Hi - I’m new to Trainer Road although a few years in with Interval Training, Turbo Trainers and Rollers.
I do a mix of Road Racing, Time Trials and Track.
I have a Smart Trainer (Tacx I-Genius) and a set of Kreitler Rollers with 2.25" diameter drums (this means circa 360w for 28mph which is close enough to my experience on a typical Scottish road with a road bike).
I switched to the rollers a year ago and Training Peaks and it seemed to go ok but high wattage (700+) efforts are too difficult balance / inertia-wise so I wanted to do a bit on the Smart Trainer with TrainerRoad to prepare for a 4k pursuit this winter.
I did my first couple of sessions and seemed to struggle with ‘power-smoothing’ so I really didn’t get a rhythm going for longer efforts. I updated my trainer software, reviewed all calibrations and did the test again. It was better but similar problems once out of ERG mode and above threshold trying to get in a groove.
The ‘smoothing’ setting is a 5 secs…if I reduced that would it improve this experience?
Like most, I am time compressed so stuff not working properly is very frustrating. I like the simplicity of rollers because I throw them on the ground, jump on the bike and go (using a Power Meter for intervals).
The questions I have are
- Can I do Trainer Road on the Krietler Rollers with a Power Meter effectively?
- Can I significantly improve the ‘power smoothing’ experience with the Tacx I-Genius?
Currently, I am considering options as 1) Smart Trainer Experience improves significantly stick with TR 2) Move to Rollers and Stick with TR 3) Cancel TR and go back to Training Peaks and mostly use Rollers + Smart Trainer for occasional session.
Can anybody advise please?
Best,
Sandy