Originally Posted by
cycledogg
I like your response and information on using a smart trainer for measuring power without having one for the bike using TrainerRoad. I just went to the TrainerRoad web site and read up on how it works. It noted thatconsistent tire pressure and trainer resistance is a key to receiving accurate information of power. Can you please tell me how easy it was for you to maintain these to variables for accurate information about power?
Cheers
@
WhyFi explained this already, but from what I've seen it's worth noting that you aren't going to have massive swings in data if you forget to inflate your tire exactly the same amount or turn the tension knob an extra quarter turn, you're probably looking at very small percentage differences that may fall within the margin of error for normal power meters anyway, so it's not that hard to get reliable, usable data from "dumb" trainers when you are using a program that estimates power based on that trainer's specific resistance curve.
I used to use my dumb trainer with Zwift, and I'd leave the bike locked in on the trainer for a week or more at a time without adding any air to the rear tire. Sometimes it'd drop from 100 to ~70 psi in that time, and the data was still largely consistent for a given cadence on flat ground in the same gear.