I’m observing an unexpected mismatch between the average power recorded by TrainerRoad and the average power recorded by my Garmin watch, even though the source power meter – Favero Assioma Duo – is the same.
Background: I am riding a Saris Magnus smart trainer and recently (somewhat accidentally) added my Assioma Duo pedals to my list of paired TR devices, which automagically triggered PowerMatch. I didn’t realize at first that this happened, but noticed that my power was varying more from target power and also that there were fewer discrepancies in the average power reading between my watch (paired with the Assiomas) and TR.
My RPE and HR are marginally but noticeably higher with PowerMatch on (about 5-6 BPM). One might think this is explainable by the Assiomas simply producing a lower power reading than the smart trainer (consistent with other experiences in this thread). However, my Assiomas have historically read about the same as my trainer, or even a bit higher.
Needless to say, Jacks+1 (4x8’ @105%) was an experience – the first time I’ve failed a workout. The first interval hurt; the last three felt like three successive ramp tests. I failed at minute 7 of the third interval, gutting out the remainder as best I could. On the fourth interval, I toned the power down to 94% from minute 2 to minute 5, then ramped up each minute thereafter, riding at 100% for the final minute.
Yesterday I rode the first ~105 minutes of Kailash before my wife stole my Garmin to go swimming. Before handing over my watch, I noted the average power on TR at the point that I stopped and saved the ride on the Garmin. TR’s average power was 210; the Garmin had an average power reading of 218.
The above suggest to me that I need to adjust the intensity to about 97% in order to keep my efforts in-line with TR’s intended intensity level.
It seems odd that the same PM would produce different average power readings on different devices. I like the idea of PowerMatch, as I’ll be using the Assiomas in races. My plan is to drop the Assiomas for the remainder of this block, then Ramp Test with PowerMatch turned on at the start of the next block.
Otherwise, someone will soon be using a spatula to scrape my melted body off the garage floor, as this block includes several weeks of those 105% supra-threshold beasts.
Anyway, just thought I’d toss this out there to see if anyone else has had a similar experience, or if someone might be able to explain the difference in the average power readings.