Very low HR-based TSS estimates

TrainerRoad Software
1

I don’t have a power meter, so I really appreciate the new HR-based TSS estimate. But at this point, I’ve had several rides where the HR-TSS seems to be completely wrong. I have been trying to report these to the TR team, but I thought it might be helpful to collect them together and to see if I’m alone.

I use a Wahoo HR monitor.

I do have some rides where it looks like the HR-TSS is too high, but I feel these are much more difficult to assess. I only have a handful of 3+ hour rides that do have power data, thanks to my trainer.

2

Looking at these I see 489, 318, 403

3

I had set them to use the RPE estimate. I just changed it back to use the HR estimate for clarity.

4

They do seem very low to me. Even 35 TSS an hour over 8 hours is 280 TSS

5

They do seem very low. I never get my HR up on a gravel ride either despite what sometimes feels a little bit more of an effort. I’ve not got a PM on the gravel bike but for my 3 and bit hrs ride (31% in Z1 HR, 68% Z2 and 2 mins in Z3) its has still calculated a TSS of 146 for me. I do have PM’s on my road and TT bikes though, is that the difference :thinking:

6

Is there a way to tell TR your max HR, or your HR zones? Maybe its set to something too high?

7

Yes, you can set HRmax here:

https://www.trainerroad.com/app/profile/etss

8

I did a little digging. The unPAved event was timed with segments, which I tried to push. For me, there were five segments total. Each was about 15-30 minutes, with a cumulative time of almost exactly two hours. I think it’s safe to say these were at Tempo or Sweet Spot effort. I did the rest of the ride as easily as I could, which was probably still a solid zone 2 effort except when I was able to coast. It was rainy and muddy.

The closest tempo workout I could find would be something akin to Hoffman +3, which is 233 TSS at a duration of “only” 4.5 hours.

9

did you email support@trainerroad.com and report the issue?

I sent a support request in July:

The 119 estimated hrTSS on this hard group ride:

(url removed for forum post because my account is private)

Appears to be low. Based on similar efforts I would expect it to be more in the 140-150 range.

For hrTSS I’ve found general agreement between TR and TrainingPeaks, and for reference the TP estimated TSS is 140.

And the response was:

This is an issue we are aware of but have not quite found a fix for yet. In the meantime, you can always switch that ride to RPE-based TSS. Here’s how:

  1. Navigate to the Ride Details page and click on the ellipsis icon (…)
  2. Select “Edit Ride”
  3. Switch it to RPE and be sure to save it!

You might get a different response from the support team.

10

Similar, but once I explained I was trying to report a big, they seemed very understanding.