Trust me I can compare everything when it comes to applying the red pencil.
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The alternative isn’t a gym membership, it’s putting your trainer in manual mode and riding in your pain cave with no TR graph, Zwift avatar, or Sufferest video in front of you. It’s what I did for a couple years and you can get faster on it, it just requires more discipline. What we’re paying for with any of these services is to make our training more convenient and lesson our mental stress when it comes to training. Well worth it IMO.
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I have pretty much had the same journey, conclusions and end point as you
TR and Zwift together has everything thing i need. Plans and workouts i trust, with workout distraction and light relief when it suits from Zwift
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This is why I find the cost difference between peloton and the others so fascinating.
Essentially they are converging on very similar experiences but because the cost of what they are replacing for people is different the cost of the service is different.
Like you say zwift/sufferfest/trainerroad etc are making something that can be free more fun where as peloton is bringing expensive gym spin classes into the home to make them convenient. The subscription cost seems to be related more to what the serviced replaced than the cost of supplying the service.
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Thanks TR for keeping pricing the same for repeat subscribers. Just don’t become “TrainerRoad by Under Armour” or something equally awful and I will be a subscriber for as long as I can train.
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+1, also previously purchased content. Would effectively jump me back to how I was training with sufferfest 10 ish years ago (or, ah, spinervals? although I think I tossed those years ago).
That said, as you mentioned, the convenience factor is huge.
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I don’t have enough discipline to manage my own training, I just end up riding the couch, having numbers to hit on the screen and scheduled training takes a big cognitive load off my already tired mind 
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I don’t have sufferfest. I have been with Traineroad for years on the annual program so I am sitting in a good place with no increases and a great “bang for the buck”. Lock in now folks! 
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As long as @Nate_Pearson stays CEO… … I am staying with TR and will be grandfathered. Even if he / they need to raise with inflation.
There are enough book on earth, I am with @chad and reading books during most of my rides. No other distraction necessary, I am on the trainer for the exercise and preparation to kick some backs from my boys starting spring again.
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It’s all sponcon. Every single bit of it.
I use TR for the graphic interface and very much like the calendar. The plans are good and the workout library is useful, but frankly, my old cardboard 8x8" cards with a dozen favorite trainer workouts and the lap timer button on my headunit were equally effective when in hard core training mode.
Admit I miss the Sufferfest workouts which used to be available in TR. Not the videos but the pace changes and such. When not full on training and following a plan, it was more fun to bang out something like TGTTOS than to ride 4x15 or something efficient but boring.
Was thinking of creating some workouts like that using the TR workout builder, but that no longer works with my Mac OS so no can do.
Admire the TR ethos of focus on the plan, serious training to make you faster, and the SST focus is effective and efficient. But there are other elements that could augment the platform and attract additional riders, or keep others on board when SSB 1+2 then Build then Specialty aren’t whats needed.
$0.02
Mark
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The alternative to paying for these subscriptions is not just to stare at a wall. I wouldn’t want to watch the lame videos that Sufferfest provides anyway, my Netflix/Hulu/Prime queue is always growing.
A free option with full graphic interface is ErgVideo. You can then download thousands of workouts from Trainer Day (used to be ErgDB). They also have a very easy to use workout creator, basically just spreadsheet cells that you type the intervals in and it creates your workout file. You can even plan them out with their calendar feature and send them to Training Peaks.
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I used to used sufferfest for workouts but found the videos boring after watching them time and time again.Tthey have started to move more into non vid workouts which are better. The yoga workouts are very good and is what I only use it for now.
However, an android app and apple TV version is coming soon. These could be open up the market and I do like the idea of 4DP. I haven’t used their new calendar yet so can’t comment.
There are so many options out there now that all seemed determined to offer something “unique”. Surely it won’t be long before 1 provider provides all that is needed - a comprehensive workout library and training plans (not just base, build, speciality but block training, polarised training, multi sport etc) a decent calendar (Tr is knockout), individualised training (this is the big one for me - xert does this better than anyone) a decent app (again TR does this better than anyone) a decent workout builder that allows export of erg and zwo files - xert here)
All this stuff takes development $ and I think there is only Zwift who has the resources to truly do this. They could annihilate everyone if they wanted too but they seem confused at the moment between racing and esports and gamification and their latest updates have been underwhelming. I think sufferfest “suffers” from not being the best at anything it offers.
if xert and TR combined I think they would conquer the world. xerts individualised training combined with TR’s simplicity and beautiful UI and fantastic app.
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I subscribe to both TR and Sufferfest. I enjoy the race footage and cheesy story lines. I’ll keep both but they don’t come close to what TR provides with the Podcast and variety of workouts. Sufferfest is now rolling out a calendar but it is nowhere near what TR provides.
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Awesome info and summary! 
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Abi has her own subscription option that might be less and give you more if you only want the yoga. I don’t have the discipline to do it at night so have not looked further.
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Actually it works out more expensive as I’ve taken a look. I should probably cancel my subscription really!
If all you use it for is yoga, you’d be better served by switching to YogaGlo, think it might just be called Glo now. Probably got a free month code if you want to try it, told my physio about it and she uses it now!
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I use an app called down dog. Free and paid subscriptions.
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Check out their strength training as well. Just looking at it with body weight and relatively light weight exercises that are targeted to cyclist and will leave you more sore than you might think.
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