I am of the world of dumb trainers and I’m thinking of getting a smart trainer. Due to me being Campy and my wife being Shimano I’m looking at a wheel on trainer, which also happens to be more cost-effective. The one drawback is the requirement of a warmup/spindown calibration prior to each ride, which for a time-crunched cyclist such as myself eats up valuable training time.
I understand that we can control the trainer resistance now with Trainerroad via Powermatch. Just wondering if this eliminates the requirement for a spin down prior to each ride? I have Assioma Duo pedals as my PM.
Fwiw I’ve been looking at either the Saris M2 or the Wahoo Kickr Snap. Any opinions on either of these trainers greatly appreciated. Neither of us Zwift and would mainly be using the trainer in ERG mode with Trainerroad.
You generally wouldn’t need a spin down, but TR still recommends it for best power match performance. I’m on a Kickr Core and I spin down about once a week or when the temp in the garage changes significantly ride to ride. It’s not imperative to do each time with power match.
That said, it doesn’t add much to your ride time… execute your warmup ramp, then in the downtime between warmup and work interval, conduct the spin down. Takes about fifteen seconds.
Haha, I knew the warmup was recommended prior to calibration via my research, just never thought to incorporate it as part of the actual workout warmup. Thought I’d have to warm the trainer up, calibrate, then start the full workout.
Didn’t realize that a spin down was still necessary when using an outside power source, since the external power meter takes over the internal one of the trainer. I understand the trainer may apply resistance a bit differently once it has warmed up a bit, but isn’t a spin down essentially to calibrate the internal power meter at the correct temperature? FWIW I generally do a spin down every few months. Hell, I did 15 weeks of TR last year and never did a single one, and I wasn’t using powermatch last year either.
Just having trouble understanding how this matters with an external power source given the experience above. Maybe it is different for direct drive trainers?
It’s not expressly necessary. TR recommends it for best performance. As mentioned, I spin down my Kickr Core not very often at all, and I don’t notice a difference in my trainer performance. I zero offset my pedals every ride.
I only spin down when garage temp changes quite a bit, and when initially setting up a trainer after moving it… or whenever the spirit moves me.