My plan put Peters up tonight. I run in ERG mode and am a 270 FTP rider (AI) and I find these kinds of rides very awkward to do. The workout has 2 minute blocks of 106% ftp with 4 spikes of 150 to 200% of FTP. I do ok on the first few spikes of the 4 in each group but on the 6 seconds at 200% of FTP doesn’t seem to give long enough to get up to wattage before its dropping again. I tried to spin up ahead in the 20 second lead up but still it didn’t seem really like a viable profile. Am I just not using the right technique? What am I missing?
The most common recommendation is to do these types of workouts in any mode other than ERG.
Resistance & Standard where you shift and adjust your cadence to hit power targets are the key ones to try.
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ok, I feel stupid now. I always thought ERG was required in order for the trainer to control the power required. Will try that next time in resistance.
Not stupid at all. ERG IS required if you want the trainer (and app) to do the work of hitting power targets. Can work well on a range of workouts, but like any tool, it falls short at times.
Super short and sharp power jumps tend to be less than ideal in ERG for more than one reason. So using Res or Std are preferred so you are in direct control, not waiting on the trainer to d the work.
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In this article, it’s described that it’s necessary to change gears when using “Resistance Mode.” But what about when using “Standard”? Do you also need to change gears there?
Yup, you need to shift for Standard mode use too.
The main difference between Res & Std:
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Resistance is a more linear power curve, like old magnetic trainers.
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Standard is a more progressive (non-linear) power curve, like old fluid trainers.
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@mcneese.chad is on point here as always! 
Standard and Resistance modes are great alternatives to ERG mode in these situations if you’re set on hitting those power targets as closely as possible.
Generally speaking, ERG mode will get the job done as well. You might not average the same power as the target for these sprint-type intervals, but the stimulus is still there.
Peters is a really hard workout and if switching trainer modes during the sprints is going to make things more difficult or reduce the quality of the intervals, I wouldn’t worry about it. Again, the stimulus is there. Any sprint surges during VO2 Max intervals are going to get the job done! 
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Notwithstanding the earlier comments, if there’s a lag at the start of a burst on my original hammer, I find a similar lag the other end, so surmise it’s grand!
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Sure, that is largely what Eddie is getting at. If someone looks at the discrete “interval” in the summary of the workout, it may seem the goal was missed.
But looking at the power graph closely, we usually see that the trainer response lag at the front end of the interval is matched at the end. It is just “time shifted” to the right on the graph, which means the rider got the intended loading in most cases.
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Thanks, however does the TR adaptive training AI know “recognise” that it’s effectively been time shifted with the trainer lag?
. (Intervals.icu is a great way to see the trainer lag)
A TR rep can confirm / deny, but I doubt that the depth of analysis is that discrete in judging 3-5 second shifts in timing.
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here is a more practical version of what Chad wrote above…
Standard mode its possible to only change gears a couple of times, even if you toss in some sprints. Say 1 gear for endurance, and another gear for the intervals. Maybe 3 gears if the workout includes zone2, SS zone, and vo2 zone. I can be doing 220W sweet spot and toss in a 800-1000W sprint without changing gears, because Standard mode is a lot like riding outside.
Resistance mode will force you to change gears more often if the workout has a warmup, some endurance/zone2, some intervals, and some spiky power punches. A lot more gear changes.
Versus riding outside, here is my ranking:
- sim mode emulates uphills, flats, and downhills, its a lot like riding outside
- standard mode is second best, only a few gear changes for most workouts and you can toss in short sprints without changing gears
- resistance and erg mode, the one big difference is that there is no gear shifting in erg (except to smooth out big changes in cadence or power)
Not necessarily. You can control the resistance with the keyboard/mouse and never actually have to change gears, definitely not anymore than standard mode if you know how to control it.
If you were doing intervals that were all the same the whole time and you had the % set correctly in resistance mode you could use the same gear the whole time, just toggle between erg and resistance at the start/end of the intervals.
Is just shifting easier? possibly, but it definitely doesn’t force you to.
next time I’ll write “while keeping your hands on bars, no spoken voice commands or telepathy” 
Sim mode feels natural, like riding outside. You feels ups and downs and it gets harder the faster you go.
Standard mode almost feels like sim mode. The harder you push on pedals, the trainer will automatically increases resistance. Like riding outside on flat ground. You can put down big power surges without shifting or having to fiddle with adjusting trainer resistance.
Resistance mode is different, resistance doesn’t automatically change the harder you push. You have to fiddle with resistance and/or shift a lot. In the gym I have to play with resistance control. On my Kickr v3 I felt the need to both change gears and adjust resistance, at least with workouts that include multiple zones and my personal need to toss in some bonus power surges at end.
Better?
It’s not about a "better’ description. I just pointed that that you do not in fact have to change gears at all let alone more in one mode vs the other when using TR… the software that the OP is asking about. Resistance mode also does get harder when you push harder in TR with most trainers.
Not all modes are available for all trainers. My old trainer only worked in ERG mode, could toggle off ERG but 0% on resistance was 0%, and 1-100% were 100%. My current trainer only offers ERG and Resistance. None have “sim” in trainerroad so not even relevant.
Resistance mode: on the kickr v3 and v5, when using TrainerRoad I would set resistance to say 33%. When putting down big power surges, like in workouts that have 5-sec sprints, the Kickr did not increase resistance.
Standard mode: on the kickr v3 and v5, when using TrainerRoad I would set Standard mode to say 3. When putting down big power surges, like in workouts that have 5-sec sprints, the Kickr would automatically increase resistance. In fact I could use TrainerRoad to set the Kickr to Standard mode 3, kill TrainerRoad, even without TrainerRoad talking to the Kickr, the Kickr would behave the same way (increase resistance when putting down big power surges).
@mcneese.chad is right again! 
As long as you’re knocking out the intervals you shouldn’t have any problems. We aren’t going to nitpick every second of the intervals. At the end of the day, you’re doing the work and we recognize it. 
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