I know TR is gathering further ANT+ data into the app like battery life. Any chance you can enable L/R power for those using dual side power meters?
I get the majority of the customers are using smart trainers, and most PM’s are single sided, but there is no better situation to analyse power balance than a trainer session. Especially when the variables can be highly controlled, like doing the same workout and seeing the balance varies. For most road cyclists it might not be that important, but receiving lots of bumps and knocks in CX/MTB races I definitely see big changes in L/R from the injury/soreness to fully recovered.
And before anyone says it, yes, I know I can run the Garmin headunit, but I want the historical data. Worst case TR, can you just send the data on so the upstream API data programs can analyse it? Your app is awesome, would prefer to see it there, and bonus if it was available on screen.
I would love to see a live 60 second rolling average of my L/R balance while training on the app. Although that is probably a pretty niche feature relatively speaking.
Very niche, but I know the TR guys are fans of PM’s and power based pedals. The data is there for the taking. Again, even if TR doesn’t present it, can you record it anyway? So at least, dare I say it, TrainingPeaks can tell me? DISCLAIMER I am a financial supporter of TrainerRoad, but I still import my data into the free tier of Training Peaks for the L/R balance assessment.
As TR becomes more than just indoor training (Analytics/Calendar) this data is more and more critical. And again, it’s there for the taking, it’s Ant+.
L/R power balance information can also useful in the context of recovering from injury. That’s my primary use of it and the main reason why I bought a dual sided power meter.
We could record it and send it up. I don’t feel like it’s a useful metric. I do hear about using it for injury recovery…but I don’t know how you do that.
We’ve got higher priority (in our opinion) features to do so this one might be pushed out for a long while.
Thanks @Nate_Pearson, definitely get it’s not a priority for the majority doing the TR workouts. But TR analytics / calendar is now focused on outdoor rides too, so having that data in the analytics page would be ace. At least pass it along for now so those of us who have dual PMs can see it elsewhere when it’s the TR app that is recording our rides.
@Nate_Pearson I like it bc it helps me review my pedal stroke. I’m normally within 1-2% but some outdoor rides I get sloppy and it shows. I’d be curious to know how I do in the training environment as well.
I just had a conversation about this with a higher up of a BIG power meter company. They said that the research isn’t conclusive. They think that it might actually be beneficial to not be 50/50. There might be evidence that the leg that is doing less work kinda has a reserve that kicks in when you really accelerate, kinda like a booster.
I think it’s more important to just focus on the basics. FTP increase, skills, nutrition, recovery, then hone the knife for the type of riding you’re going to do. Maybe throw in equipment after that.
I broke my pelvis little over 2 years ago. Being 70 now it has taken awhile to recover.
I used balance on power meter to gradually increase power back to my right side. Continued using after I had some 50/50 sessions. Then noticed I was starting to over compensate with right leg. It did help I think seeing what was happening. Since Spring I have not paid much attention to balance, but I think it helped me in getting back to normal.
I know at one time some were saying that getting balance in leg strength was the easiest way to increase power. I am not sure that is correct, because in the real world there are too many variables to deal with and power is power.
I injured my SI joint in my left hip a year or so ago. My right quad was killing me in base training last year. Wondering if my injured left leg could be lazy I tried powertap pedals. Low and behold my left leg was slumming. I started concentrating on using left leg muscles more and as power differential left to right improved with concentrated effort my right quad stopped getting pumped up and tired.
That said though I have funky thing going on probably like Nate said one leg kicking in as booster. My left leg tends to be lazy and lower power at endurance efforts (L2) but when going hard like ftp tests my left leg is often like 5% higher power output than left - guess my left is a booster.
Even now if my right leg gets hurting or overworked feeling I concentrate on trying to work my left leg a little harder and my right leg starts felling normal again.
After some MTB injuries I was consistently at 60/40, I could tell something was wrong after a few months with the Osteo I was back very close to averaging 50/50. I do realize that this is niche data, but it’s every helpful if you suspect something is not right.
Sure, but it’s also dropped off when I stopped seeing the Osteo (and stopped doing the prescribed stretches). Also, balance went way off after a big MTB crash, so I use the balance a metric now that keeps my pedaling even and is a good indicator of being recovered after an injury. I guess we can argue the value of L/R or the lack of value, but in the end, all I’m asking for is that it get passed along from the TR app to the sites that I sync with.
Even if there is not a lot of conclusive evidence about what to do with the information yet, as someone who’s just started a program, I’d like to see if there is any progress in improving my pedaling technique given all the single-leg and quadrant drills which are part of the workouts. I’d at least like to see it in Garmin Connect even if you’re not interested in showing it for the moment.
I do agree with previous posters that seeing it live during quadrant and single-leg drills would be beneficial. From my own experience, I’ve seen that I’m nearly 50/50 during lower power efforts, but that the difference skews to 55/45 in higher efforts. When I entered the results into the Training Peaks WKO analysis tool, it seemed like my right leg was absorbing/negating some of the left leg power, likely by not unweighting enough. I think that would be useful to correct. On a side note (or study proposal), as a triathlete I’d like to see if there’s a difference in run performance of someone who is 50/50 vs an imbalanced.
I second this, and I’ll raise it. I’d love to see support for advanced metrics like those sent by Powertap pedals. Even if we’re not sure (yet) how to derive objective conclusions from the data, I’m positive it’s relevant for pedaling quadrant drills. I’ve just recently discovered the live advanced metrics beautifully displayed in the Rouvy app and I can vouch for their relevancy when working to improve my bad pedaling technique. When coach Chad tells me to focus on kick and pull (or any other drill, really), not only I feel the difference, I can see where in the pedal stroke it’s happening, and whether I’m actually doing what I hope I’m doing.
Granted, not all power meters provide this data, but I do think that support for this feature should be on the roadmap, especially as the protocols for transmitting this kind of data become more standardized.
Can I second having this Left Right balance and other stats as well please. I do TT and find my L/R balance shifts with position and cadence/power. My physio says I have a right hip flexor weakness and I see 54/46 l/r balance on the TT bike (sometimes much wider) but 50/50 on the road bike. @Nate_Pearson
So having this is very useful. I use vector 3 pedals and end up sending the v3 data to Garmin connect (via my Garmin watch) whilst the TR data goes there as well. I then have to look at the Garmin file copy the headline data into the TR file and copy the full list with segments and L/R data into a separate spreadsheet. (I am marking each segment and sometimes sub segments on my Garmin watch)Otherwise I have two copies of the session.
I would love to have this in one file so I can track changes over time with much less faff.
It would also help me to track the effectiveness of the exercises I am doing to try and fix it.
I’m on vacation this week and rode a wattbike at a local gym. It shows instantaneous L/R balance, and a summary at the end of the ride.
The instantaneous data is not very helpful as it bounces around too much.
The summary at the end of a 60 minute sweet spot interval ride showed a 50/50 balance, with max torque at 86 and 77 degrees respectively for L and R. I also noticed there is more of a dead spot at the top of the left pedal stroke, which indicates it takes longer for me to get power down on the left leg - hence the later angle for max torque on my left.
It was interesting data, but I’m not sure what I’d do with it. When I’m riding, I don’t feel any discomfort with my pedal stroke, or any unbalance, so I don’t feel any need to change.
Maybe If I was more unbalanced, and if I was having issues with my pedaling form, it would be useful.
Same experience since I got my Quarq a couple weeks ago. Every workout/ride I’ve done so far I’ve been 50/50 with the exception of one where I was 49/51. I looked at all the data and said, huh, interesting. But I haven’t found a reason or concern to do much more with my new found information .
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