Hello fellow TR users, when completing Spanish Needle and other ‘microburst’ workouts is it recommended to change the Smart Trainer from ERG mode to resistance or another mode? Reason I ask is that I find the Trainer (Kickr19) when using Power Match struggles to catch up with the 15 second changes i…

Flick it over to resistance mode and use your gears. That tends to be the recommendation if you’re having trouble with ‘microbursts’. If not, you can drop your cadence just prior to the start of the interval and mash away as soon as it tries to spiral. Another trick is to use lower gears so the tra…

I do them in ERG mode w/out issue. A couple of tips: Small chainring, middle of your cassette, straight chain line. e.g., 36x21 Keep your cadence high and steady, even during the “rest” interval, as in at least 100rpm Get your cadence up to 105-110 during the rest and as the work starts, during t…

Thanks for the feedback and tips guys. Good point around the TSS, historically the TSS is on the money yet the bar graph doesn’t always appear to have hit the target. I do run in the small ring / straight line so will try both options and see how it goes. Usually 90-95 is a good cadence for me, dep…

I’ll add my n=1 experience: I just did Junction yesterday, which has 3 of the Spanish Needle type sets at the end. Running a quarq and Kickr, for reference. I was fine leaving it in erg mode, however, I was finding that my quarq power readings I would see on my computer would get quite a bit highe…

Resurrecting this after a little search. Think I read this before my last workout as I was going into Wynne and wanted to know how I could make the high power intervals hit the target power quicker whilst keeping erg mode on. It tend to always use the big ring and change gears when needed to hit th…

[image] ahackett445: Why is that? Slower speed on flywheel so more torque needed? Opinions vary, but I feel that the slower flywheel demands more power through the pedal circle when compared to faster speeds. Less debatable, and potentially able to explain the difference on it’s own, is the …

Thanks for input. Interesting you say that its less debatable with the little ring. I found that the ramp up to full power didn’t happen any quicker than when using the big ring. I dont think you can see particularly clearly in the screenshot, but just my thought whilst I was on the trainer (about t…

[image] ahackett445: hanks for input. Interesting you say that its less debatable with the little ring. I found that the ramp up to full power didn’t happen any quicker than when using the big ring. I dont think you can see particularly clearly in the screenshot, but just my thought whilst I was…

The general feedback and pure physics show that the slower flywheel is easier for a resistance unit to “grab”. Just imagine trying to add resistance with your hand on a wheel spinning at 5 mph vs 20 mph. There is more energy in the faster one, and that will require more force to control.

[image] KickrLin: You will see TR report that your avg is lower than the target after each interval. Yep, exactly. I never really hit the ‘right’ average on these workouts, but by the end of the 15s intervals my instantaneous power is always higher than the target.

Spanish Needle and other 'microburst' workouts

Training

mcneese.chad September 11, 2019, 4:28pm 12

I have covered this issue a couple of times.

1 Like

Topic		Replies	Views
How to best hit 30 second intervals on ERG mode in TR Training	47	3118	August 15, 2022
Spanish Needle ERG vs Std Mode Training	12	1834	September 5, 2020
Erg mode for short and sharp intervals Training	34	9718	March 2, 2019
Kickr mode for micro bursts Equipment	23	3656	January 3, 2021
Does anyone with a smart trainer switch off erg mode? Training	76	12212	December 14, 2020

Spanish Needle and other 'microburst' workouts

Related topics