Before I give my opinion, full disclosure: I have used TR in the past off and on, but it’s not for me.
I just listened to the podcast segment, and I do agree with them to a point. Assuming you are already schooled in training principles and have some experience with training plans and know how your body responds, I think the main benefit of TR is to keep you training consistently and held accountable to your workouts. This is where most people struggle - they just aren’t riding enough and aren’t consistent enough - TR can really help some folks.
A basic periodized plan on your own will get you the same thing. There is no magic happening with TR plans. I have gotten quite fit by just riding as much as fits in my life. I have got even fitter by riding as much fits in my life, and then adding harder workouts targeting different energy systems over time. It just comes down to doing as much volume as you can, with intervals a couple of days per week, and not overdoing it.
I don’t disagree, but I also think TrainerRoad gives a good introduction to structured training instead of just riding as hard as you can every time. That is what many athletes ends up when using Zwift.
Yep, I totally agree. TR can certainly save you from yourself! I guess it comes down to: Do you know enough about training, and do you need to be saved from yourself from making bad decisions. The answers to these questions could make you a good candidate for TR.
Even the Zwift training plans are ridiculously intense and (last I used them) extremely rigid.
What I like about TR is that I’m pretty inconsistent and every time I hop on my indoor trainer, there’s a workout that’s the right intensity, no matter how much training I miss. But I’m also not using it to go pro… just trying to keep up with my age group at the Midweek race.
I use zwift and use my garmin to plan/record my workouts. I don’t use erg for anything and I’ll ride a flat profile for workouts so I don’t have to worry about gradients
I also ride inside more often than not, and it’s generally 14hrs a week
I just listen to music for my indoor workouts. Maybe it’s my age being almost 50, but I’ve never needed any kind of app. I rarely ride more than an hour on the trainer though and once there is snow, I do most of my easy miles outside on the fatbike.
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t use ERG mode, but I haven’t actually found a workout player that’s as useful as TR.
I could write plans myself and create the workouts myself but there’s a fair bit of extra work there.
TR has a heck of a lot more value than just their plans.
The Nero thing seems exactly like DJ and is riding the popularity of TR and a bit of a “hot take” to garner views/subscribers. A bit like Hambini, or GCN, or any other YT channel (in general).
Half of the reason I subscribe (maybe more than half) is that I enjoy the podcast. It has changed lately but I still listen and enjoy it. I think I could use any system and do ok, but the podcast has taught me a lot over the years
However, the more advanced riders I follow just use their Garmin Edge to record, both indoors and outdoors. They also use a lactate meter to determine the intensity of endurance and threshold sessions (LT1 and LT2 sessions). This means they will change the target power during the session based on the measured lactate. They typically have TrainingPeaks as the calendar.
I don’t have to use TR specifically but I need something that will come up with some sort of plan for me. I work, go to school online taking two courses at a time, and have four kids. I just don’t have the time to come up with my own plan or the money to hire a coach. I don’t rigidly follow the plan since I like to race once or twice a week on Zwift but so far I think it’s worth what I’m spending. I wasn’t sure how accurate the AI FTP estimation was until recently when I compared my most recent to a 73 min FTP test performed on Zwift. Both FTPs were very close with TR rating me at 250 and Zwift at 253. Good enough for me. Will TR get me to 300 by February when my racing season starts? No idea but I’ll give it a shot.
For highly experienced athletes/coaches, having a basic app to control your trainer is almost totally redundant.
I believe that TrainerRoad is a fantastic system for new athletes.
For those that are very comfortable programming their own training, a Zwift subscription seems a far more valuable subscription, IMO. In regards to indoor training.
Hot take
I’d go as far as saying that ERG mode has almost no place in training elite cyclists.
If you believe that to be true, which I absolutely do, then TrainerRoad has somewhat limited value.
If TrainerRoad purchased something like IndieVelo and rolled TrainerRoad into it… very interesting. I believe the TrainerRoad team could do wonders for a small platform like that.
Long term I question the sustainability of primarily indoor training software without a virtual environment.
It seems obvious to me that either Zwift will improve their training platform or someone like TrainerRoad will enter the virtual space.
Either way, having them separate just seems illogical.
With Wahoo and Zwift now being more buddy buddy I could see more integration there. They did the Wahoo cloud work for RGT to allow it to pull in SYSTM workouts, and Zwift has already added uploading of completed rides to Wahoo so having Zwift pull in SYSTM workouts isn’t a stretch.
This is the problem with so many critiques of TR. By definition few riders are elite. Being elite is very different than the general population which is most users.
