Tips for newbie for Indoor training and Zwift

Greetings, I’m biting the bullet this winter and getting a turbo trainer . Can’t be dealing with cycling in darkness after work and where I am , it’s prone to high winds (great for tail wind but ..) and floods. Naturally , on days were the weather is decent I will still want to head outdoors to cycle

I am planning on getting an Elite Suito Smart trainer . This will come with a 12 month subscription of Elite My E Training

The hardware that I use outdoors include : Garmin Edge 820 (none of that fancy Training Effect data) ; Garmin sensors (I have a Bluetooth HRM) , And Garmin Vector 3s which I believe has Bluetooth capabilities (Not a garmin fan boy , honest)

The software that I use for saving my rides and analysis are :

Garmin Connect - it’s good for keeping track on gear used and a casual look at the numbers . While I do keep details on ride profile accurate it’s not too important that it’s 100% accurate

Training Peaks (while upgrade later) My main go to account to review my rides . Accuracy on all stats important .

Strava - for segments etc Handy power curve too

I see that Zwift is all the rage nowadays . I intend to use it for spins, structured work out (customise it) and maybe if deluded , the odd race . Group rides sounds appealing . Some days I just might use the garmin on its own with the trainer and hopefully there will still be days I can go outside (I like my 5-6 hours ride but don’t like being out of bed before 12 at the weekend )

I have a few questions to ask. It’s mostly to get user’s experience

1. Use Of Power Meter
I understand the the the smart trainers do a good job broadcasting their own power. I understand that one’s FTP outdoors can be different to that indoors . Despite that , I am wondering , assuming correct calibration etc is done, how close are the numbers between the power from the smart trainer and power from ones own power meter

Part of me likes the idea of using the smart trainer as the source of power , simply so the batteries on the on bike Power Meter are not used. But , I’d prefer to use a consistent source of power for training indoors and outdoors

How many users, who have crank or pedal power meters, use them when ridding indoors ? Is it worth it or can you trust the smart trainers to come close to accuracy ? How smooth will said Power Meters be when using erg mode in the smart trainer ? Would ye use the PM for racing on Zwift ? (I know that you’ll unlikely be looking at the PM and be going on feel)

2. Concurrent Recording on the Bike computer
Bar racing on Zwift or FTp tests , do ye bother turning on the garmin /wahoo head units (acting as a signal to the smart trainer) ? Is it due to the worry that internet power etc might fail on Zwift and you’d have a back up ? Or is it due to not trusting the numbers that the smart trainer may sent ? Or ye use it to record and compare a secondary source of power (ie your power meter linked with the head unit and the smart trainer looks after the power n controllable son Zwift) ?

I understand for the racers , Zwift recommends keeping a second source of power in case verification is needed

I know that ye can sync all the accounts , and that might be a bit of a pain having to delete rides due to double rides ie Strava gets both the garmin and Strava ride

So , for those who use Garmin Connect , would be be correct to assume that the recording of a Zwift activity on the garmin you would only get the power, time, cadence ,hr data but not elevation and obviously not a map ? (Elevation could be edited , right?) I assume distance and speed mean jack **** with indoor training , would this be fair ? If one looks at the activity recording from Zwift that is synced to Garmin Connect ,what ride details would be missing ?

Which of the two recoding sources would give you more detail on training peaks ?

I assume it’s more straight forward with Strava , just keep the Zwift recorded activity ?

3. Erg mode On smart trainers when working out

I don’t have too many problems meeting target power in my intervals , or pacing 100km /160 solo rides . I do take short mental breaks as I hate eating on the bike and sure , it’s not a race . However my big weakness is my cadence , especially when doing tempo and threshold. I can meet the average power needed on the road but I am certain there does be a fair bit of a segment that’s over and below the target zone due to the various road grades. I plan to properly work on cadence this winter -

essentially the aim of indoor training is to try and improve on skills that I can take out into the road - I have woeful habit of just focusing on speed (which means sfa due to variables) and power and ignore cadence . I can do zone 2 at 90-100 rpm but it feels boring and slow (I know it’s suppose to ) obviously I seek to avoid being under 80 rpm on hills

I understand that some coaches don’t allow their athletes to use erg mode , despite being helpful in not having to worry about gear changes etc . But they argue that erg mode limits a riders ability to work on all muscles and improve their technique on the pedals

I’m all for getting fitter and stronger and some nights I will just want to meet the power target without much thought , but how easy is it to change cadences on erg mode without coming to a dead stop ?

4. Zwift custom work out
As cadence will be a key part of my training drills , does the Zwift custom work out mode have an option to set cadence ? I know there’s a hack website that allows on to do it but it be good to know that it can be done via the companion app / I pad

5 . Elite Training App subscription
Does anyone with an elite smart trainer use this app? Is it any good ? I understand that some of the features aren’t available on Suito compared to their other trainers

Thanks for taking the time to read this , looking forward to yer suggestions