Trying to move away from ERG mode and into using Standard mode as often with ERG when I am fatigued by cadence will drop off into the 60s.
The thing is I don’t understand how Standard mode works.
If I turn up the 100% resistance is that affecting the resistance coming through the trainer? I have started experimenting with Endurance rides with standard mode, haven’t done any intervals and like that I can keep a normal cadence where it would be lower if I was fatigued in ERG mode but find my power is all over the place. If I hit the 1/9 thing though it goes from like 135 watts to like 170 watts. Using ERG mode sometimes if my power was all over the place in an interval (spike at start, drop into a v and then increase towards at the end) in a way that had me miss the target power slightly I could increase the target to 101 or 102% and eliminate that.
Does the resistance percentage move the target without effecting resistance in Standard mode? Is the only way to adjust resistance the 1-9 scale?
Are you supposed to shift in Standard mode or not?
Standard “resistance” mode is just setting a fixed resistance on your trainer and you need to match the target watts via how fast you pedal and what gear you are in. Think of it like riding on a steady-sloped road outside where you are doing your intervals. At times, you will be soft pedaling in an easy gear and then shift into harder gears to hit your power targets as they go up and down for intervals and rest periods.
Depending on your trainer and workout details, it can be tricky to have enough resistance dialed up and still be able to comfortably spin during rest intervals. There is nothing wrong with adjusting resistance as you go through your intervals to find the sweet spot of cadence and gearing. It takes a while to get a feel for the right resistance for different types of workouts. I’ll often add my resistance setting to my workout notes and whether it was good or not (for future reference).
If you are talking about adjusting the workout intensity up or down in the TR app, then no. It just changes the target power on the screen. I set the actual resistance on my trainer with an app outside of TR (no different than cranking down the wheel friction knob on an old-school trainer). Maybe TR has a way to set trainer resistance in their app. If so, i’ve never used it and I wouldn’t think it’s connected to target power even if they have it.
No, your setting in Resistance (1-100%) will have NO IMPACT on Standard mode (nor any other mode). They are entirely independent of each other.
For Standard, yes (along with gearing per your last question).
Sure, just like Resistance. But you will find that pure cadence changes alone will have a greater impact in relative resistance level as you speed up or slow down.
Lower Standard values (say 0-3) are a bit more “flat” but still more progressive than Resistance modes at any setting.
Higher Standard values (4+) will be even more progressive.
From what I have seen, a setting between 1-3 is about what works for the people that have shared it at least.
Do you know why in Resistance mode the actual resistance fades over time even though cadence remains constant? Also, if I go up 3 gears during a standing interval then go back down, the resistance is almost always lower at the same cadence. This results in me constantly needing to adjust the resistance 1-2 points.
It seems like my Kickr Trainer does this when it gets too hot. But that usually happens in longer sessions or higher intensity sessions (z4). I have a fan I use pointed at my trainer for this reason.
Resurrecting this thread as I’m struggling to understand why in standard mode power output somehow “follows” TR’s workout.
By that I mean that even while using the same gear and cadence power output might be quite different based on the current phase of the workout.
My understanding was that standard and resistance modes were completely detached from TR’s workout but it’s clear that this is not the case. It’s also possible to notice an initial jump in power, while holding gear constant, between recovery and interval phases similar to a semi ERG mode.
Even small differences in target power are tracked meaning that power seems to point to the interval target power instead of being completely up to gear and cadence of choosing. Again this is more noticeable while doing workouts above endurance. z2 seems to be less affected.
As per the workout I wouldn’t have one specifically in mind as what I have reported is a general trend I see across workouts. As I said, endurance and recovery workouts feel less affected by this dynamic. All other workouts with some sort of intervals are affected though.
Pretty sure.
I was curious to see if anyone else noticed it.
One thing is pretty easy to test, whenever you jump from your z2 to say threshold at 300 watts there’s a jump in power reading within the app as if it wants to guide you to target power. I’m pretty sure the trainer also increases resistance slightly.
After that short jump power fluctuates, as it should given it’s not erg, but unless one is going super easy during a tempo/z4 interval there will still be some sort of light push by the app towards the target power for that specific interval.
I don’t have a specific example because it’s not possible to track this with numbers but it’s generally how the app works.
Have real power data showing (not the ERG Mode Power Smoothing that Wahoo defaults too),
Also have accurate cadence data captured at the same time.
Ensure that you are in Standard mode (visible in the bottom left on Win/Mac, somewhere one level deeper on mobile),
Make certain that you don’t physically shift the bike during the test.
Do all the above and you can see what is really happening between Standard, Resistance and ERG modes. I have spent enough time in all of them that I suspect something is changing in your performance and it’s not from the app.
A way to try and remove placebo is to do the above but have a second person watching the workout while you see nothing (and be sure to mute the interval start/stop sounds too so you have literally no idea what is happening in the app). It is entirely possible you are responding to the blocks and or sounds with subtle changes to cadence that will definitely show up in the power data and cadence profile.
Oh I have actually seen this I think. On my setup once the beep goes I get a split second power spike on my power reading.
It has nothing to do with guiding you to a target power though - and the spikes never show up in the data afterwards. I think it’s just a very minor display bug. Doesn’t even register on the live graph actually…
Hello. I am having some of the same problems. The trainer will bog down, and I can’t ride faster than the set watts for long. I have checked the app, and erg mode is off, but it doesn’t feel like it.
I have a Kicker Core and an Element Roam. I run TR on the head unit and use Zwift on my phone.
What you describe is definitely ERG mode, even though you’ve checked it. But for clarity, where exactly have you looked when you say “I have checked the app”?
I’ve never run a workout from my Bolt on the trainer (only outside) so I don’t know how to handle alrernate modes with your use case. But I am guessing that it is defaulting to ERG for some reason.
It may be necessary to contact Wahoo support since I think that is a head unit issue, not a TR one.
