I know it says at the start of Violator to do it in Level Mode, not Erg but was that in the early days of smart trainers? Before they got so quick as changing power. My Kickr V6 seems fine for things like Shovel and Half is Easy.
The reason I’m not keep on
Level mode is because I bent a mech hanger recently and have decided to run the chain as straight as possible, in the middle of the cassette.
Following, just to see how you make out, especially with the 3rd set.
May GvA have mercy on you!
@Mikejeff Try it in ERG but turn off auto pause and also turn off power smoothing and then just stop pedaling for the rest intervals. For very short intervals I find that ERG power can be exceeded briefly. Hope that works!
I run all mine on ERG no matter what. Less faffing with indoor bike gears (which aren’t in the best shape … so I do the same with the sensible chain line). Never causes me an issue unless I use a Tacx trainer on ANT, which isn’t something SYSTM controls very well occasionally (delays the interval end sometimes)
I find if I don’t get up to the cadence for the effort before it starts then the erg mode bites too hard before easing off. I think that’s how I bent the hanger.
He won’t. Either the trainer or myself will probably catch fire!
I’ve never done Violator on erg mode. I don’t think it’s physically possible.
But good luck to you on that! 
Why is that? Will the erg resistance bite too hard on the sprints?
If it’s any use to anyone, my Neo 2T keeps up no problem with ERG on all elements of Violator. It’s so good on applying the resisitance… immediate responses both sides of the interval.
Caveat is using the BLE connection though… SYSTM doesn’t play nicely with this trainer and ANT+ protocol.
Thanks that seals it. I’ll give it a try and if my legs snap off I’ll know to use level mode next time!
Yeah, it’s more a question of 1) the point of the workout, and 2) your physical ability to hold the power targets, not really the ability of your smart trainer to change power quickly in erg mode.
The goal of the workout is to sprint as hard as you can for each given interval, not to actually hit and hold each specific power target.
Your trainer will likely grab and hold the target power almost immediately. But your pedaling and legs will ramp in to the power target, and then not hold that target for 5 or more seconds. So you will have to anticipate every power increase or else you’ll end up in an erg death spiral.
I rode Kitchen Sink today all in Erg mode, and it worked okay, including the parts from The Shovel and Violator. (I use a KICKR v5 with Direct Connect–I always wondered why it isn’t called a DIRCT CONNCT.) In the shortest intervals it only reaches the target about halfway through, but I rationalize it by telling myself that it also takes a similar amount of time to get down to the recovery interval power level. (Lol)
Yeah I get you. Can’t start at 80rpm from the recovery or you’ll never get the cadence up! Maybe level mode is better but I don’t think my gears would work well enough.
I had a worn cassette a couple years ago and had to do all the sprints in the little ring so I wouldn’t drop my chain. That still worked. You just gotta do what you can. 
True words that every Sufferlandrian should remember when the session starts to get hard!
I don’t know if it’s possible to not do it in level mode. Those sprint effort are non stop and super quick. I can’t see a trainer keeping up with that and you hitting the power target in time. Imo.
Specificity is key, Violator is about practicing sprinting, building the neuromuscular control to rapidly increase cadence against a load similar to what you would experience on a moving bicycle,which level mode simulates. Erg mode does not because it demands constant power which never happens in a real world sprint.
ERG mode also puts a ceiling on the power target, whereas every sprint in this workout should be an all out effort.
The real gains in NM power come from lifting weights in the gym not on the bike. Just take a look at a track sprinter’s social media to see what they spend the time doing.
I agree, ANT+ is rubbish with this trainer
I managed Violator in erg before on a Tacx. The trick was having a feel for the ramp up speed of the trainers’ resistance and leveraging that to ramp into the sprint. And alsonrunning it in BLTE.
It wouldn’t have worked on an OG Kickr due to the death spiral, but that’s no longer a thing. I haven’t tried Violator on my KickrBike, but as I run both race mode and connect it via Wifi, I’m reasonably confident it would have no problem in Erg. The only real issue is SYSTM sets my sprint target power at like 420 watts but I can crank out quite a lot more in reality.
