Don’t listen that often now, but there again I don’t listen to as many podcasts now either.
Well since much more remote working, I don’t listen to podcasts as much in general. I struggle to get through them - the podcast is still in the list, but I often run out of time. Having said that, it must be very hard to keep it interesting for long term listeners - I’d agree that they’ve stepped it up.
Most of the podcasts I listen to regularly are based around professional sport or politics, which by default have “new” stuff every week.
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@chad and @ambermalika leaving in their respective ways was a huge loss to the podcast. I’ve mentioned this before on the forum but early stage Covid (say March - May 2020) the podcast was a big thing for me that I really looked forward to, even staying up late with the time difference for Beers with Chad. My interest has waned since then, and in terms of trade descriptions frequently there isn’t a cycling coach as panel member on it anymore - I understand @Jonathan has a qualification but he is hosting which is a job unto itself that he does very well.
The Keegan Swenson fan worship became tiresome and respectfully to Keegan and Sofia* there’s a load of interesting people out there who could do guest spots. I also miss @AlexWild who I thought brought a really interesting and thoughtful perspective as someone who works fulltime and races at an elite level whilst grinding through the training, as opposed to Swenson who clearly trains really hard but shows up and cleans up almost every time.
On the bright side, @IvyAudrain has really grown into her role at TR and the podcast. I know this occurred partly through Keegan’s connection but the episode with Matteo Jorgenson was superb. Alex Larson’s contributions have been really interesting.
I just wish they leveraged their networks a bit harder for guests, what about industry insiders, other racers, more voices from Europe or other areas…
*Edited 11th October 2023 at 14:52 GMT +1 to correct the spelling of @Caro.Gomez-Villafane 's name from Sophia to Sofia.
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It’s interesting as I was listening to the Chris Millar Show as they were discussing the downfall of some youtube channels, and they talked about Dylan Johnson, his channel isn’t dying as such, but gone from lots of training video, to his race reviews (which is to be expected now he is a pro racer), and they came to the conclusion that it was probably a good thing as he had covered all the training subjects that he needed to
So I suppose it comes down to, is training (and what we need to know as customers of that) complex enough to support 300 (?) episodes, or can it be served by 20 good episodes precise to the subject
(I stopped listening to the podcast a long time ago, and when I go back it makes me angry)
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This is a great point. I’m beyond bored of the training and grams of carbs per hour talk. Surely there’s more to talk about than workouts and sugar water?
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I don’t enjoy the podcast nearly as much as I used to. I listen to podcasts more now than ever and AACC has gone from my favorite to not even in the top 5. I still listen to almost every episode but it sometimes feels like a chore. I think Jonathan does a great job at staying on topic, but that’s why I don’t enjoy it as much as I used to. Nate was hilarious and chaotic and Jonathan’s futile attempts to keep him on topic were entertaining.
I think my favorite cycling related podcast now is Bonk Bros because it just seems like a couple guys sitting around goofing off. The sh*t talking and friendly rivalries keep it interesting.
I like Ivy and miss Alex Wild and Nate but I may be in the minority of those who don’t miss Chad at all. I would catch myself drifting off in almost all of his deep dives.
I actually enjoy the Hot Takes and wish they would add a few in each episode. The strict “information only” policy just doesn’t do it for me.
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yes
The thing is that same questions keep being asked by new athletes / customers.
I was mainly listening for @Nate_Pearson, the banter and the fun and friendly competition and some TR development talk. Those days are over since Nate stopped being on the podcast. It even seems that TR development has come to a halt…
Don’t listen to the podcast anymore.
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I suspect there’s a lot of change behind the scene in the wake of Chad leaving, the manner of his departure, the way it was handled etc.
This would never be shared but I wonder about how much of an impact the change in subscription charging has had, it was clear that they were looking for ways to increase income existing subscribers to drive development and combat inflation.
Additionally, it seems nothing really came of the Zwift merger / collaboration that was teased by @dcrainmaker over 18 months ago has come to nothing. I suspect a lot of the genuine innovation in TrainerRoad is now complete, and it’s a case of refining existing elements. Doesn’t mean it’s not a good product, but with the launch of adaptive training I’m not sure where else there is to go?
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Don’t really want to add another thread, but I would imagine unstructured rides impact on PL’s is taking a lot of bandwidth (mainly to work out how to say they impact maybe endurance PL, but add fatigue!).
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Change happens
Outside of ‘under the hood improvements’ not much has changed with the software since the TR membership pricing strategy change at the start of the year.
The main change has been the directional change of the podcasts - as everyone has mentioned above. In my opinion, these 2 things are somewhat correlated …
The podcasts are becoming too formulaic, Keegan Swenson ongoing lovefest, irregular Science of Getting Faster podcasts, and so on
Would hate to think that the TR podcast has jumped the shark post COVID price increase
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‘Keegan Swenson ongoing lovefest’ 
I’ve said my piece about this elsewhere, but yes. Very yes.
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I think after a while you are searching for something new to explore so it’s perfectly normal!
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Yes. Seems TR has put themselves into a corner with that. And while TR has teased that single feature for years, other platforms seem to pop up and deliver what feels like light speed. Feel a bit fooled now and am about to jump, only legacy pricing keeps me with TR for now. Maybe we got spoiled with Nate as CEO and with his development background being on the podcast and teasing cool stuff.
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I don’t listen regularly anymore. I often start the podcast to see what the topics are, but I have very rarely listed to a whole episode recently, whereas in the old days I could listen for hours.
It seems far too focused on Pro’s now and also heavily focused on non-Road. I know there are multiple disciplines that need coverage, but it seems almost entirely based on Mountain / gravel recently. I am sure if you looked at the trainer road users, especially those outside the US, road riders would feature heavily.
I know it is good to get pro perspectives, but it seems to focus mainly on a few domestic pro’s and learning from their experiences on Mountain /gravel / cyclo, rather than talking to the TR users the vast majority of whom are just weekend warriors seeking more enjoyment and, of course, improvements but not necessarily the absolute peak of human performance measuring every gram of protein / sugar that goes into our bodies.
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I hate to say it but losing Chad & then Nate was the downfall for me. Don’t get me wrong, love Jonathan and Ivy, they do a GREAT job. But there was this really nice balance and synergy between that full group. Jonathan does a very good job but he just doesn’t cut it for me on that like serious science side that Chad did. Going to be totally honest, I discovered Empirical Cycling via this forum about a month ago and I’m hooked. It has vibes of the old TR Podcast days but w/ even more firepower due to Kolie’s scientific prowess and real world experience. I still save the TR podcasts when they come out but they used to get almost a full listen each time, I think the last 3-4 episodes I haven’t even started 
. If I’m anything representative of a broader trend, hopefully they will use it to improve!
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Somebody mentioned this before, but I can’t find it to quote it. Anyway…
Someone has decided that cutting out every pause is a good idea, which is basically ruining the flow of the podcast. This week, the return of Nate and some good topics, should have been triumphant, then we get…
(watch the video closely to see about 3 cuts per sentence where people randomly jump)
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I was wondering if that was what was happening. Was only listening so thought maybe it was just bad internet or something. Super annoying, hope they don’t do that again.
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It’s unwatchable. This is two weeks in a row that I’ve been interested in the topics but can’t handle the video. The start last week was so bad that I don’t even make it to the 3rd minute. Maybe it’s a plot to push everyone back to audio only podcasts?
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Yea… This is just a bad idea. pls stop
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