TrainerRoad - over 18 euro a month?

clod71 · 02-09-2019 12:37pm #1

I wanted to get back on the trainer and on a training plan again only to find out that now TrainerRoad has gone up to 19.95 US Dollars p/month
Are they gone mad?

:mad:

Macy0161 · 02-09-2019 1:05pm

More than just the indoor stuff now. I'm "grandfathered" in at the price I was at, but have been able to drop Training Peaks premium sub with the analytics and calendar options they have. Also, outdoor workouts live with Garmin bike computers and watches, and due this month with Wahoo.

clod71 · 02-09-2019 1:19pm

I've bought a power meter and I wanted to get on a training plan like I said... I read about the analytics, but I was totally oblivious about the outdoor thing... Did you say that now with TR you can do workouts outdoor? I have a Garmin Edge 520 and now also a pedal based PM, so if that's the case, this is becoming a lot more interesting all of a sudden...

clod71 · 02-09-2019 1:24pm

wow, this is a game changer!

https://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/360024352332-Outside-Workouts#targetText=Outside%20workout%20files%20uploaded%20to,sync%2C%20or%20through%20manual%20upload.&targetText=Not%20everyone%20has%20a%20way,can%20manually%20complete%20outside%20workouts.

If you have a power meter, outside workouts can be sent directly to your Garmin head unit. This allows you to follow a workout directly without writing down the instructions of the workout. For more information on how to push a workout to your Garmin, click here.

Miklos · 02-09-2019 1:30pm

It's a lot cheaper than a coach, let me tell you!

clod71 · 02-09-2019 1:35pm

I'm glad I bought a power meter as opposed to a smart trainer now...

joey100 · 02-09-2019 1:39pm

Yep can now do workouts outside on a garmin. And I think they alter any parts of the workout too that may make it difficult to do outside, trying to make it more outside friendly. I'm 'grandfathered' in too, think I pay 8 euro a month. I'm not sure there's a better 8 euro (or probably even 18 euro) a month I could spend on my cycling. Most of the sessions are easily replicated and you could do them without having trainer road, just using your computer and power meter but personally something about having that line on the screen makes me work harder.

dahat · 02-09-2019 1:43pm

Miklos wrote: »

It's a lot cheaper than a coach, let me tell you!

Agreed but as a former TR user the plans brought me so far but when my racing progressed the coaching brought it to another level that with two winters of TR couldn't get me.

It all depends on what you want from your bike at the end of the day.

Macy0161 · 02-09-2019 2:32pm

joey100 wrote: »

And I think they alter any parts of the workout too that may make it difficult to do outside, trying to make it more outside friendly.

Yes, they are modified. It's not a direct like for like, more training benefit based taking into the realities of outside workouts. I don't think they've reworked every inside workout, but as far as I'm aware most have an outdoor alternative.

When you're scheduling a workout you just select "outside" and it puts that in the calendar and pushes to your garmin. If you're scheduling a training plan on the calendar, you can pick which workouts on what days, and do (for example) every Saturday as the outside option. I'm still waiting to test them as I have a bolt. Planning on at seeing whether the outside workouts work better on the non-smart hybrid rollers I use for a lot of my workouts.

The Calendar is great, as you can work back from your A Race/ Main event. And you can sync it with external calendars. About the only functionality it's missing is the automatic upload of non-cycling activities.

The only bad thing about the calendar and outdoor workouts is that they're so dead against HR measures. If you don't have power, it's all RPE.

Miklos · 02-09-2019 2:51pm

dahat wrote: »

Agreed but as a former TR user the plans brought me so far but when my racing progressed the coaching brought it to another level that with two winters of TR couldn't get me.

It all depends on what you want from your bike at the end of the day.

Totally agree. I raced through A4 on a TrainerRoad program but once I got out it didn't quite cut the mustard for me.

joey100 · 02-09-2019 2:55pm

What do you think was the big limitation of trainer road compared to the coach? Trainer road not individual enough?

dahat · 02-09-2019 4:21pm

Miklos wrote: »

Totally agree. I raced through A4 on a TrainerRoad program but once I got out it didn't quite cut the mustard for me.

Exactly the same position as I was in. I landed in A3 as a strong A4 with a win & 4tj place across a season. However it was obvious very early that in order to avoid being dropped on a regular basis I needed to make the next step.

dahat · 02-09-2019 4:26pm

joey100 wrote: »

What do you think was the big limitation of trainer road compared to the coach? Trainer road not individual enough?

TrainerRoad is fantastic and I credit my A4 win to the work done there but its general stuff that is nor specific to a riders needs or weaknesses.

The one to one aspect cannot be underestimated but its a two way process, honest self assessment is critical in order for coach to give sessions or blocks that are suitable.

Don Juan II · 03-09-2019 8:42am

I was on TR for a couple of years - thought it was brilliant (as an A4/A3).
However, I stopped using it and started using Golden Cheetah ... that brought me to A2 and then A1. It's Open Source software (i.e. FREE)
https:// www .goldencheetah.org/

There are 2 keys aspects to Golden Cheetah:

1. Using it while sitting on the turbo like Trainer Road (you can download 4,000+ different workouts from here: https: // ergdb.org/ or easily make your own ... i.e. copy your favourites from TR)

2. Analysing your training. Once you have months/years of data training with a PM, Golden Cheetah will give you a form/stress lines. It takes a bit of getting used to, but it's an incredible tool and will get rid of the need for a coach. All this PM data can be gathered on the trainer or on the road.

#2 above is very like Training Peaks. If you want to peak for a specific race in 3 weeks time, you can work backwards from that date and design a specific training load that will have your "form line" in the graph peaking while the "stress line" in the same graph dipping.

(sorry - I can't post links yet as I'm a new user)

bren_mc · 12-09-2022 9:01am

I have a trainerroad sub (at the "grandfathered" rate of $10/month) that I don't intend renewing. Username, email and payment method are all updateable so if anyone is interested in taking it over, let me know.