I’ve been around software too long, never had a problem with WorkoutCreator or for that matter workout creator’s from Garmin/TP. The advantage of TR WC is quickly finding something in the catalog and modifying it. The advantage of Garmin is that the mobile app has a workout creator.
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True, but all workout apps do that. I don’t like erg mode in TR. Compared to other apps. Wattage changes take place 2 secs before the start and end of an internal (even after using for a number of years it catches me off guard!) and it’s on/off rather than a smooth transition. The Zwift erg mode works far better for me.
Agree with the catalogue of workouts in the WC. But having to use another app specifically to use it is frustrating. I need to be at my PC to use it.
The question for me was “Do I Subscribe” I had my 30 day free trail along with my free trail on Zwift, I find Zwift a lot more engaging by having other things to interact with which in turn can make a tough workout a lot easier to complete, (it helps take my mind away from the pain) you don’t get any of that on TR. I am not that bothered about being part of any online community, all I am looking for is to cycle regularly to keep fit and healthy, I don’t enjoy cycling in the rain so had to get involved with indoor cycling.
Granted the plans on TR are far far superior to Zwift, however it is not difficult to create your own similar workouts on Zwift and save them to use at a later date, hell you can even create whole plans and tweek them just a little so it’s not classed as copyright or whatever, in that respect TR has been useful during my free trial period. I subscribe to Strava which takes care of logging all my rides and providing other useful information.
For me in the end I just decided to go with the product that would keep me engaged the most. I think TR will always be the better option for the very serious cyclists out there. The TR forum holds some very good information so I will continue to lurk and make use of that information but I can’t find any other reason to invest my actual £$ into a TR subscription.
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But, I think, this is the business model.
As referenced ad nauseum in other threads, sweetspot training builds “fragile” fitness (whatever that is fast) and why, in part, we see huge increases in FTP in the first 1-3 years.
I think TR is great at attracting and retaining these new users over short timeframes (<3 years for example) as it gives straightforward training plans, a reasonable environment, and results are pretty much guaranteed (providing the user is starting with little training history).
Once you’ve been going for a few years, the cookie cutter plans are no longer required - this is where AI could come in, retaining the more experienced users.
If I were analyzing TR from an investors POV, I would assume the the dominance of Zwift will increase (younger generations coming into the sport who want a richer experience than blue bars and Chad’s motivational text) leading to fewer new subscribers. In parallel, more experienced users would move on towards bespoke programmes [either AI or (self)coached].
The risk here, is that TR exists in the dwindling middle.
Like many of my clubmates, I was an early adopter of TR and loved it, but from this cohort, would struggle to find anyone who is still doing the Base/Build/Specialty cycle.
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