Originally Posted by MoAlpha

...and what's wrong with that? At least it was short.

Originally Posted by indyfabz

And it's getting longer.

Originally Posted by indyfabz

How do people dig up obscure, old threads like the 98.5 or around the block one that was dormant for almost 9 years?

Originally Posted by WhyFi

Well... eh. Felt good to get in a workout, really good. Even with the drop in saddle time in the last month, I'm still hitting the trainer in better shape than usual. So I got that goin' fer me, which is nice.

The visuals and game aspect didn't do much for me, though. If I had people online and chatting, I could see how it could break the monotony and be a nice proxy for group rides when the weather isn't cooperative... but what about the most important part, the post-ride beers?

Originally Posted by LAJ

It's the related topics dealio at the bottom of the page.

Originally Posted by indyfabz

How do people dig up obscure, old threads like the 98.5 or around the block one that was dormant for almost 9 years?

Originally Posted by rjones28

Search function and don't pay attention to dates.

Originally Posted by mvnsnd

Seems that what you want more of is slope mode, where the slope is set and resistance increases with increasing power.

But erg mode is good for a couple of things. I like it to help me stay in Zone 2 for instance. If I want to do an hour of zone 2, then I just call up a hour long zone 2 "interval" and don't worry about trying to adjust my effort to the virtual terrain. Same for tempo or threshold. Just start the workout, ride for whatever time and exit the workout.

The other is actual structured intervals. If I want to program a workout where intensity varies a lot with time, I'll use erg mode to 'help' keep me at that power level. You can vary cadence and the power will adjust accordingly. However, one has to be aware of the double feedback system between your own effort and the trainer trying to maintain a set power level.

I find it hard to actually maintain a given power level outdoors with terrain and traffic, so the trainer really helps.

Originally Posted by ksryder

I dug this one up: https://www.bikeforums.net/general-c...l#post21196365 by searching through the archives until I found what I believed to be the oldest thread still existing on Bikeforums.

I spent more time doing that than I care to admit.

This was also a special case because I wanted to find a 20-year-old post.

Originally Posted by indyfabz

But the thread is pretty unique/narrow. I could see if one were searching for a shoe or helmet thread.

Originally Posted by indyfabz

And it's getting longer.

Originally Posted by ksryder

A fun thing about those ancient threads is to see the number of users on them who are now banned.

Originally Posted by WhyFi

Goodness gracious. I was poking around the Flyfby section on the Zwift ride and saw a pic from one dude's ride - it showed 266 watts... and that was almost 5w/kg. Either that's a small dude or a big liar.

Originally Posted by MoAlpha

There seems to be a lot of weight doping on Zwift.

Originally Posted by WhyFi

I suppose that there's also the possibility that the w/kg calc was lagging behind the output and his power had just dropped/dipped?

edit: eh, maybe not. Max power on the ride was a hair over 300, which would put him at a more realistic (but still pretty light) weight, like @datlas territory.

Originally Posted by WhyFi

Zwifting in progress. Come at me, bros.

Originally Posted by WhyFi

Yeah, I worded it poorly, I should have said that the output stays put, rather than the resistance. In any event, it's the idea of that inverse reaction that I'm not so keen on - if I'm motoring down the road, and I do nothing but increase my cadence, my resistance and output will both increase. If I'm looking to get stronger in the real world, I don't see why I'd want the mechanics to be totally out of sync with that. And yeah, shifting in the real world obviously lets you hunt for the right zone for desired cadence/torque/output, but there's still that difficult second-to-second variability that you mention, and I feel like dealing with that is important to the struggle.

I only have a couple of IRL friends that train with smart trainers, so the sample size doesn't mean anything, but TBH, they're not as strong IRL as they are on the trainer. One of the guys in particular is within 10-15w of my trainer FTP, but a good deal lighter (prolly 30lbs, even now). Yes, my short-term power curve is different than his, but there still should be lots of instances where he crushes me IRL... yet those moments don't materialize.

Of course, I reserve the right to change my mind on the matter should I buy a new toy trainer in the near future.

Originally Posted by ksryder

There's a lot of cheating on Zwift.

I haven't done a great deal of group rides on Zwift because for the most part I'm content to go climb the Austrian mountain if I have an hour or the Alpe du Zwift if I have 1.5 hours. The handful of group rides or races I've done have gotten strung out and disorganized in a hurry, and there seems to be a lot of sandbagging even in the C and D groups, and the lag time between my output and when my little Zwifty Avatar responds still throws me off.

But all that said I've found the group rides are kind of fun and are a good way to get in a quick workout as well.

Apparently there are various Discord serves set up so you can put on a set of earbuds with a mic and log in to Discord and chat with others in real time while you're all on Zwift. I've never had any success actually talking to other people though, I always seem to miss the rides in which that is taking place.

Originally Posted by WhyFi

Yeah, slope mode (hadn't heard of that before) sounds like it's more in line with the ol' KK and what I'd want to use most of the time.

Hadn't thought about the virtual terrain playing with effort - does it actually do stuff like reduce resistance on down slopes and make you crank up the wheelspeed to hit the your power figure (like IRL) or something? That'd be dumb.

And yeah, now that you mention it, there are some intervals that look totally stupid without erg - I'm thinking of those with a bunch of needles of high power. Frankly, I just avoid stuff that's crazy peaky like that.

Originally Posted by datlas

Crash on today’s ride due to lead rider colliding with a deer. The deer ran away. Rider has concussion. He will be ok, I expect he will be off the bike for a few weeks.

Stupid deer.