PM feedback with a "dumb" trainer?

Seems like a power meter wouldn't care what the tension is on the trainer. 250w going up mount Mitchell and 250w at white lake are the same the eyes of the power meter. But vastly different speeds on the road. That would be the benefit of a power meter on a trainer the ability to not have the set up 100% the same every time. Unlike traineroad which is virtual and requires a consistent set up. But, I feel that I get my trainer pretty close every time.

I'd rather have a power meter than a smart trainer.

Yep just use you Powermeter's number. Those are good, plenty of feedback.

Yeah, never really thought about tension since I don't mess with it between rides. But I do run the same psi when doing an FTP test. I'm not sure it matters since it's pulling the torque off the drive train. How fast the wheel moves due to tension or pressure shouldn't really matter I would think.

So long as the tire pressure is the same before each ride and the tension on the tire is the same (ie: contact + "X" number of turns on the tensioner) you should be in the ball park.

At the min you can do a coast down check as one should do using virtual power.  For instance you get up to ~20mph then get the ~time what it takes for the wheel to stop. Should be close enough for decent repeatability. If using a KK road machine with small flywheel it supposedly should be ~12 seconds for a cold unit coast down to match the published power curve once the unit is warmed up (~14 sec coast down after 5-10 minutes of warmup).

I use Virtual Power in winter. I have a KK Road Machine and I set the drum tension ONE time when I start my winter indoor training. I keep the same tire pressure no each ride. If I remove the bike from the trainer, I don't touch the drum, I just deflate the tire so the drum tension is unchanged. that about as consistent as I can get.

Don't mean to go off-topic but depending on the age of the unit, if the knob threads strip just enough you can tight it up but once under load it shifts loose and may not have consistent tension and only can tell if you do a coast down check.   My knob and L-bolt were replaced by KK without question free of charge!

Ah, good tip thanks!