I always train in ERG mode on my KICKR Bike (and love it). However, I have no idea what to ride in Level mode when I take the fitness tests. Support told me to ride 1 5 on my KICKR bike for best ERG training. Outside I ride a Roubaix Expert with CASSETTE: Shimano 11-speed Ultegra 8000, 11-28t CHAINRINGS: 50/34 but I just put that in whatever gear feels right. Please don’t suggest I just ride what feels right on my KICKR BIKE because I don’t really ride it in Level mode except for tests as nothing “FEELS RIGHT” for accurate results. Appreciate any help!
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Hey @desmomr and welcome to the forums!
I am actually gonna suggest what you asked us not to suggest but with a slight modification if you’ll hear me out.
I dont have a Kickr Bike but I have a Kickr '18 and I sometimes struggle too with which mode works best. I’ve landed on 0-2 and honestly don’t feel a whole lot of difference between them.
I’d suggest you run one of the Open vids (like Open 30) set in Level mode and test them out. Specifically, test them out for what a Sprint feels like and how responsive each is to your gear changes. You want to be spinning at a reasonably high power but not dying, then shift into one or two harder gears to give it the beans. The different power curves that correspond to the different levels mean that the higher the number, the faster the resistance ramps up. So, for me, it feels more natural to sprint in the 0-2 range as I am able to get up to a good sprinting cadence, shift gears once or twice and just go as hard as I can.
For the 5 minute and 20 minute efforts, you can do a similar test. Just see which level feels natural to you, like it feels when you ride outside. Doing this kind of testing in advance of the fitness tests themselves will give you the confidence to go in at least a little prepared.
Let us know here how you make out. Maybe some Kickr Bike owners will chime in too.
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If you’re only using level for the fitness test, I do the same thing with my kickr v5 where it’s mainly in erg mode, so what I ended up doing was running open 30 on level mode and instead of a 5/20 minute effort I did a couple one minute efforts at target power and was looking for a gear combination that yielded the cadence range I wanted to hold. Prior to my kickr I had a saris fluid 2 and I always found myself in between gears/cadence so say I wanted to do the 20 minute effort at 90 rpm, I’d be stuck in say 83 or 95, not where I wanted to be. That’s how I used the “try level mode and see what works best” so maybe that can help you focus in what you’re looking for when you go to try it?
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Thank you! It helps to have the added info.
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Thank you! This is a great idea!
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I had this same experience. I was always ending up where my comfortable zone was “in between gears” and I’d bounce back and forth between 2 different rear cogs for my entire 20-minute effort. Practicing a few times in level mode and doing an HM the week before definitely helped.