The Indoor Cyclist's support thread

Patrick said:
i've been changing positions, as if outside.
in the drops, hoods, tops, stand up. seems to have helped.
i kinda follow the zwifter avatar. even grab my bottle when he does.

TMI: i wear the removable chamois from an old baggie. not too tight, and mesh!
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Pretty sure the avatar follows your cadence under 80 standing, over 80 seated.
 
Got one these music stands on FB
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Joe J said:
Pretty sure the avatar follows your cadence under 80 standing, over 80 seated.
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Yes! below 80 on an incline, or high power.
high cadence/high power creates the sprinting position (standing in the drops) - i don't see that often 😉

could use a puking position after a hard ride. 😀
 
Patrick said:
Yes! below 80 on an incline, or high power.
high cadence/high power creates the sprinting position (standing in the drops) - i don't see that often 😉

could use a puking position after a hard ride. 😀
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I think this changed with the last update. This weekend, it seemed like once I went over 3% incline (i.e., when the 3% turns orange) I was out of the saddle. It didn't matter what my cadence was. In fact, I played with it a bit and spun a really light gear at a very high cadence and I was still out of the saddle.

(Edit: yup - it's 3% for climbing now: https://zwiftinsider.com/sprinting-update/ )

I also have another question. I think this might be related to the introduction of gravel and off-road courses. I noticed that it's impossible to keep the speed the same as it was on the road once I hit dirt roads now (e.g., the jungle loop, the dirt road before the bridge to Watopia KOM.) I thought I was just slacking, so I kicked my effort up and was pushing pretty hard in a 50:11 on a flat dirt road and my speed was still dropping. It didn't matter what I did - I couldn't keep it at what it was on the road. That wasn't always the case. I don't mind, but it's definitely different than it was and I just want to be sure it's not just me.
 
1speed said:
I also have another question. I think this might be related to the introduction of gravel and off-road courses. I noticed that it's impossible to keep the speed the same as it was on the road once I hit dirt roads now (e.g., the jungle loop, the dirt road before the bridge to Watopia KOM.) I thought I was just slacking, so I kicked my effort up and was pushing pretty hard in a 50:11 on a flat dirt road and my speed was still dropping. It didn't matter what I did - I couldn't keep it at what it was on the road. That wasn't always the case. I don't mind, but it's definitely different than it was and I just want to be sure it's not just me.
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They slowed down the gravel. @Glenn Rides After 4 PM CST pointed this out otherwise I would have assumed I was just sucking more. I had a similar experience.
 
Has anyone come up with their own steering riser block? Or found a cheap one for sale? I've seen the one that the Llama guy made but i doubt the cardboard will last a long time.
 
Will we have an indoor cyclist competition this winter? Prizes not necessary, just for bragging rights and to keep each other motivated to train over the winter. Not sure who ran it in the past, but I can help if need be.
 
Hakimaki said:
Will we have an indoor cyclist competition this winter? Prizes not necessary, just for bragging rights and to keep each other motivated to train over the winter. Not sure who ran it in the past, but I can help if need be.
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I ran it - wasn't going to do it this year. Maybe something in January/Feb/March?
Maybe link a riding, training, racing, weight goal combo?
 
What is this ERG mode?
Every time Mrs does a workout it goes into ERG mode and she can barely rotate it with the increased resistance. Then i tapped the ERG mode on the companion app and i think i turned it off and she was able to ride again.

I dont get it. Is the Snap trainer miscalibrated?
 
THATmanMANNY said:
What is this ERG mode?
Every time Mrs does a workout it goes into ERG mode and she can barely rotate it with the increased resistance. Then i tapped the ERG mode on the companion app and i think i turned it off and she was able to ride again.

I dont get it. Is the Snap trainer miscalibrated?
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You should try googling this... 🙂

Basically:
Resistance Mode - It changes resistance sort of like hill elevation. Harder hill, harder resistance.
ERG Mode - Wattage controlled. IE, if it calls for 200 watts, you NEED to maintain 200 watts. If your at 200W, you start struggling and making 190W it'll think it's too easy for you and it'll INCREASE resistance so that you make 200W. What typically happens is your cadence drops, the resistance gets harder and harder while you're struggling more and more making even less power.

Resistance mode - Riding (Zwift etc) and training. If you want to make more power at a certain resistance you make the wheel go faster.
ERG - Really only useful for workouts where you're targeting a power # in training. The trainer increases or decreases the resistance to make your output the desired wattage. If you go ABOVE the expected power it'll decrease resistance.

We ran into this recently where the assumed FTP by Zwift was higher than actual FTP. Therefore training intervals were way too high in a Zwift workout. If you get caught in the death spiral and you can't spin and get the desired power, pedal backwards and it should reset allowing you to try again.

If you're going into workouts without a true measuring of your FTP, the power expected for the intervals may just be too high for the rider. Or possibly just an off day. Doing the workout in resistance mode solves the death spiral issue, but you'll have to change gears/cadence to get to the desired power output as opposed to just spinning.

For workouts, I like ERG as it makes it brainless. I can watch TV without worrying about hitting power targets. Stay at the desired cadence and the trainer takes care of the rest.

Regardless of the above, you should be calibrating your Kickr Snap regularly. As it's wheel-on it's more susceptible to tire pressure differences.

I'm 3/4 asleep so I hope the above makes sense... 🙂
 
Make sure she sets the workout according to her FTP and not yours, and the workout should be doable in ERG mode for her. If you guys are account sharing on Zwift, it could become a bit tedious as you'll have to manually adjust your FTP before each workout.
 
Thank you! Those are much better than google general answers without explaination.

I think it is set to her ftp since she used it from the start and more than me but Where do you adjust you ftp manually?
 
Your ftp can be adjusted manually if you click on menu, and then on the orange pencil under your name. If I recall correctly, Zwift automatically adjusts your ftp based on your rides if you haven't done an actual ftp test, so if someone went on her account and mashed hard, it might have inflated her ftp. Has she done an actual ftp test? Ramp tests are nice cuz you can knock them out in 20 minutes and it doesn't destroy you for training the next day. I find that ramp tests generally provide accurate training zones, but can be inflated if you've been doing a lot of anaerobic work lately, or under-inflated if you've been focusing on endurance. So from my experience, adjust ftp as needed. Workouts are scaled to your ftp, so if its accurate, it will be doable.

To echo Santapez, be sure to do regular spin down tests (according to manufacturers recommendations). Power readings are sensitive to temperature fluctuations, that is why its recommenced to do a spin down or calibration usually after a 10min warm-up (once again, check manufacturers recommendations). Also, make sure you maintain a consistent tire pressure, fluctuations will alter power readings. Finally, make sure the firmware to your trainer is up to date!
 
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