Valid point. I quit subscribing to a couple of general market bike mags for the same reason. How many “what to carry in your saddlebag” articles can you read before you know about as much as there is to know about what to put in your saddlebag?
With that said, though, research continues, and there is a perpetual “exciting new (supplement/training method/nutritional strategy)”, so time spent explaining/debunking those is time well spent.
Things I really like…
Ivys laugh is awesome! haha
Nice to hear insights from current pros
The thing thats really starting to get old is some of the questions… “please spend 30 minutes talking about this very specific topic that only applies to me, and really isnt actually relevant to my training in the first place” is what i feel like every question is turning into. “I live at sea level but have to go on a work trip at 3600 feet, but might have to go to a doctors appointment at 12:30 on tuesday, and its at 4000 feet. Will my FTP suffer or should I find a doctor closer to 2000 feet? I only drank 62g of carbs on the car ride to work yesterday, why am I not getting faster?”
The initial Hot Takes episodes were freakin gold! the “scratch is just rapha gatorade” comment still lives rent free in my head! Theyve become close to unlistenable lately
I really miss the legit science talks from Chad. Jonathan and Ivy have great anecdotes, but n=1 isnt science…
I still listen from time to time but definitely dont get excited to see a new episode like I used to
I agree with much of what is said. I’m still mostly listening, but also going back to the start–so I can’t yet compare then and now as much as post vs pre-Chad’s exit.
I like Jonathan and Ivy, but I think the biggest problem is that having only two regular isn’t enough, especially since there are a lot of roles left unfulfilled. I do miss the deep dives (the science is really a lot of why I got into this particular podcast) though I think that there is room for a variety of things. The podcast has really narrowed down in scope because Ivy and Jonathan are the only regulars. I’m really surprised that they haven’t even tried having Sarah Laverty come on the podcast–especially since it’s been a while since there has been any Science of Getting Faster episodes, and I’m wondering if that has ceased to exist. (Alternately, they could find someone else with more of science background if there are practical reasons why Sarah couldn’t join the Ask a Cycling Coach podcast). Or, maybe they could find someone with some expertise that hasn’t been on the podcast before (unlike some, I do appreciate Alex’s takes as a nutritionist, though she doesn’t quite count here since she’s an infrequent guest instead of a regular)
I find the pros interesting, but I think the podcast may be relying too much on them now (it’s hard to say what’s actually going on, since there haven’t been many episodes). Again, I really want more balance and variety.
I do have to say that having Keegan on is often very interesting because it’s clear that the way he trains goes against some aspects of the Trainerroad philosophy. Though, otherwise, he’s not really made for podcasting. He can be very terse and usually he only responds when directly asked something instead of contributing to the conversation. I think he’s interesting, but he doesn’t add much to the podcast.
The podcast will always morph because it involves humans who go through stages in life. Trying to evaluate whether it’s good or bad is like trying to find a correct answer on whether a piece of artwork is attractive. There is no correct answer.
It’s funny reading the comments because everyone has a different idea of what they’re interested in with no agreement on anything. The person who started this discussion seems to think they’re the critic with the most sensible and correct opinion but in the end it’s still just an opinion.
Keep up the good work Trainer Road folks. Love the podcast.
I really love all of the crowdsourced suggestions. Here are a few recurrent themes:
Call me crazy but after listening to the podcast for the past three or four years, I still like it.
I like Jonathan, Ivy, and their assorted guests (often high level) and I used to enjoy it with Nate, Jonathan, and Chad, despite it being a bit different lineup. Does everything they cover apply to me, absolutely not. But, given the spectrum of cycling and TR users (pros to joes), it’s inevitable that some episodes will be less relevant than others. That said, I have no intention of ever racing Singletrack 6, Unbound, or Cape Epic, but I still really enjoy hearing about the race prep and then post-race reports.
As @Rellington mentions above, the show has evolved as time has gone on and I expect it to continue to do so as TR and the hosts evolve in their interests and careers.
Ivy’s Hot Takes™ have been the most refreshing addition to the podcast in a while. If we’re being honest even before the Chad drama it was kinda feeling like it had run it’s course. There are only so many ways you can say “don’t do the high volume plan” “do strength training” and “eat carbs”. Yes, I’m intentionally oversimplifying to make my point, which is mostly just that I feel for the hosts, because filling an hour and a half a week with the limited scope of ‘ride bikes faster’ is a hell of a task.
I think the change is a combination of things, @harkoo hit one pretty well that after a while it is repetitive to hear some of the key points. I can imagine for an intelligent guy like Chad, it might actually get a little boring to deliver that repetitive message day in and day out. I liked the Science of Getting faster, but found the audio quality of the guests to be challenging to follow if I had any background noise.
I still think the podcast is one of the better cycling related podcasts out there. The fact they take no sponsors so they seem to offer sincere opinions about products and places makes it better. I am sure are other training programs that could probably do what TR does, but I chose TR based on the value I have gotten over the years from the Podcast. Amber was great, Chad was great, I like Ivy, Jonathan and Hannah too.
I got bored with the podcast months ago - I really couldn’t give a monkeys about other peoples races etc. and with the loss people like Amber, who brought an interesting dimension to things, it just got tedious. I know a lot of people liked Chad’s deep dives, but found a lot of them too long and rambling, so wasn’t really a fan. The podcast itself also became too long and rambling….
It’s hard keeping it fresh….
Maybe I should dip in again, but frankly, there are so many, better cycling podcasts out there at the moment (ok, not training related, but bike related, especially as the TdF is in full flow), plus a lot of great news / political podcasts. I have limited time to listen to podcasts and the TR one simply doesn’t make the cut these days.
Sounds fishy to me.
Well played
I used to love listening to the podcast, and I really thought Amber was a great add. But as it slowly evolved from an “occasional” long episode to almost every episode being 90+ minutes, the podcast lost me. When that was combined with many episodes in which the sound quality was atrocious, well I haven’t really listened for a while. This used to be my go-to, 5-star training program. It’s become “if I’m on a long drive, and I’ve nothing else to listen to” podcast.
Nate stepped down to focus on development of levels 2.0. It’s taking a while for them to get that out.
I liked Ivy’s input on the last podcast. “I’m trying to train, but I have a job and I’m really tired and I can only afford one bike.” WELCOME TO MY WORLD!
Nice to hear some realism.
I don’t have a science degree so deep dives are boring to me. I have come to cycling from a gym world. Just tell me what to do, how to get faster!!!
I like Ivy. Jon is smart but some of his opinions conflict with me. Chad was outdated and spoke a lot of generalisms that didn’t say much. Nate is better as CEO and should come on just to give us updates on the progress of the platform development.
I’d like to hear more on how to race too.
I have a graduate science degree and much of this is a bunch of nonsense. While all research is a piece of the puzzle so much of it in exercise physiology is not applicable to real world training and often pushing a narrative. Here’s a good thread by Steve Magness that exemplifies this:
I miss the deep dives. They were always helpful to me and ever since Chad has departed so has the deep dives. I hope they bring back.
I miss Nate, loved when he let things slip about the platform. I know a lot has happened to him in his personal and professional life and hope he’s doing well.
This thread (more than the initial ‘smoking’ questions) highlights some of the good points of what the podcast used to do. They would frequently call out when the science was minimal or mixed, fighting the hype around some of the get fast quick science. Having started to listen to the early podcasts recently, I know that they have changed their minds (I haven’t listened enough to know how quickly they did so). And, while the podcast is about marketing that product, at least of those that I have heard, the deep dives really weren’t about saying that the science supports Trainer Road, but tackling other aspects of training/cycling science.
I don’t have the expertise to say how they actually did, but having come from another science based podcast (on a completely different topic) that turned toxic and entrenched in dubious science, the way that this podcast handled science was a breath of fresh air.
I just accept that the podcast is no longer for me. Other than special episodes with an interesting guest, I just have no interest in their now usual discussions. I enjoyed Chad’s input as he was a coach and that was his POV and I listened to him as such.
Also, I can’t stand those short reels on Instagram highlighting the keypoints for people with short attention spans. The TikTok dumbing down of everything gets a hard pass from me.
My kids love shorts. The younger crowd won’t sit through a whole discussion on science let alone a topic they’re interested in. Gotta sell to the younger crowd as well.
This just goes to show how hard it is for them.
We have people in this thread saying they despise it because it went long, some saying they hate short clips, some say more science, some less.
Comments on them needing to find their niche and stick to it, but not the niche they tried, or that other one.
I completely agree the best was when they were training for events and learning on the fly. I really like Ivy and Jonathan, and I like it when Hannah, or Keegan, or Alex are on, but all of those are very straight up and down personalities. They’re missing the colour guy. Nate was the Charles Barkley, or Shaq.