ERG Mode Rant about the effectiveness and haters

It has become my new pet peeve how many articles/blogs/podcasts have discounted ERG Mode saying “It’s nice, but screws up one’s ability to properly change gears outside and hit exact power numbers.”. HELLO! Hitting an exact wattage is not the end goal. Getting stronger is. In a race, you follow the group or chase the attack. It’s not like the attacker screams out for everyone to hold 475w for the next 2 minutes. lol. Rant over.

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Count me in that as well. ERG is largely misunderstood and assigned some mythical status that non-ERG users leverage as “bad”. I’ve lost track on the number of times I found out the ERG detractor has actually never even used it.

I am the first to admit that ERG and Resistance both have their place. Each has pros and cons, and acting like one is always superior to the other is a mistake. Learn, understand and apply them as they are… tools for training.

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long story short, I sold my Kickr and went back to my Kirt Kinetic and actually find it surprisingly freeing. If I want to go harder or easier I don’t need to tap, tap, tap any buttons. I’m a little more engaged too. Not saying it’s better but it’s my new reality and it isn’t all that bad :man_shrugging:t2: I remember when I bought my Kickr people would say it’s a game changer and I’ll improve my training. The truth is my peak “tested” FTP was when I trained with my Kirt Kinetic.

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I have been using TR since '16 on a old fluid trainer. Mainly because i can’t afford one of those new niffty trainers. I don’t think my training has suffered a bit. Maybe it has and i am just the second dummy in the room. However having to use gears to hit power and finding yourself in between gears having to decide to either downshift and spin quicker putting the load on the aerobic system or shifting up a gear and putting more load on my muscles is all part of riding a bike. Yes there are certain workouts that i have to improvise do to the lag in the fluid trainer or i can’t easily change my cadence from 85 to 95 without it impacting the power output but in reality you can’t do that on a bike anyway. Its all about using the tool to your advantage as Chad Mcnesse points too. I always use the analogy of an apprentice and a master carpenter. they use the same tools, it how they use them that makes the difference. i think that Erg mode and Resistance mode have their place as well and smart and dumb trainers do. Use them to become a faster cyclist rather then trying to determine which one is the best.

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Yes… yes we did… (This is the big one that ran a while, was referenced several times and reignited a couple of months ago. I think just about every possible angle is presented in that thread.)

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As someone who rides an 8-speed (seriously, I upgraded my mid 90’s 8-speed 105 bike to a 2018 allez 8-speed claris lol), erg mode has made the difference training. One of my big frustrations previously was dialing in the right gear that wouldn’t have me spinning too quickly or grinding. I’m always going to be on team ERG

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Right there with you…hated my kickr snap…either had to spin 100+ rpm or get killed by the death spiral if I fell below 90 rpm. Not to mention all the technical snafus, sending tbe unit back twice for warranty…pretty much a waste of time in my eyes. Loving the simplicity of the KK.

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Isn’t this the exact way Sky/Ineos race?

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