I’ve been training with the app for a couple of weeks, and I’m not sure I understand things well enough to get the most out of it. I’m totally new to the cycling world, so please treat me like an idiot
My bike is incredibly basic, giving power and cadence over Bluetooth, but does not dynamically adjust its resistance (is this feature called “ERG”?). I also don’t have a HR monitor yet.
When cycling, I match the power requirements, and for the last week it’s been difficult to match the power output target of the slower sections as I was using near maximum resistance (another half turn on the knob locks the wheel). I’m noticing that in some sections of the workout I’m being asked to put down very low wattage as seemingly high rpms (see image). In my current setup to hit the 90-100rpm target I’d be outputting like triple the power target.
I found that turning down the resistance allowed me to get 95rpm at 120W - but not having clips or proper form (maybe the issues…?) and that sort of speed I start bouncing around in a way that feels improper. Though I’ve been riding this way for a few days now and sometimes my bike starts beeping at me randomly (I feel is a fault, not rhythmic beeps or an alert, just randomly beeps), which didn’t happen with low rpm high resistance riding - so I’m concerned that continuing in this way may damage my bike if I have not already.
I’ve noted too that there’s a setting for bike weight - not sure how important this setting is, or what it governs, but should this be the weight of just the flywheel of the stationary bike? Maybe this impacts the target calculations?
Anyway. Thanks for reading - if you have any ideas on what I’m missing in terms of the underlying concepts, or what I need to do or understand to get the most out of my ride, I’d appreciate any feedback.
In summary…
• Should I be getting rpm targets ~95rpm?
• Should 95rpm be “bouncy”?
• Should I ride low resistance to achieve target power and rpm?
• Does having a basic bike matter?
• Does HR monitoring matter?
• Does the bike weight setting matter?
Hi, sorry for the delay as I said. Yes if you don’t have ERG then you need to manually adjust the resistance including lowering it a lot to hit your targets and if you have to go high RPM you have to lower resistance even more. I would say if it feels uncomfortably easy you might need to increase the power target but for most people 150w should not be uncomfortably easy even if they are very strong.
One thing that would be good to understand is what trainer you have. It’s possible the power meter is not very accurate and slightly possible this could make easy too easy for example Assuming you took a ramp test to find your 255w FTP. But generally a basic bike is just fine. The most important thing is riding consistently and that it feels reasonably comfortable (that is a longer discussion as to what that means).
Bike weight is just for calculating speed and distance to try to get to be similar to what you would do outdoors. So not important from a training perspective. This should say “Outdoor bike weight for reference” or something.
From a fitness and performance standpoint cadence (RPM) targets are very optional. Most people do their best at the natural cadence. The only reason to do RPM targets is to slowly over a long period of time increase your natural cadence which might make you a little faster, but from a fitness training perspective totally unnecessary. If you are bouncy at 95 I would lower reduced your cadence and just push it up to where it is a little faster than your natural cadence but not bouncy (or don’t worry about it at all).
Having an HR monitor is a good idea, especially if you are not sure how accurate your power meter is on the bike as it is a cross reference to know how hard you are working and a few other reasons.
Let me know if you have any more questions. Happy to help and this time likely to answer a bit faster.
Thanks for your detailed reply. Sorry for the delayed response; I rarely use a computer outside of work, and when I do, I’m usually tunnel visioned on doing something. My burden for having a box of angry bees instead of a human brain
Your info has been invaluable in my training over the past two months. Coach Jack has pushed me hard, and I’m seeing results. I’ve just stopped using this trainer from Amazon: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B0D9XM6ZV7, in favour of a wahoo - but on our topic of accuracy…
I think the power meter of the spin bike is likely calculation based from the RPM of the flywheel of a known weight - but because it’s like riding a fixie, you can dump excess power into the flywheel and sort of get it back out when you start flagging. The turbo trainer I’m on now, will not let you do that - and adjusts the resistance to match your cadence - not to mention the freewheel robs you of the ability to get energy out of the flywheel! So the cheap spin bike might be “accurate” - but the actual mechanics of riding on that spin bike are noticeably different in a way that makes my legs ache haha.
I’d like to understand Coach Jack better. I believe it doesn’t really understand the routines it is setting me - at least as far as you can apply “understand” to a generative model.
I just did this workout:
My FTP was set via ramp test, and he knows my weight and HR zones, yet the plan seems misaligned. I also noticed that the Stress figure over three weeks show zero, which seems off:
I’m starting a new plan today for the London to Brighton ride in September— the new plan looks pretty scary, so any insights on getting the most out of the program would help.
Sorry for the long message and the tangents! I too will pledge better response times, at least better than 2 months…!
Oh, I’ve also noticed that the “Activities” page seems to be getting slower and slower to load as I do more workouts. Even just hitting save after a ride these days is taking a good minute or two.
I don’t know what I expect you to do about it - but if it’s an issue you’re not aware of, or I’ve got something misconfigured, I’d be greatful if there was a fix…!
