I do all of my inside/winter workouts on rollers and I’m trial’ing Sufferfest at the moment. I find that I can hit pretty much any interval on my rollers although standing is a little tricky. Honestly standing really isn’t that big of a priority for me… my biggest issue is that I have Sportcrafters rollers with the OverDrive drum (progressive resistance) and use virtual power. Whoever mapped it for Sufferfest did so very generously.
I historically use PerfPro that has some Sufferfest workouts in it without vids and they’re tough to do. They have a map power profile that is a bit more accurate. I digress at the end I’m barely hanging on but in the actual Sufferfest program they’re much easier. So much so I’m letting some air out of my tires.
You should be fine with measured power with your pedals. I find riding rollers to be great for training, balance and bike control vs. being strapped to a trainer.
+1 for rollers for all indoor training. I’m using Sportcrafters OverDrive rollers as well (bought them four years ago, started with virtual power, but since about a year and a half I’m using Garmin Vectors). Everything said about concentration is true, I still have the rollers setup next to a wall (saved me many times:)
Pros:
Gives you a really smooth pedal stroke and improves balance
Easy to setup and switch between indoor and outdoor (no special tyre, no fastening to trainer)
Cons:
I bottom out on low-cadence high power (can do about 90%FTP at 55 rpm)
Fast changes in power/cadence (like in most race videos) are hard to do
Emotion rollers, pretty much every session. The only thing I think I’m losing out on is out of saddle max intensity, but I’m not racing sprint finish events and can still hit 1100 watts as a seated sprint I’m not stressed.
I use CycleOps aluminium rollers (dumb magnet for resistance) for all indoor sufferings. Bike has Powertap hub. My opinion is that the sessions are possibly 10% harder on the rollers all things being equal. You cannot “switch off” on the rollers. And your core is under stress on the rollers similarly to the road. A rigid trainer is not like this and your body will adapt to it and learn to cheat subconsciously. High cadence efforts are more effective as you cannot allow bounce on the rollers - the penalty is landing on your arse. One legged pedalling is much more difficult - obviously. Out of the saddle efforts are only possible at low cadence unless you have the balance and reactions of a leopard. Balance Will Improve Significantly. Even taking a drink requires more effort. Blacking out at the end of intervals can result, not in blessed oblivion, but serious injury.
If I am being honest, I don’t think anyone not using rollers is a true disciple of the flaming chamois. Kickrs and the like are basically for couchlandrians in denial.
Yep I only use rollers for indoor workouts (unless away in a hotel and use their spin bikes) I do all Sufferfest training on the rollers and I love it!! The constant focus to stay up right is a proper workout for body and mind.
I find the HIIT workouts the most difficult, like Violator and Revolver. Then the workouts that have lots of changes of power / cadence. Especially when they change in opposite directions i.e. power down / cadence up…
Hi I’m new to Sufferfest, rollers (Tacx Galaxia with Wahoo Tickr, Wahoo Cadence Sensor and Wahoo Hub speed sensor) and cycling in general really. I’ve just done a half monty as part of the free 14 day trial and I’m surprised to find my 20 min FTP is 36 watts. I am 47 and 110kg (194cm or 6’4” in old money) and although admittedly I’m unfit I still feel like I’ve setup the settings incorrectly.
Can anyone help? I’m on a 700x35c wheel, I know I need to increase the tyre pressures but they’re not so bad as to result in this figure.
It’s been really encouraging to read posts from @MaximusContinuous and @Stocko as everyone I speak to seems to imply that I need to buy a £500 smart turbo trainer or spend £500 on a pair of power meter cranks.
Any help much appreciated.
Cheers
Did you set up Virtual Watts in the app via the Devices menu when you’re starting a workout?
I don’t see the Tacx Galaxia in the list, but you could try either the Feedback Sports Omnium or the Inside Ride Emotion Rollers on L0 as an approximation. The power numbers will probably be wrong, but should at least be repeatable. You won’t be able to compare your numbers with others, but they should work for you across your power tests and workouts.
Yes I set it up but I think I messed it up by selecting a dumb trainer rather than rollers. I’ll do another test tomorrow (if I can walk, if not then Saturday or something) and use your proposed settings.
Thank you so much, I really like the app, the initial ride was fun (I didn’t have virtual power switched on, just speed and cadence and HR) and I enjoyed the yoga and I’m looking forward to the strength and particularly the mental focus / strength training.
Hi, I’m glad if i’ve been able to offer any help or words of encouragement. .36w is definitely wrong. It is important to configure the setting correctly as they all make subtle difference, tyres too. And on tyres I run tubless on the road however on rollers they won’t hold the pressure i want to run well. so when lazy pump them up to the max(but they go down) or swap them out and put tubes in so i get them rock hard (c80psi road - 110 psi rollers). If a low psi they bike will feel slushy / bouncy and for me a bit unstable.
Agree absolutely with way9e0 about your relative/repeatable numbers. It’s what the workout is doing for you that is important and it’s not about comparing your numbers with others (unless you want to go down the (anti) social media rabbit hole). Try and get things set up so that when you are in your lowest gear at 85rpm (or your comfortable ride all day cadence) you are reading 100 watts - this gives you a range to start from - it doesn’t matter if its a little high or low. When The Sufferfest started about ten years ago all the workouts were based on perceived exertion, and if you are honest with yourself, that can be very effective. For me the biggest advantage of power readings is the ability to show when you need some recovery time. My two cents. Forget about 20 min FTP and 4DP for now. Have a go at Revolver. Do it properly. And properly means that for someone who is not trained you are unlikely to get much past halfway before exhaustion. You should be going too hard for the first two or three intervals when using perceived exertion. After that see what you can just about hold for the next three or four intervals. If you estimate your FTP as being about 80% of what you are reading during these intervals this will give you a rough guide to base your numbers off. Repeating myself, this is a very rough guide, everyone is different but hopefully it is a starting point.
Good Luck!
I applied all of your advice today guys and did another half monty with much more favourable (and I think accurate) results, I still had gas in the tank at the end of the ramp test but at least now my workouts will be more tailored to my ability.
Really enjoying the app. Couldn’t get swift to work and figured as all my sensors were Wahoo this app should work out and I’m very happy with it. Also managed to raise my backside off the seat and ride for about 10-15 seconds today which was a relief after 50 mins on the half monty, using one hand is getting easier to reach for drinks and a towel now too, I think my core must be getting stronger and the increase in tyre pressure has really helped stability as well.
Thanks so much @way9e0@MaximusContinuous@Stocko
Oh and my new FTP is 115 watts which is much closer to the real number I think but the ramp test ran out before I had to stop, I’m sure it’s good enough a figure to facilitate my training.
I would like to put on record that the true Sufferlandrian should be destroyed after a half monty on rollers to the extent that they are incapable of composing an email for at least 48 hours. Indeed cognitive tasks in general should be beyond them for at least three days.
Oh oh!! I’ve been training really hard for a while now and the other day I hit exhaustion after the first revolver!! Is the universe trying to tell me something?
That shouldn’t happen. You should fail during the ramp test. It sounds like it might have started with your original (too low) number, so never pushed you hard enough to get a proper measurement.
I’d suggest (when you feel up to it) redoing it again, maybe using a manually entered FTP of ~150 and MAP of ~200. You need to complete at least five ramp steps, and fail before the ramp finishes for the test to be valid.
Sorry to hijack this post but as it’s got many of the roller crew on here…
Can anyone get over 448watts using Suf virtual watts? I’ve hit 448 numerous times and most recently I paid a little more attention and I know there’s a bit of a lag, but i hit 448 and the legs were spinning at c.125rpm I had a big push and got up to 130 briefly but the power stayed at 448w
I’m sure it doesn’t record correctly. And if it does OMG those pros who can hold 440w for an hour! When I can hold it for about 5 seconds is mind boggling!
I haven’t tried using Virtual Watts for a long time. But back before I upgraded my rollers with a smart resistance unit, I was using Virtual Watts, and I’m pretty sure I was able to go over 448 W during sprint intervals. I can check tomorrow when I get on the trainer.
I suggest contacting the minions, I did after experiencing a watt ceiling while using virtual power on my Tacx Sirius. It turned out that the virtual power profile for my trainers was only valid up to a certain wheel speed and after that it would display the same virtual power no matter much I increased gearing or cadence.
