Could you please explain how “Slope” mode really works (technically)? I use it and I love it for VO2 max intervals, but I’m curious to understand what you send to the HomeTrainer (in my case a Garmin Neo 2T)
I think you send some kind of resistance to apply. But I’m not 100% sure that you work with power and adjust the Watts while I change my cadence.
I’m asking because I’d like to translate Slope % to a kind of FTP% at a certain cadence. I’m now doing that with a Trial & Error approach
Hi, so Neo is one of a kind regarding how slope mode works in the sense they accept a weight parameter. I have never tested this and generally it’s irrelevant to the basics of slope mode from a TD perspective.
If our app says 3% we are sending 3% gradient to your neo. This simulates a 3% outdoor hill in what watts will be required to go up that hill in your current gearing. There are no automatic adjustments that occur, is much more like resistance mode. We also have resistance mode you can turn on in other setting instead of slope/sim mode.
Resistance mode is simpler to understand. Your trainer has a maximum torque or resistance it can apply of resistance to your pedalling. That roughly equates to 2200w but that depends on cadence, that might require 120 rpm to reach 2200w. I don’t know how they estimate these max watt values, but some people on lower cost trainers can hit max resistance doing low cadence (sfr intervals) because 200w at 50 rpm takes 2X more resistance than 200w at 100 rpm.
So back to sim/slope mode. The simple way to think about it is a specific slope % maps to a specific resistance. 3% slope might be 20% resistance (depends on the trainer, 20% neo is not the same as 20% on tacx flux). So overall just think of this like a spin bike where you turn the knob and have more resistance. Sim/slope is more useful when talking about virtual rides but it is more standardly supported across devices so it’s better for an alternative to erg mode.
I was interested exactly to that; I was not sure that you were able to set the “sim/slope” mode for the interval; now it’s clear that it’s controlled by the trainer, and not by your app.
