Moving from Wahoo to TrainerRoad - some newbie questions

TrainerRoad Software
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Heh, no worries. I did spinning classes for half a year but I didn’t enjoy it and is anyway no longer compatible with family schedules.

Have you tried Wahoo/Sufferfest?

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I have. It’s not for me. I personally don’t like the videos. I get it though. Lots of people love it. You’ve just got to find the right platform for you. The one that makes you want to get on your bike more often!

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Welcome to TR. As a former Wahoo/Sufferlandrian myself, I haven’t looked back to my subscription since they started dismantling the Sufferfest portion of the app. The training plans at TR are second none as far as other apps go and the AI FTP detection is great.

As others have stated, bring your own entertainment.

For me I’ll do the following:

Endurance: Movies or shows that have dialogue (Netflix, Prime, HBO, etc.) or bike related YouTube documentaries

Sweetspot: Action driven movies with less dialogue

Threshold: Music videos on YouTube

V02 max: Music videos without having to watch the video or just music through my phone that is upbeat

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That’s a great list of starting points, thanks. Looks like I need to get used to curating my own entertainment as part of the TR learning curve.

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Thanks, yeah, the adaptive feature is the stand out feature of TR Vs Wahoo for me so far. That, and the alternative sessions feature, which has been long requested at Wahoo and never materialised.

I do my best to rate honestly, but so far it’s mostly either the very easiest rating, or the very hardest rating. Will stick with it though and see what happens when TR has more data to analyse.

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I joined TR nearly 3 years ago and pretty much went thru all of the typical struggle points. I absolutely love what I’ve gotten out of the journey.

My ride entertainment has evolved a bunch:

  • Selecting the entertainment based on the workout as others have mentioned.
  • Updating my pain cave entertainment gear to include better audio and video - can really make a difference
  • For video selection I started with a combo of cycling movies, racing videos, and the TR podcast. And it seemed like I was constantly struggling to find something of interest
  • Now, I’ve got a Watch Later playlist on YouTube that I keep filled with all kinds of content for my time on the bike. It is a combo of stuff no one else in the house wants to watch, hobbies I’m passionate about or considering, adventure videos, race recaps, bicycle podcasts, etc. With this playlist, my time on the bike has become something more than fitness and getting faster. It is also some mental me time to cover things that in the past I only periodically had time for. This Watch Later playlist has become something extra that helps get me on the bike.

I recommend looking at the entertainment as something more than just making the training time less monotonous or less of a mental grind.

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Classic 1970s sports car restoration videos :grinning_face:

This is great advice, thank you!

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Did my first TR workout with instructions all the way through and it reminds me a lot of Wahoo’s instructions (in a very positive way), especially the friendly, but firm, with a dry sense of humour tone. So much so that I was wondering whether there are any shared roots between the two companies?

Am getting the hang of bringing my own entertainment, so settling in to the TR way of things…

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I tend to watch loads of Eastern European subtitled dramas from Netflix (that my wife hates). Time flies on endurance rides.

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One of the founders of TR was Reid Weber, who went on to work for Sufferfest after he left TR.

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I am not paid for this endorsement, but I watch a lot of cycling POV videos on the trainer and there’s a guy in Michigan who has been posting most of his races and some of his rides for like, the last five years. You could scout pretty much any race in MI, gravel or MTB. I think he’s on here, but even if he isn’t: MI-XC, I owe you a beverage if we are ever in the same place! His page is here.

Everyone else, if you watch stuff on your trainer, what are your go-to YouTube channels for full race POV footage?

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Thanks!

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I think he got banned, along with some of the other OG‘s, a little while back :cry:

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Justin McQuerry!

I can definitely feel more able to hold on to hard efforts longer when watching fast POV stuff.

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for real?

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Six weeks or so after switching from Wahoo to TrainerRoad…

There are lots of things that i really appreciate and would miss on other platforms:

  • training plan adaptation

  • Alternative workouts

  • AI FTP

  • Clean UI and the workout descriptions

One positive that I wasn’t expecting is the lack of built-in entertainment has forced me to find my own which has turned out to be a big motivational highlight. For the easier recovery rides I watch BBC Maestro online classes or tutorial videos to help me with work. For the more intense interval workouts I watch live techno/DJ sets, turned up loud, which turns the session into an hour of dancing and can really help push through hard efforts.

Wasn’t expecting this, but turns out to be a real endorphin/dopamine/serotonin rush. Sometimes less is more.

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Yeah - this is when I get to watch all the TV that my wife and kids dont want to watch!!!

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Putting the NIN in serotonin

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