One thing I’ve wrestled with is showing advanced metrics. It can make the whole thing more complicated than it needs to be, and most athletes don’t want it. But a few really want it.
If we had another product team, I think we’d create an “advanced metrics” add-on. Something where we could get all the metrics that people enjoy from other platforms but integrate them all into TR.
This would be some nominal add-on fee. By having it be an upsell, we get to obfuscate it from the athletes it would just confuse them. And hopefully, we could find a price point where the athletes who really wanted the extra metrics would find it worth the price.
But right now, we don’t have that extra product team, so we’re focusing on our current roadmap.
I’ve been with TrainerRoad since 2012 (which is as long as I’ve known my wife!) Never met any of the team (one day? ) but I feel like I’ve been on a journey with them through the podcast and through my own development as a rider (I have learnt soooo much).
The product is light years on from where it started with ai ftp, progression levels and adaptive training taking it to another level. With progression levels v2 coming it’s going to get even better!
Not only all of this, but I believe TrainerRoad is a company of integrity and principle and I am proud to support it.
In summary: I’ll skip the discount and take the full hit. Best value training software out there bar none. You guys are amazing.
TLDR:
Make the decision that makes sense for you and your individual situation. If only there was an AI powered feature to help me pick the right price every time
Excellent. Other than a brief falter (for the right reasons) building group workouts during lockdown, there appear to be very few elements in TR like that.
Even if it does add value, it adds complexity, technical debt, etc, Product people know this. I’m glad a decision has been made, that doesn’t introduce ridiculous tiers of subscription complexity. Very generous.
FWIW, I’m opting for the old plan. TR already costs me $190-ish a year with exchange and taxes, the new price USD$189 would push it over CAD$300 - billed at Christmas time too, thanks for that, ha ha.
It may seem like a small thing but for now I am keeping TR even though I dropped TriDot when they did the same thing last year. I need to win a lottery so this stuff would become affordable again
Last time I used my Wise account was to buy some tires from Veloflex, but sorry, I don’t recall precisely how it works. I recall there is the option to place money in various currencies (Euro, USD, British Pound, and 50 or so more) and then when making the purchase, pay with that currency.
I use a similar product from my bank - basically a forex debit card that i can buy and keep different currencies in it - I buy USD each year for both TR & ZWIFT - If I use my local credit card i get hammered with terrible ROE & forex charges
I run a TP subscription purely as it easily let’s me track my ramp rates, compare TSB across time periods and collate all my useful metrics in one place (HRV, Sleep, Weight, Work outs planned/actual, etc). Would be great to add that functionality into TR.
Part of the reason I chose to lock in was to show support for the Company and its product. I can’t say that I’ve used it every month of the years but I still continued to subscribe to show that support. If I wanted to save a few dollars, I’d have just opted in and out whenever I wanted to use it. Now there seems to be a movement within the community to make some sort of moral decision on paying the higher price. I could do that but then I would probably just opt in and opt out. If I did that I think my relationship with the Company / product would change and that would result in less revenue for the Company from me. And that relationship would purely be transactional. 15% discount is neither here nor there in terms of replacing that “special” feeling of being there in the early days. It’s maybe hard to comprehend but a special edition Coffee Mug might have done the trick and saved all of this navel gazing.
Erm, random people posting their individual thoughts where a world that mostly probably cares very little about them can read them is basically the definition of a forum.
Appreciate the perspective on this subject. Glad to know it’s hit your radar, even if only the outer rings. I’m just one customer, so take it all with a grain of salt, but thanks also for hearing me out.
Since I am using TR and its new feature a lot, I was thinking about re-subscribing myself. Thank you, @Nate_Pearson for providing this hassle free solution to all of us. Essentially, all I now have to do is… nothing. My wife, however, since she uses Trainerroad only a handful times a year, opted out, without the opt-out she would have canceled for sure.
Slightly OT but this has been asked or mentioned in other topics.
Is TR planning on having a flexible plan creator based on someone’s actual time available (similar to for example Join cycling as this app is currently being discussed in another topic)?
This would be a great value add for me at least (and perhaps for many others).
Yup. We have it built internally but we actually need more workouts to fill in some holes. IE not enough 30 min threshold rides at different workout levels.
We are building those extra workouts, though. It will probably come out around Workout Levels V2 which is going in private beta any day now.
Edit: The update is so that you can choose different durations per day. So you could do “high volume” (6 days per week) but all 30 min workouts.
Or you could do “low volume” of three workouts per week, but make them all 2 hours long.
We have greater plans to break it up entirely and just recommend a number of days/duration based on your training history but that won’t come until after we do this and red light/green light.
) but I feel like I’ve been on a journey with them through the podcast and through my own development as a rider (I have learnt soooo much).