Wake Up Trainerroad!

Running with scissors or knives is dangerous!

6 Likes

That was the point when I finished with Zwift. A NYC course could have been so good but instead they put silly roads in it.

Kudos to the OP he put out his views and has defended them well.

I think everyone is making the assumption that all TR users are dedicated to following a plan. I am not sure that is the case myself.

I think a lot of people will have a look at a plan, get a feel for what it is doing and then achieve that end result by doing a variety of workouts utilising various tools.

Personally I use Fulgaz for some workouts and I know others do Sufferfest and Zwift etc.

My argument is that things like challenges or tours might not be the distraction that is being assumed. I am certainly in favour of them.

Absolutely disagree! They have improved on every level and will do so going forward I hope. There is no need for another Strava (social), Zwift (game) or Sufferfest (yoga plans and videos).

No reason to sit back and relax and become complacent though.

Happy customer, too!

I chose TR because it is simple, basic, data driven metrics…no frills no fuss… It gets the job done and that is what I want and that is why they get my money…
Other perks which I absolutely love is the Podcast, the Calendar, this Forum and the way the TR staff is involved with us as customers, you don’t get the Big Corporate BS vibe from TR.

I just hope that @Nate_Pearson and the team do not sell out to the Corporate BS one day…Keep TR simple… IT WORKS this way!

Thanks for a great product!!

27 Likes

Yeah I’ve considered trying Fulgaz also - if I need some additional motivation it would make sense.

I don’t disagree with the OP - I just think it’s different strokes for different folks (I think that’s how the saying goes?)
That being said - there’s one or two little interface tweaks that would be great for TR - the one thing I really miss from Zwift is that you could see exactly the number coming up in the next interval (which is handy if you don’t have Erg mode)

5 Likes

I wish everyone would just cut it out with all the scissors references.

8 Likes

Running with scissors is dangerous - a bit like Zwift’s funding model?

1 Like

For me TR is great. It does exactly what I want, when I choose and is simple to use.

Focus on what your core strength is (making us faster) and keep rolling out new features to makes us even more faster.

If someone wants group rides / races / games, etc there are other choices for them.

5 Likes

I hate for this to be a pile up on you type thread, just providing my own perspective as someone who uses TR (I use zwift too but it’s such a background item, I would readily drop zwift for TR).

With regard to challenges, I don’t need challenges, the challenge is getting to the end of a block and seeing improvement in my fitness. I don’t need any other rewards or trinkets, it’s useless to me if I’m not getting a fitness outcome of some sort.
Periodic tours: I’d guess this deviates from the purpose of TR, getting one ready for a target event. They have their plans and are structured for what they believe is the best way to prepare
Virtual joint workouts: I guess this would be ok, but if people are locked into their own workout it’s nice like it’ll be a race or like in zwift riding together
UI and UX is just fine for me in my opinion, it’s simple and effective
There is a Facebook group, this is way better, people are turned off by Facebook and I know I didn’t participate in Facebook because it facebook thinks it’s a good idea to have my posts broadcast to all my friends on their feeds. In short, facebook is dumb and I think people continue to realize it is and move away from being active there.

Anyhow, TR is trying to evolve in its own way and I personally don’t think they need to try to be something they’re not. I’m not using TR to be entertained and wow’d, it’s a tool and I’m happy to listening to music or watching something while TR does its thing.

8 Likes

I get the point being made but I am another more than happy with TR. Workouts are specific, make me work ridiculously hard and are backed up with a great podcast/coaching knowledge etc. The ‘game’ for me is seeing my FTP improve and getting faster on the bike. Would much rather listen to music or watch Netflix than stare at some computer image of a bike.

Horses for courses and people will just pick what works for them.

9 Likes

Let’s cut the crap and get to the point. Any way you slice it there is a shear difference between TR and other training cycling platforms. TR remains on the cutting edge of making you a faster cyclist and doesn’t dull their goals with superfluous amenities. Consistency is the true instrument to sharpen your fitness regardless of platform.

27 Likes

I find it odd that the suggestion in the original post is that there is not a community and there needs to be events to support and encourage that. For three reasons:

  1. I find this forum is a real community. OK I have to post a few questions, listen to people, have a couple of conversations and read a lot, but yes, it feels like a real conversation with real people (unlike twitter, linkedin, etc which are just people stuffing out “Look at me” stuff")
  2. I did Disaster. I did Disaster a week after most others. I still felt part of the community. It was a nice event. But I don’t want one every week - I have a well thought through TR training programme to follow,
  3. I am in this for the long term training benefit. It’s enough hassle working around other bits, real world rides and recovery/feeling S**t occasionally. However there is a clear plan and I am sticking to it.

I don’t want social media noise. These are all reasons why I don’t want the noise of social media clap trap and the like. I get the Sufferlandia emails (because I look at it) - I ignore them. I decided there was too much superficial noise and less meat. The TR names of sessions confused me for a while, (that was noise) but I get them now.

I tried Zwift. Got bored. Found the stuff distracting and the workouts not as well designed or flexible for what I wanted (e.g. fixed cadence demands). TR is simple - focus on that cadence and power and apply Rule 5 (as much as I can).

The only UI hassle I have is that the android and iOS apps are a bit dumb on the calendar. I am sure TR are working on this. I am willing to put up with it. The training content and advice far outweighs it.

I do find the videos a bit long and would really like a quick way to get to the specific topic I want to hear about.

On real time Coaches - I have that. It’s Chad! And I do miss him when he is not there :frowning:

29 Likes

I’m with the massive weight of opinion here.
Zwift is a distraction from focused, structured training.
YouTube is now getting full up with comparison reviews. Having used Zwift and TR sporadically I now only use TR and follow a plan. I’m stronger and more motivated as a result and don’t need or want gamification. I love the meaningful updates that the team is making to make the product better but also that they are staying true to the brand and goal: making us faster cyclists.
As an aside - the in-ride instructions are really informative as well as motivational. You’ll not get that cycling inside a volcano!!

4 Likes

Hi OP. Firstly, it’s great that you are making some suggestions for TR based on how you want to use it, regular users and contributors on here know first hand how much the team welcome constructive feedback and suggestions.

However you probably need to reflect a little as to whether your wishes are generally held by the majority of TR users, and also fit in with their strategic roadmap. I would also suggest that your thread title has a bit of clickbait about it. I don’t think there is any need for TR to ‘wake up’

A few points on your quote above.

  1. Nate has been clear that existing subscribers will never see a price increase as long as he is in charge. (personally I would be happy with reasonable increases) but that is the official line.

  2. there is no evidence to suggest that the customer base is decreasing, I don’t have figures but I would suggest the opposite.

  3. My understanding is that there are a lot of big changes in the pipeline, but they do not focus on gamification, rather utilising the massive amounts of user data they have collected over the years to help personalise our workouts and make us all faster riders. And if it doesn’t make you faster, it’s low down the priority list.

14 Likes

TrainerRoad almost singlehandedly ignited the cycling coach style podcast

Very active fb community which led to here which over time will be a very valuable training resource as more and more posts build into a searchable archive.

The calendar is fresh and above-and-beyond the competitors, both in design and usability. TrainingPeaks is about as stale as it gets in this regard.

Other Coaching - well here it’s Coach Chad. It’s not a BYOC platform which would increase the support needs exponentially. Coach Chad stays on top of current training methodologies and I totally trust his plans to incorporate tried-and-true research and methods and would love to use some of his plans re-engineered for outdoors… someday.

I’d do think a strength plan component to weave into the cycling plans would be useful and is one of the draws of SF. There are blog posts with suggestions but a just-follow-the-Plan integration would be slick.

6 Likes

Excellent points, I come here to learn more and also help others, and I have strongly held views that the forum should not be diluted by general chat, for sale etc. But I also recognise that this may not be a majority view.

Disaster was great, I really enjoyed it. But also we need to remember that it was a tough ‘event’ and not an extra workout. throw that bad boy in to your plan and you should really be adding a taper plus a decent recovery. For that reason it can detract from making use faster. the decision to make it an unofficial community event was the right one IMO.

1 Like

Another person who spent 2-3 years on Zwift noodling around and going a bit harder when I got to a segment and occasionally getting excited when Cav came roaring past me. I have improved more in the three months with TrainerRoad than in all the time I spent on there. I have a great appreciation of how to push myself.

7 Likes

These changes are quite large to both the experience and function of using TrainerRoad and, in fact, show their development roadmap and clearly reflect their core ideals. They’re exactly the changes TR should be making.

4 Likes

I think it’s important to clarify that there may be price increases but only for new subscriptions. People who keep up their monthly payments won’t have to pay more in the future.

As an additional point - If the OPs suggestions were implemented (lots of new features, intensive development time and effort) the likelihood of price rises is probably increased.

I do appreciate and understand the different views and opinions and don’t get me wrong I’m a veteran subscriber of TR and still use it Today alongside other SWs.
This is all deja-vu to me - I used to work (way back) for a company called “Digital Equipment”. This was the number 2 corporate in the world aiming to pass IBM. It had the most wonderful niche operating system VMS - very focused, very unique and with fanatic customers. Who needed Windows? this childish operating system?.. sounds familiar?
This is not about one over the other - it’s just accepting that it’s not enough to be “right” you need to be “smart”. I would rather be using only TR than having the need to seek other SW as well.
You don’t always have a specific plan or a specific target. You don’t always look to be faster. My point is that with a little more initiatives and thinking out side of the box - TR can offer much more to a much broader cycling community without losing its fundamentals and DNA - which is structured workouts and plans.

1 Like