Everyone is focusing so much on their personal definition of FTP that they seem to be missing that the updates have added one of the most requested features of all time, WLV2.
Now it’s not called that, you don’t get a PL/AL increase after doing an outside ride, but that is because it doesn’t matter anymore.
You do now get credit for all work you do outside, the work is what matters, not the level. It looks at what you did outside even if its unstructured and not associated with a workout and with that data will adjust the up coming workouts.
My very first experience with the Beta was just this. I had taken some time off put some workouts on the calendar but didn’t do them. I did a little local holiday ride (lights on bikes/trailers ride around town) and that was the first input I had for months other than some swims and strength training. I logged in to move my sat ride I skipped to sunday and it actually bumped up that ride due to me actually getting on the bike the night before. It saw I could put in the work based on the data it had from that ride.
I’m not sure how this is getting missed. People screaming about not wanting the updates because they don’t like a couple percent FTP change or it shows a yellow box even though it didn’t change anything and ignoring that the changes are a lot more than that.
Of course this is totally awesome, and what I initially though might be there with the earlier versions of TR AI but wasn’t. They kinda piecemealed in different updates (RL/GL, Solo/Group rides…) but it never was utilizing data from free rides as far as I could tell. When I started seeing the limited info and posts on this new version, this is what I was hoping they finally did. I’m looking forward to resubscribing and trying it after having dropped my subscription figuring I go elsewhere for awhile.
To add to that, TR AI calculates/works with PLs differently than before.
When you complete a workout in one zone, you get credit in other zones.
If you do badly and e. g. don’t reach your power targets during the last workout, it will only award you partial credit. If you overachieve, you will get more PL points credited to your accounts.
Outdoor rides totally influence your next workouts, i. e. if you do well during an outdoor ride and you are well-rested, TR AI will totally serve you a harder workout. This, in my mind, solves the problem that WL v2 was meant to.
Yup this. I think it does WLV2 better than people wanted. There will be some pushback on not getting level credit for it I’m sure. But since you didn’t do specific things it now just looking at what work you did and what work you can do it will be better long term.
Happy to confirm this as it has been one of my bugaboos with the whole WL/PL system. In fact, it was done to previous workouts (sweet spot level went up without doing a workout when the update hit.) I did Antelope +2 a few weeks back which is labeled at 5.5 but I was about 4 watts up on each interval for completion so it had it labeled as a 6.0. Now if they have adjusted the “decay” rates for the PLs to make a bit more sense I’ll be pleased with the whole affair.
I don’t really use the AI so it’s not a huge concern so it’s more of an “on principle” thing. The issue being I’ve had “endurance” decay while doing tons of sweet spot (or higher) workouts. Or I’ve had sweet spot decay when I’ve been on a threshold and Vo2 kick. Didn’t effect anything other than make me wonder how they can justify having the software tell me my “endurance” is waning while I’m completing workouts that require quite a bit of it. Undermined the credibility of the system to say I could do said antelope workout or even hard cheese but my endurance PL level technically wouldn’t recommend brasstown or the like. Really just irksome but all the same I’m hoping they fixed it.
You get credit for other zones now. partial credit for workouts that you may not have done to a T but still got through. That is using the ai to do that.
I did something similar at the beginning of the Beta coming from the off season. Did something similar, rode some random group rides on Zwift to get the legs moving again and saw my plan change to harder workouts the more rides I did on Zwift.
