Power difference concrete vs carpet floors?

Training
1

Just moved from a house concrete floor garage to a carpet room apartment. Same trainer/bike/FTP …maintaining cadence/power on carpet seems so much more difficult RPE higher??? any thoughts :frowning:

2

#marginalgains

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3

Huh. What kind of trainer do you use? I feel like i’ve also experienced slight differences in feel moving my trainer to different surfaces. Maybe not so dramatic, but i definitely feel more vibration through the drive train on a hard surface.

4

I’d suspect its all the other variables - wind, temp, lighting, time of day, etc. between the old room and the new room.

I’ve done both and never notice much difference like you are describing. I did however recently put a piece of plywood under the trainer over carpet for stability

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5

Going from a garage to an apartment temperature is the first thing I’d be thinking about. Higher ambient temperature, even by a few degrees can really throw off your rpe, especially if your cooling isn’t perfect

6

You get these cheap little digital thermometers on Amazon, eBay etc. Personally I’d get one and take a reading in the garage and another in the home.

If the guys are right about there being a few degrees higher temp, or maybe even significantly more, I think you’ll have found your answer :slight_smile:

Tell us about your fan setup, because if you concede that the temp is causing the bump in RPE then you’ll need to solve it. Windows open, one or two mega fans. The missus goes one step further and makes me bring her cold soaked towels on the worst days.

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7

Is it a wheel on trainer? I’ll admit to having put mine on a mat after using it on concrete previously and checking that the wheel wasn’t rubbing the mat…

When I was off the bike!

When I got on the weight pushed the tyre to graze the mat, making resistance higher, RPM lower for the same watts, and subsequently melting the mat on to my tyre.

Life does teach you some lessons :rofl:

8

Kickr 2018, V3 power match. Definitely more movement as down there has been getting a litter more sore. It really feels like watts are been stolen by the carpets cushion.