I’m afraid you are confusing costing and pricing. While the cost structure of a gym is totally different from that of an app like TrainerRoad or Sufferfest or Zwift or Tacx’s training app, their pricing can (and should) be compared, because they are alternative solutions to a similar problem, and have comparable value for users.
An oft-used example is Microsoft Windows: what do you think the cost of an individual licence is to Microsoft? And do you think pricing is based on this cost, or on the value of the product and the price of alternatives?
Strava has already shown us what NOT to do. Simple plans with predictable costs are what most people want. And from a business perspective, a stable revenue stream is much easier to forecast and manage.
I cannot believe how many people complain all the time about the price on this forum. It seems like every few days another thread is popping up complaining about the price. If you think its too expensive DON’T PAY FOR IT. It takes $0 for (insert your name here) to do a 2x20, 6x10 min, 4x5, etc workout.
You can find plenty of basic workouts that cyclists have been using forever, and just do that on a Garmin. Costs you nothing, just need to have the motivation to do the workout and push yourself through it.
The cost of a new TR subscription is basically one month of coaching from an individual coach. So many in these threads feel that they deserve so much but it shouldn’t cost them. It’s annoying to see so many complain about the cost to a company that offers a lot for free.
This assumes that TR and it’s users see the only valuable part of their service to be the time that you spend looking at the blue bars. The calendar, ride analysis, TSS charts, etc. can (and should) be utilized to track both indoor and outdoor training. If you don’t use all of that together then maybe the service is less valuable to you but TR see’s it all as a complete training package.
For you just ride. Forget TR or maybe just do it solidly for 3 months every winter if you live in a place with weather.
BTW, you don’t need to increase FTP in order to be less fatigued on big rides. You need base miles, better fat burning ability, and to shift your lactate curve. You might look into a big base block of MAF or polarized training. It’s really not hard to design a basic training plan where you do a lot of endurance riding and then once or twice a week do an interval session on one of your rides.
And TR has fitness experts, programmers, support staff, they have to pay rent for office space and cloud servers, they produce podcasts and videos, etc. I don’t think the two are so different. I realize that the cost structures of a gym and TR are different. My point was to put TR’s membership fee in perspective with something that I think is comparable in functionality.
Thank you, appreciate the recommendations on increasing my base. It would still be nice to do training during the week when I have enough time to get on the trainer, but not enough to get to the mountain. So whether its TR or something else I will be on the lookout.
TR is lucky to have you to support them in these discussions so that they don’t have to.
The podcast and this forum are free. So I’m paying my subscription to pay for the podcast so freeloaders can listen to it? Same with the forum? Hosting this forum and the podcast probably cost TR as much or more money than hosting my data from rides. Really how much cloud storage are we talking? That stuff is VERY scalable. Adding another TR user probably costs them next to nothing. Still not comparable to a studio.
Pricing and marginal costs have no logical relationship. To take your gym/studio example, there is zero marginal cost for one more member to show up in a gym spinning class. The instructor is already there, the cleaning is already done, the building costs don’t go up. And yet they charge you the same as the first member, the one for which they had to engage all those costs.
Again, value and pricing is not related to marginal cost. Otherwise Microsoft licenses would be free. In other words: cloud storage is not what you’re paying for. Otherwise you could get a Dropbox account instead.
Well then, I assume you have an alternative at a price point that you find acceptable. I’m not a “staunch defender of this pricing model”, I’m someone who has evaluated a number of alternatives, and found this one to be the best fit for me; the alternatives included multiple apps, a gym membership that included spinning classes, and two studios offering spinning classes only. I’m certain that different needs and priorities would have made another alternative more attractive.
I sort of understand your point here, but I choose to see that a different way. The only reason I’m a Trainerroad subscriber now is because I was one of those freeloaders. I browsed the forums and listened to the podcasts, and I learned a lot being completely new to cycling. So when it came to deciding on a training platform, I went to Trainerroad specifically because I felt like thanking them for that information. And if my money now helps fund those resources for other new cyclists, perhaps they’ll want to join Trainerroad and grow the community in the forum, etc.
So yea, you kind of are paying for those freeloaders, but that doesn’t have to be a bad thing. I think it just comes down to what exactly you value. Strictly using a product vs. the community of the product vs. supporting a company whose values you share. Each of those adds different amounts of value (or none) to each individual. At the end of the day, maybe that value just isn’t there for you, and that’s fine as well.
As far as your plan, I’m starting to focus on XC and have had to change my plan as to not burn myself out as well. I went from a MV plan to a LV plan then adding rides. I’ll normally do the 3 planned TR rides, add a pump track or other technical skill type ride with low TSS during the week, and a longer more taxing ride on the weekend. Takes some tinkering, but it can certainly be done.
You still haven’t answered the question, what competitive alternative would you choose for less? If Trainerroad is already one of the most cost-effective solutions and best value for the money, why would they undercut themselves?
