Hi, some of the workouts have the…
…recommendation. I’m wondering what are the actual numbers where ERG no longer responds quickly enough? I have a Zwift Hub (the first version, not the Hub One) and use it in the small chainring, middle of the cassette, and it seems to respond to power changes within 2 seconds or so, regardless of whether increasing or decreasing power.
Because the start and end of a power spike are then just delayed by 2 seconds, I get the correct duration of spike workout. And much more accurately than faffing around with manual gearing.
It’s been fine for all the workouts I’ve done so far, but am (with due trepidation) eyeing up Violator, and those spikes seem to be very short. So am wondering if the recommendation is only for older Smart Trainers with a much slower response time… Would be great to know the actual numbers. Cheers!
I have a Jetblack Volt ( which is what the Zwift Hub is under the Zwift branding) Erg mode responsiveness is good 2-3 seconds as you say but above about 500W I find the jump in resistance like riding into a wall and not comparable to a real world effort.
Because the start and end of a power spike are then just delayed by 2 seconds, I get the correct duration of spike workout.
I think part of the training is Violator is to hit the sprint when the gun goes off, if you’re waiting 2 seconds for the resistance to ramp up you’re not training that starting gun response properly.
Another reason it should be Level mode all the way for Violator is that the power targets are for reference only, you’re supposed to hit every interval with everything you’ve got.
Here is my last Violator session
I drop back into Erg mode for the warm up, longer recovery sessions and the cool down which is why the power is so smooth in those sections. The first couple of sprints are lower power because I got my gearing wrong.
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Ah, excellent info, cheers.
I would ride any ride with:
1 Durations of less than 15 seconds
2 Large power variations
In level mode. The first to maintain timing, the second to prevent trainer lockup.
