Now that TR has partnered with Zwift, to allow TR workouts to be done in Zwift and exported back to TR, and is using a 1-10 RPE scale for workouts done in Zwift, is it time for TR to make this change in the TR app, also?
To me, a 1-10 RPE scale is more common, and would also allow for a bit more granularity when rating the workout level.
Hey @NigelTufnel11 
I’ll forward this feedback to the team!
I agree on the consistency across platforms being desirable, but just to play devil’s advocate, I actually prefer the lack of granularity in the current TR scale. With 1-10 I find myself obsessing about 1 point, especially at the lower end (was that 1h endurance ride a 2, 3, or a 4, what did I rate it last week etc.). I find the TR system is much easier to rate the rides appropriately.
I don’t actually use TrainerRoad. But here’s my take on this:
To me, a 1-10 RPE scale is more common, and would also allow for a bit more granularity when rating the workout level.
I actually used psychometrics for my dissertation - although I am not familiar with the Borg RPE scale.
That said, my perspective is that your average person may not necessarily be able to accurately report at that level of granularity. The scale does have descriptors for each level (e.g. really hard = 7-8, really, really hard = 9, maximal = 10). I’m not sure how useful those descriptors are. TR’s descriptions for its own scale are nice and clear (to me, at least) and are tied to how drained you are after the workout - e.g. could you do another set.
Ironically, I’d tell another researcher to not cook up a new scale, just find and use an existing one unless there literally is no suitable one. But TR isn’t looking to publish peer-reviewed research in sports science. Or … if you are looking to do that, then all your internal data is based on the scale, so I’d still lean towards it. In theory, you’d compare your scale to something like the Borg scale to show that you have measurement validity.
I don’t have a TR membership, so I have no dog in the fight. This is just my educated opinion.
I’m the other way. I’m so used to using a 10-point scale that it’s really easy to give a number rating. But the 5 point scale I tend to go back and forth way too much. Was that a 2 or 3? Was that a 3 or 4? Is that really worth a 5, or maybe that’s only a 4. I can’t remember if I’ve ever given a 5 rating actually (or a 10 really). But I’ll give a 9 and not second guess myself.
It would be nice not to have to spend 10 minutes back and forth in my head between moderate and hard every single time. I’d just be able to put 5
I agree, I wish Zwift had the 1-5 scale.
I’ve even started to think of the Zwift rpe as division of 2 so things would match up better.