RPE & Power on climbs vs flats

What trainer do you use?

ERG or Resistance mode?

What gearing do you tend to use on the trainer?

Iā€™m using a Tacx Flux S on erg but having overheated trainers before I try to shift into bigger gears so that the trainer has less work to do, this normally means that during my work intervals Iā€™m in a 52 and mid way on the cassette.

Could airflow be the answer? during climbs the air flow is a lot slower so your body is not being cooled as efficiently as when you are riding at higher speed on the flats.

Also using a fan or two indoors is likely not to be as efficient at cooling your body as the air is outdoors?

Thatā€™s really interesting. Iā€™m noticeably stronger climber, relative to the 2 guys I normally ride with, despite us all having similar w/kg. But where I really struggle is long drags on false-flats or into the wind, where Iā€™m often struggling to hang on. Iā€™ve often wondered why, and this article offers a possible explanation.

That high flywheel speed may be a factor then. We have no hard numbers, but typically that will lean more towards ā€œflat & high momentumā€ feel vs small ring feeling more like ā€œclimb and low momentumā€.

And the cooling comments are quite valid. IMO, too many people consider their fans adequate when I see them as well short of what is needed. If you are dripping pools of sweat, I think that is a likely sign of insufficient airflow and cooling.

I didnā€™t want to start another thread so, a bit of a bumpā€¦Iā€™m back riding respectable miles and it is just striking how hard it is for me to produce the same power climbing as riding the flats. So, I circled back and tried to find some different articles or videos to find something new. While not hard science these two GCN productions address the op and may help someone down the roadā€¦

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