Hi Team, Spoke to a cycling coach recently, he spoke about the big no no on ERG mode. Had some friends under a coach saying the same too where they use Resistance mode instead of ERG as it gives a more realistic feel to the training. Was wondering on what are your thoughts on this and how do you define what level of resistance would be needed should you pick resistance mode? and on resistance mode do u change gears since its suppose to stimulate real world feel and situations? or am i just getting confused.
Iāve been using trainer road for quite a bit now and it has helped me get stronger and better while it being set on ERG mode. But now curious to understand why they say that the next level of training would be on Resistance mode. Appreciate your help on this. Cheers.
Resistance mode makes it much easier to ride to/by RPE, which for me is the best way to train.
Also, if Iām riding at 90rpm and lean on the pedals a bit, if Iām in the real world the cadence stays the same, the torque goes up, and the power goes up. In ERG mode, something very different happens, which always feels off to me.
Its a bit like marmite, some folk love ERG, some folk donāt. My ex coach was similarly anti ERG but when I started with TR I tried it but after a while I found it wasnāt for me but that could be down to the quality (or lack of to be precise) of my Elite Suito.
ERG for me, reduces my cognitive load, therefore helping my consistency. The whole reason I brought a smart turbo really.
When needs must, I did use hybrid rollers/ power meter and while it was fine, it was also added pain to adjust gearing and/ or resistance and/ or cadence to hit targets.
Riding in my office in front of two fans and a laptop playing Netflix will never be realistic, and I have zero interest in making easy things hard for no reason. I always use ERG mode inside, and Iāve never had any trouble maintaining consistent power outside (unless I chose a bad route in my very hilly area). If anything, ERG helps because it trains you not to cheat: you maintain the power target or you spiral. Riding to RPE gets easier with experience, whether youāre using ERG mode inside or not.
If I want to train in realistic conditions Iāll go outside. Making training inside as miserable and tedious as possible is not ārealisticā, itās just miserable and tedious. (If I need to train my tolerance for miserable and tedious, Iāll turn off ERG mode, but thankfully that hasnāt revealed itself as a limiter yet.)
I like resistance mode for threshold and above. All else I use erg mode. The higher intensities feel strange to me in erg mode. Itās all personal preference.
ERG for me. I also do workouts outside so itās not like I donāt get practice trying to hold a set power. I have no desire to make indoor training any more of a slog than it already is.
As an aside, I notice my cadence indoors and outdoors is a bit different. Indoors I feel best doing threshold at 95-100 rpm. Outdoors that just seems way to quick and Iām finding myself around 90-95. Similar thing happens with endurance where indoors I sit 90-95 and outside Iām 85-90. Maybe this is due to ERG vs no ERG? No idea.
Erg for me: A big no-no for any power test, no for any VO2 Max, Sprint, or Anaerobic Work.
Until this year I was ERG for everything, evolved that this year working with a coach. Going into next season Iām going to make an effort to do a lot less ERG to dial in my RPE and ability to ride by feel. May even pick up a set of rollers too. Iām sure there will still be times though I want to set it and forget it.
@Deej said it right! I would go with the mode that what works best for you.
Resistance Mode will definitely give you a more realistic feel since youāre having to shift, and ERG Mode just takes all the guessing out of the equation with no shifting necessary as the trainers resistance adjusts automatic.
The one thing we always recommend is to use the Resistance Mode on intervals between five and 20 seconds long, since it takes ERG Mode a few seconds to kick into the correct resistance sometimes.
Training goes beyond pushing power on intervals. There is a lot to unpack here, saw a comment or two above that starts the conversation.
Train all the things is my philosophy, so my Kickr is in sim mode being controlled by RGT or Zwift.
Yes, you usually shift gears in resistance mode. Or you can change resistance, but IMHO itās better to shift gears.
Sim mode is the most powerful mode on a smart trainer, simulates riding outside. Standard or slope mode is second best at simulating outside. Resistance is third. Erg is the least like riding outside.
Thatās about as simple an answer I could give, without writing up a 15 minute blog post.
I think that many of the VO2/Sprint/Anaerobic workouts in TR switch between ERG and resistance inside the workout. I KNOW that the 20minute FTP test does exactly that. Ramp test, not so much.
They may tell you to switch, but whether you actually do is up to the user. Iāve never encountered an automatic switch but Iāve never done the 20 and 8 minute TR Tests. All the tests I do are more custom now and require more of a focus on pacing.
I think youāre leaving a lot on the table in terms of a workout, or in some cases not getting the targeted adaptations if youāre just doing them in Erg (e.g. VO2 Max)
I think there is a huge continuum between āI ride erg for a couple TR workouts per week and ride outside the rest of the timeā and āI ride erg 15 hours per weekā. If you are in the later camp, then maybe you want to mix things up every now and then.
Q: does everybody elseās trainer oscillate power in ERG mode? For example, if I set my Kickr for 200 watts, Iāll get a rythmic cycle of 180 watts - 200 watts - 220 watts - repeat. Average watts will be spot on.