It is in this thread somewhere, IIRC…
I don’t think it’s particularly unusual for a coach to teach spin classes. It’s actual a good way to recruit new athletes
I don’t think “credentials” necessarily always equate to being a good coach. I am familiar with coaches of Olympic athletes (in another sport) whose formal training was almost zero. Their passion and self directed study drove them to a level that yielded great results. I think being able to comprehend data, understand the personalities and limitations of athletes (both physically and mentally), understanding physiology and nutrition, all of these things feed into being a good coach. The biggest intangible that no formal certification can assess is leadership, the best coaches I’ve had were good leaders in general.
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Thanks to all of you for taking the time to post in this thread. I think we are super fortunate to have an audience that is willing to share feedback like this. 
The podcast has and will continue to change over time. As is clear in this thread, for some it has changed too much, and for some not enough (or just not in the way they’d prefer) 
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While it’s impossible to be everything to everybody, we are trying to deliver the most value to the largest amount of people we can.
Current podcast listen data shows it is more popular than it has ever been, but that doesn’t mean it won’t continue to change in the future. We’ll continue to experiment with new guests and formats, while adhering to science-based discussion and sharing personal experience where appropriate in order to answer listener questions.
In terms of the specific suggestions on this thread, there are a lot of really good ones that we will work on implementing.
The faces/voices may change, the formats may change, but in the end, we just hope you find it valuable. And if you don’t, that’s okay. If you care enough to share your feedback on how you could find it more valuable, we appreciate that so much! I believe that’s part of what makes this podcast successful.
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For actual, actionable suggestions from me.
One, bring Alex Wild back on - I assume you haven’t had a falling out, just that he was the wrong Pro around at the time you had a few loud voices complaining about “Pro” input.
Two, I definitely see value in a semi regular “Trainer Roast” section.
Hope the body has recovered from ST6.
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Agreed, I duck in and out for 5-10 minutes. Hearing Ivy laugh makes my day. Jonathan’s race report was good.
I imagine for the old guard we like the previous format but we were also listening for the personalities. The newer podcast listeners probably don’t have that same attachment to the people.
Just a guess. Stuff changes in life. Heck, I saw my ex yesterday and it wasn’t half bad. Sheesh, even we evolved. Who knew?
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Yep. It’s been averaging over 100k listens per week and increasing for some time now, and that’s PR territory for the podcast.
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It’s never been the YT that was a huge draw. It used to be on FB only and even then I imagine most the listens were via podcast apps.
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Yeah, I imagine that Spotify and Apple are the two largest sources for access.
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It’s not an unrealistic thing at all. There’s far more TR users, more people into cycling, more people with trainers, and they are now on Spotify.
You’re welcome to believe it was better “back in my day” but the metrics are not unreasonable.
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I am with you! I am sure all the new listeners are just fine. The pod is still very good. It is just different. It is like the Jeffersons with a new George or like the new Sex in the City…
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I think those of us who’ve been listening since the early days should just be thankful that we got to enjoy that era. It was brilliant entertainment.
The podcast is different now, the company is different, we’re different and the world is different.
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It’s a bit like PlayStation or something, I keep thinking I want to play a game like I used to do for hours and hours. I find I get bored after about two minutes now.
Sometimes it’s us that change more than the thing we’re complaining about.
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On popularity, what would be interesting to know is if:
- more absolute number of people are listening to the podcast now
- as a % of TR user base, are the % of TR users who listen to the podcast going up or down
You really need to know #2 above. The absolute number of listeners to the podcast could be going up, but if an ever decreasing % of the TR user base is listening to the podcast, than that would infer the podcast isn’t as relevant to the TR user base as it used to be.
Not to yuck the yum, but popularity does not prove quality. They’re two separate, POSSIBLY linked metrics.
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Yes, it is an important number, but I can make the case that it is a good thing if that number is going down…the podcast is a marketing tool to get people into the brand. If your % of TR users listening to the podcast is going up, then you are just preaching to the converted.
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Or that the TR user base is growing at an enormous rate.
I’d caution against looking at it through the lens of downloads/views. Shorter formats will likely have more views than a podcast, but podcast listeners are a very different breed than TikTok viewers. Podcast listeners are a very different breed, they tend to be loyal and very much invested.
Could you communicate this more clearly? Right now I have no idea what format you are aiming at, and my impression is that you don’t know either. Chad is gone, @Nate_Pearson seems to have shifted his focus on the business end, and Sarah is or shortly will be on maternity leave (I think)( MODERATOR NOTE: Sarah is not pregnant. We believe this poster is talking about Alex Larson, the registered dietician guest host). It seems Ivy and you are the two regulars that are left.
There is no question the two of you can turn out quality episodes, the ST6 race reviews were excellent! But in the long run, something — or rather, someone — is missing even if you want to change up the recipe.
- Absolute number of people is higher.
- Very slight increase (This fluctuates up and down by very small amounts every year.)
It’s important to note that the podcast is not specifically made for athletes that train with TrainerRoad – it’s made for cyclists and triathletes that want to get faster.
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