Xert is now TR’s biggest competition, in my humble opinion. Not necessarily in terms of number of users, but in terms of functionality. But you are right that SF, TR and Xert are all in the same sub-niche of structured training experts.
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I think the OP has a point. TR could make a lot more money. All you need is to sell “platinum memberships”, allowing users to use Platinum Points to, for example, “offset” their power (bumping FTP and displayed power up, so you can act as if you had a 300W FTP and were hammering your training around it while lounging at 200W), or compress time (so that 90 min workout could be done in 30 mins, but still show as 90 mins in your results), or making Chad really really polite (complimenting you on your mere presence, profusely apologizing for any extra efforts required, and letting you off the hook from intervals late in series).
I think we’re on to something here.
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This, I like it
Oh, we will have user selectable FTPs and donut training plans as well. 
Maybe I’m an outlier here but work and family life mean I’m training indoors at least 4 days a week all year round. While I like TRs plans and think they are more extensive than anyone else I have also used many of the other apps out there and have some opinions:
- I like Sufferfest 4DP because mixed interval workouts are adjusted for your current level at each duration without you need to figure out and adjust things by hand. That is pretty convenient for me. Even if TR just had the individual % sliders for each zone that would be a big improvement in my book.
- Since I ride so much indoors I don’t really want EVERY ride to be an interval workout. Sometimes I just like riding in Zwift with other people around. It’s more like an actual ride. I have gravitated toward a lower weekly duration TR plan and then added in rides in Zwift and even on real roads. It helps keep me riding more and from going nuts.
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Same here with regards to work and family life meaning most weekly rides are done indoors.
I started off using Zwift back in 2017 then started the Trainerroad trial period about 6 months into my Zwift subscription. Been subscribed to TR ever since and the Zwift subscription ended at it’s 7 month. I even tried Zwift again a few days ago after reading this thread and I recently bought a Kickr 18…lasted about 10min…just enough to warm the trainer up for a spindown calibration and then do a TR workout.
Based the amount of time I have to train, TR is absolutely perfect. The fitness gains I’ve made using TR have been really great and achieved spending less hours training per week than I used to before TR.
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For an old school British cycling due i enjoy the block style graph. I start TR and Netflix together and just got in my bike and put my trust in Chad. I used Zwift at the start but the distraction of others soon put me off, from talking to the people who I work with (it’s a big place (I don’t look at me) but they is kids of us). TR is most populre and gives the biggest gains. I actually think it’s cheap and would pay me also the custome servers team who I have often quizzed are great supper knowledgable and great response time. Keep it up gang
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I also think Xert is very interesting and was playing with the idea using it for next years preparation instead of TR.
A function that interests me the most is that the Intervall is changed “on the fly”. It sounds like that the interval gets slightly longer if the power is slightly below. That’s interesing for me, because I do lots of training outdoors, where it is harder to nail the watts exactly. If TR goes in that direction, there is no reason at all to try Xert.
Keep on the good work.
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We disagree with changing intervals while you’re in them based on performance. We think the user won’t try as hard when they find out if they back off it will automatically get easier.
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agree. It’s clunky at the moment. But their Garmin apps are killer. I use it to pace time trials and races and hill climbs. It’s incredible how accurate this is.
but Xert don’t base smart intervals of FTP. it’s not like using the intensity slider (which people can already use) They base it off MPA (kind of like FRC) so to get through the interval you have to do the work to deplete MPA to the prescribed level. So the target may be to hit a certain power to deplete MPA to a certain level. if you hit a certain power it say takes 3 mins. If you reduce power it takes longer as MPA depletes at a slower rate. You still have to do the work to get through the interval. Unlike a static interval of 3 mins where you could reduce the interval by intensity by 5% but the interval is still 3 mins. That actually incentives me to keep up the work. Their workout builder is super cool too. being able to use targets such as MMP at any point on the PDC rather than just FTP. Unfortunately it’s not a polished product yet…but it’s getting there. it really helps you to understand yourself as an athlete and what you are capable of.
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Exactly why I am back on TR
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From what I understand about how the Xert intervals work, I think you may have the wrong impression about how Xert changes the intervals while you’re in them.
From what I understand, Xert makes the interval longer if you back off. If you pedal harder, the interval becomes shorter. Theoretically, this would ensure that the user doesn’t do too much or too little work in any given interval. If anything, I think this would motivate the user more to not ease off. I love the ideas behind Xert. I think it just needs a bit more polishing and user friendliness. I hope that Trainerroad will consider similar ideas in the future.
Does this mean with Xert I can always go into a VO2max workout but turn it into a sweet spot workout? If so, the problem seems pretty clear to me.
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The power TR is gaining is found in the community of users it is developing as athletes. If it is doesn’t make you faster, then don’t do it. The podcast and forum are great tools and teaching platforms.
The neatest thing about TR to date for me has been meeting Nate, Jonathon and Pete at the 24 Hours of Old Peublo. My bike didn’t show up because I shipped it third party (bad choice on that one), but meeting these guys in person was awesome. It seriously helped lessen my disappointment with the bike situation (race food, helmets, lights, batteries and supplements were in the box with the bike).
I view TR as distributed coaching. Having trained with a coach and asked tons of questions while doing so, TR does a great job of interacting with us. Is it perfect? No. But as cyclists and athletes, we understand the power of marginal gains.
I actually went to a Zwift based cycling camp last February in Phoenix where we rode and trained together for a week. It was great! For me, it’s about people. The online stuff is a tool to make me faster, and I really like the format which is “set it and forget it.” I do the training and get faster because of it. Ultimately, I enjoy riding and racing with people so much more. Delayed gratification is wonderful.
As with all tools, using them appropriately is an important aspect.
Be Well and Train On!
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You could do the exact same thing with Trainerroad.
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I am 3 weeks in to TrainerRoad after previously being an avid Zwifter due to not being able to race outside due to Having 2 kids under 2 now. I had every intention of making the most of the free trial and cancelling after 30 days but after a week I was hooked on TR.
I previously did a lot of structured training and love the fact that TR structures my week without me thinking about it and then I can just substitute a Zwift race for the hard workouts. I also found the workouts themselves top notch and much more interesting than the standard sessions I used to do.
Loving the challenge of looking at a workout and wondering if I’ll be able to do it. Love your work TR and definitely applaud that you stick to your principle of performance over entertainment.
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No, you can’t. If I fall off target, the target doesn’t change. And the post-ride stats will show that I failed to hit the targets. I can manually turn down the intensity, but most VO2max workouts have text that advises to limit reductions so you don’t turn the workout into something other than what was intended. There are some workouts that flat out say “if you can’t hit at least 110%, you may be insufficiently recovered to do this workout today.”
I re-read your initial response to me and should have realized what I was walking into. My opinion remains that I think what Xert does with intervals would work well to help ensure a user’s workload remains on target and that it would motivate me to stay on target.
Feel free to “always” turn workouts into what ever you want, but for me what Xert does would help me to stay on target.
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