ftp test on turbo trainer

Irish Raven

Hey all....

Quick question. ... completed the 8 min ftp test work out tonight on trainerroad on a tacx bushido smart trainer....the majority of the work out was completed in erg mode with the two 8min intervals completed in slope resistance mode, which trainerroad automatically switched two via ant+....I calibrated the turbo with the tacx app and also with the trainerroad prior to starting the work out..... well anyway....when the 8minute intervals started the resistance kicked in and it was like climbing Mount ventoux(again)... the resistance was really high.... does anyone know why this would be the case? Gearing dwn was making it slightly easier but not much, and there was no chance of gearing up! It was a mix of seated and alot of standing for test!!

FTP number wasn't too far out from what I was expecting. ... although a couple of stoppages due to feckin with the resistance in the second interval caused it to prob be a tad bit lower. ....

Any who. ....any info on similar experiences or solutions would be great....only new to the smart trainer and second time doing ftp!!

Cheers

bp_me

I find that the resistance on tyre trainers are sensitive to the pressure of the roller on the tyre. My vortex seems to work best when the initial calibration (with app) is roughly mid way. There is no need to redo the calibration again in trainer road if you are using it in ERG mode.

They can also be a little tyre pressure sensitive so just try to be consistent with that.

The FTP tests are supposed to be hard while not being impossible. You should start feeling a (tolerable) burn pretty fast.

bp_me

I find that the resistance on tyre trainers are sensitive to the pressure of the roller on the tyre. My vortex seems to work best when the initial calibration (with app) is roughly mid way. There is no need to redo the calibration again in trainer road if you are using it in ERG mode. Its important to disconnect the trainer from your phone in the app or trainer road wont be able to take over via ant+.

They can also be a little tyre pressure sensitive so just try to be consistent with that.

The FTP tests are supposed to be hard while not being impossible. You should start feeling a (tolerable) burn pretty fast.

jinkypolly

Irishraven did you see this article? That and the comments might give you some clue. Is it easy to change the resistance of the slope mode?

Irish Raven

Cheers bp_me, yeah I turned off tacx app after calibration....it worked perfect in erg mode, for the warm up, and two short efforts...trainerroad automatically changed the mode to slope resistance when the two intervals kicked in...causing the resistance to shoot right up, like in and out of the saddle steep stuff....second interval I adjusted resistance on trainer road a couple of times and was causing it to get too easy...than too tough! Was just wondering was trainerroad intentionally causing the resistance to apply so much brake! Tyre pressure is constant...it was frigging hard whatever was happening.....maybe as hard as it was meant to be!!

Yeah jinky....it's easy to change it tanto slope mode....just a different box to tick. ...although trainerroad does it automatically for the efforts....so i suppose they are taking you off erg mode and your current ftp resistance....oh...wats the article....

I think I may have initially went into too big a gear far too quickly, before the resistance kicked in in the first effort....maybe causing it to apply alot of brake or slope!! Any who. ....I know I'm not going to like trainerroad workouts after it :-(

bp_me

You could just run the trainer as a power meter instead of ant+fec for the power tests. That's the simplest solution if you think there is something wrong with the protocol.

bp_me

Ok... so for science (and because I was due one) I had a shot at the 8 minute test this morning (I had been planning a swap to the 8 minute procedure anyway so it's not a big deal for me).

The two 8 minute segments are hard and are meant to be hard (but still possible). They are Vo2max (or very close) efforts. I noticed that there was an onscreen option to reduce the resistance but I think this would defeat the purpose of the test. The resistance was set to 60.. whatever that means to trainer road.

It would be interesting if someone would check what the resistance is set to for the 20 minute test (Im not going to do it now but it is possible to jump to that point in the workout by clicking on it on the screen so you wouldnt have to work all the way through the warmup and clearing efforts).

Smalltom

I use that 2x8 minute test with 10 minute recovery in between. Your warm up is very very important so all muscles are well warmed up and I'm always sweating before I start. I kinda know what I'm able for (not a lot) and aim to make the 2nd 8 minutes harder. The two efforts should be within 10% of each other to show a level of consistency. When I finish the 2nd effort I'm hanging and it takes me about 2 minutes to pull myself back together.

Irish Raven

They are tough alright.....it's a great workout to be fair ....and the warm up for both the two 8mins or the one 20min which contains a 5 min flat out before are great...they ain't suppose to be easy!!