My first experience with Trainer Road - I did a spindown within the Wahoo app first then fired up the TrainerRoad app and did another spin down there. I followed all the instructions and used all the recommended steps and even selected the recommended gears. Go to take the ramp test, hardly any resistance at first, which is normal, but the further I go, the less possible it is reach a cadence that matches the power. I’m going 120+ cadence and it tells me I’m coasting.
I do nothing but spin out. I tried a second time, this time with harder gears and it was the same story, just noisier. Complete waste of time and super annoying. I had faith in this so just kept pedaling away hoping that was the point of the test was to try and maintain some sort of insane cadence but it became pretty clear the further I went that it just wasn’t working. I feel like throwing all of this equipment through the wall. I’m so annoyed guys. I was hoping this would be a great solution to keep me in shape while recovering from a shoulder surgery but all the bouncing around on the saddle while trying to get this thing to work has really set it off. I didn’t even get a work out in. Back to scenic rides through the swiss alps using kinomaps I guess.
Any tips? When I do feel like troubleshooting this, is there a different workout I should do so I don’t have to sit and spin through 8 minutes of warmup and annoying explanations first just to find out it still doesn’t work?
Did you fully close and disconnect the trainer from the Wahoo app?
The trainer can only handle instructions from one app, so if you left Wahoo open, TR couldn’t control it.
Are you certain the trainer was set to ERG control in the TR Devices menu?
And for future reference, you only need to calibrate the trainer once. There is no benefit to using both apps, so I’d suggest just using TR to keep it simple in one app.
I did close the Wahoo app. Just to be safe, I just tried again after completely uninstalling the Wahoo app. Same results. I tried uninstalling and reinstalling the TR app. I unplugged the trainer and restarted it as well. Same results. I am having to pedal over 100 cadence just to achieve the 37 power goal at the very beginning of the ramp test.
I also noticed that when using the recommended gears (small chainring front, middle of the rear cassette) during the spindown, I have to really spin out to achieve the 24mph.
I also tried using ANT+ instead of bluetooth but this warned me that there was no power meter connected.
- The recommended gearing you mention only applies to workouts. Use any gearing you want to for calibration. The gearing to spin up will not impact the calibration. I train i the small ring, but always use the big ring for calibration.
Not sure what, but something in your setup is off. Can you post a screenshot in the Device screen of TR with the trainer connected?
Is your first power goal 37w? If so then the trainer likely can’t hold that low of a wattage. If you pedal at over the target it will release tension and increase cadence and send you into a spiral
The “target” is 37 when I first start the ramp test.
Yea that’s the target power. I wouldn’t be surprised if the trainer can’t hold that low of a power and is bugging out.
You also may be having signal drops, seemingly lots of them. Potentially what’s happening is every time the power drops out the resistance then has to increase to keep the average for that interval on target, but your target power is so low that it may not be able to.
Where did you get an FTP of 110? I’m wondering if you set it higher it this would help
Headed to work, but flagged this to review later.
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Okay, I researched these things for a while, took a nap, calmed my nerves, and tried again. This time, I completely ignored the target power during the first 15 minutes of the test and just focused on maintaining a steady cadence. I started with a cadence around 70 and just kept at it even when I didn’t feel any difference for the first several steps. It took about 30 minutes into the supposedly 25 minute test but I finally started breaking a sweat and gradually upped my cadence to around 90 as I finally started to feel the resistance. 45 minutes into this 25 minute ramp test, I finally hit my threshold.
The first time I took the test, I thought there would be much more ‘input(?)’ into getting the target power to match the actual power and I was clearly overthinking it. I am a mountain biker (hence the shoulder surgery) so my legs only understand “uphill” and “downhill”. I was pouring in power to move the meter but apparently I just needed to keep pedaling steady and the power would adjust for me (a foreign idea to me completely). I’m thinking that Cleanneon98 was on the right track - Every time I tried to adjust the meter by pedaling harder, it would drop the resistance further, causing the spin out.
I think I get it now and can chalk this up to human error. The 110FTP that I guess I started with was what it was set at after I answered the setup questions. I’m curious what the Ramp test will be like next time and how I’ll score. I made the mistake of googling FTP averages and if the 171 FTP is accurate, it looks like I have a lot of training to do!
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That’s the longest Ramp Test I’ve ever seen!!
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Yea I don’t know how it had you at 110, but I suspect it had to do with the target power being too low. If you do the test again at your new FTP it will not be as long and that’s ok, because your FTP is now set properly. ERG mode you only focus on your cadence and it will do the rest for you
Just as a point of comparison: 19 minutes and 30 seconds is the “current FTP” spot so if you redid the test with your FTP set to 171, you could end (more likely would exhaust) at 19:30 and keep your FTP the same. Ramp test starts at 46% and goes up 6% per interval. This is VERY different between 110/171w
Glad it worked out for you 
The picture shows FTP was set to 80. I don’t think there is any trainer that can handle ERG mode at 46% of 80. Had you done this in resistance mode it would likely have been different. But you seem set to go now after your 47 min ramp test!
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