New to triathlon and cycling other than a few triathlons I did In 2012. Getting Back into it now and buying a bike this month. I know nothing about watts or any sort of structured bike training. For my previous races I was running marathons at the time so I incorporated some random bike work in a few times a week for the few sprints I raced.
I want to train much smarter now and due to my work situation I can ride on a trainer any time in the office. I had every intention of getting a computrainer but found some posts on here not recommending it. Then saw DCs blog recommending the kickr. Is this still the consensus here?
Btw, I want something easy to use since I don’t know anything about bike training. I don’t know ftp or even what that is. First I’ll just be working on fitness since I havent rode in a while. No races planned yet.
So is kickr the way to go? Noticed it’s on backorder so that sort of sucks.
The references to power on slowtwitch are all I know about it. I don’t know where I should be at power wise or anything. Was hoping a good product would determine all that but could be wrong.
Any recommendations for a power meter and fluid trainer?
I have a Kickr that I used all winter and like it a lot. It’s pretty heavy so not something you want to lug around every day. You can use it as a normal trainer, but for me the real power is using ergo mode. I control mine via trainer road on a laptop with a USB Ant dongle.
To do structured training, you need to do some study and understand what you are trying to do, how to test yourself and how to use the data. It takes some interest and motivation. If you are a person who “just wants to ride” without learning about the bike, it would be a waste of money and a fluid trainer is ok option.
It takes some focus to train indoors, but it also pays good dividends.
The key to riding indoors is 1)Really good fan(s) 2) something to motivate you… this could be a combination of workout videos, a power meter to accurately gauge when your slacking off. I’m pretty well sold on the Sufferfest series. I only have 4 videos so far, but they are good motivation to try and match or beat previous PR’s for normalized power or TSS. 3) Good bike fit/position that you can hold. This can take weeks to adapt to however. But once you have it right, you can ride aero for hours straight… even on the trainer. The seat shape/design and pad location and spacing makes or break comfort.
Even magnetic trainers work fine too… especially if you have a power meter to make sure you’re hitting you target intensities. They have some limitations and you need to do a little more shifting… but I have a couple thousand miles on mine this year and I’m no worse for wear and can’t reasonably justify $300+ to replace it with something better.
I would say start with virtual power on TrainerRoad.com (they offer the first month free if you don’t like it) … and get a fluid trainer. If portability is any concern, I’d recommend the Kurt Kinetic Road Machine. It’s bomb proof, and they have great customer support if you need it. Trainer Road will walk you through all the basics of determining your FTP, and that will help set a baseline for everything you do on the trainer going forward. If it feels like that sort of structured training is working for you, then I’d think about investing in a power meter and continue with Trainer Road.
I like the idea of power on my bike for outside rides. I just didn’t realize you could use software with fluid trainers which is why I was thinking computrainer or kickr.
I have a MacBook Pro. If I go that route, exactly what do I need to buy? Powermax, kk roadmachine, subscription to trainer road. Anything else?
If I go with kickr It’ll be the same type training right, just no power for outside rides? Anything else I need with it?
Also, do you need access to Internet for every ride? I have Internet at work but it can be slow at times.
This is a great way to start for cheap. Training with power is the best way to improve and analyze your training. And virtual power with Trainer Road for a month is a great value. Once you get settled, look at PerfPRO Studio (if you want to own the software and not pay monthly fees, personal choice).
As far as CompuTrainer, I have 6 running 4 sessions a week and they’re not only bombproof, they’re easily found on the used market and hold their value over time very well.
