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wahoo kickr question
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 2014-12-02 2:04 PM |
 439   nashville, Tennessee |  Subject: wahoo kickr questionI was reading a review about the wahoo kickr trainer and was confused about something. He was talking about how you can set the trainer at a certain wattage and that it quickly responds to your output. Can anyone explain how this works? I could see where you could set a goal average wattage and you just try to maintain that power throughout your workout. But he was saying the trainer responds to your output in order to maintain a certain wattage. I would think that it was up to you to push a certain wattage and the meter would just tell you what you are doing. |
| 2014-12-02 2:54 PM in reply to: mchadcota2 |
| Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question I am assuming you are talking about ERG mode. Lets say you're in the 18t cog on the Kickr, doing 85 rpms and hitting your goal of 200 watts. All of a sudden, you pop down to the 13t cog, and ramp up to 95 rpms. On a normal trainer, your wattage would increase significantly because not only did you shift into a harder gear...but you increased your cadence. In ERG mode, it will "adjust" by reducing the resistance you would normally feel on any other trainer. Thus you would still be putting out 200 watts while at 95 rpms in the 13t cog. The opposite is also true. Lets say you shifted up to the 23t cog, and slowed your cadence down to 75 rpms. On any other trainer...doing that would likely result in a much lower wattage. The Kickr would adjust and now increase the resistance so you maintain 200w watts.
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| 2014-12-02 3:47 PM in reply to: Jason N |
| 439 nashville, Tennessee | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question I guess that makes sense but I guess my question would be, how is that different from just setting a goal power average and just trying to maintain that? |
| 2014-12-02 4:14 PM in reply to: mchadcota2 |
| Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question Originally posted by mchadcota2 I guess that makes sense but I guess my question would be, how is that different from just setting a goal power average and just trying to maintain that? The difference being that it takes no mental effort on your part to attain your goal wattage. Imagine being able to watch TV (or simply close your eyes) without ever having to look at your power numbers to see if you are at, above, or below your goal. You just pedal. |
| 2014-12-02 7:52 PM in reply to: mchadcota2 |
Regular 606 Portland, Oregon | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question Yeah, I don't have one, but it sounds cool. When I'm doing a sufferfest video, it'll say 7/10 (effort,power) and 90 cadence. Ok, so I shift into the big ring and third or 4th cog, that's about right. The it ramps up: 7.25, 7.5, 8...and so on. So I shift up, oops too hard, back off cadence a bit. You can see how you would lose the capability to really hit those targets depending on your gearing. In ERG mode, all I would need to do is keep turning the cranks at 90 and the trainer would ramp up the resistance. Very cool. Is it necessary? no. Do I want it? yes. |
| 2014-12-02 10:26 PM in reply to: #5071455 |
| 439 nashville, Tennessee | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question But either way you still have to put forth the same amount of effort to achieve the goal wattage. So if I'm using the erg mode and the goal wattage is set at 200. If I get tired and can't keep it at 200 watts, what happens? You said it takes the mental effort out but I don't understand because either way don't you have to look to see if your maintaining the goal power? If I'm riding on my regular trainer and watching my power and I'm trying to maintain 200 watts for 10 minutes but I get tired and I see my power output falling. Wouldn't the same thing happen on the wahoo? |
| 2014-12-02 10:46 PM in reply to: mchadcota2 |
Veteran 720 Aurora, Illinois | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question If you set the Wahoo to 200 and you start to fatique and can't push the 200, the Wahoo would just stop. It's either 200 or nothing. Unlike if you were riding with a power meter and holding 200, but if you fatique you can go lower and still pedal. The wahoo won't allow it. I've done workouts where I'm just exhausted and can't pedal anymore, so, it's either I have to lower the power or wave the white flag. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions with them! |
| 2014-12-03 6:30 AM in reply to: 0 |
Extreme Veteran 1986 Cypress, TX | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question Originally posted by tzcoaching If you set the Wahoo to 200 and you start to fatique and can't push the 200, the Wahoo would just stop. It's either 200 or nothing. Unlike if you were riding with a power meter and holding 200, but if you fatique you can go lower and still pedal. The wahoo won't allow it. I've done workouts where I'm just exhausted and can't pedal anymore, so, it's either I have to lower the power or wave the white flag. Hope that helps. Let me know if you have any other questions with them! Or you could switch it to one of the other modes besides ERG mode. Or drop the % wattage in ERG mode. This isn't rocket science. Edited by GMAN 19030 2014-12-03 6:34 AM |
| 2014-12-03 6:54 AM in reply to: mchadcota2 |
| 1660 | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question It is the same concept as setting a treadmill to run at a set speed. You can do whatever you'd like to your cadence and stride, but your pace will be the same on the treadmill. If you can't keep up the pace, you have to stop (or fall off.)
I love my Kickr, but I always find it interesting that people (not on this thread but elsewhere) will wax lyrical about how awesome erg mode is for either a Computrainer or Kickr, yet hate treadmill running or never even comment about how 'awesome' treadmill pacing is. It's really almost identical in terms of training principles of forcing you to deliver a fixed power. |
| 2014-12-03 9:05 PM in reply to: #5071455 |
| 439 nashville, Tennessee | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question So if your pedaling and get tired and drop below the set wattage, it just turns off? |
| 2014-12-03 9:36 PM in reply to: mchadcota2 |
Member 169 Long Island, NY | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question You adjust the power with your Iphone. It is very simple to use. I purchased it for my wife and liked it so much I bought myself one. |
| 2014-12-03 9:42 PM in reply to: 0 |
| 6 | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question Originally posted by mchadcota2 So if your pedaling and get tired and drop below the set wattage, it just turns off? The KICKR sets the resistance for you. Unlike a normal trainer where you have to increase cadence or switch gears to raise your power, the Kickr will increase (or decrease) the resistance for you. So if you want to ride at 200 watts you would have the Kickr in erg setting, use whatever app you have and set it to 200 watts. You could pedal at 150rpm or 1rpm, it wont matter because it will always adjust itself so that you're forced to ride a 200 watts.. Edited by naptime 2014-12-03 9:45 PM |
| 2014-12-04 12:51 PM in reply to: mchadcota2 |
| Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question Originally posted by mchadcota2 So if your pedaling and get tired and drop below the set wattage, it just turns off? This is what you're not grasping. In ERG mode...there is no such thing as dropping below the set wattage. The only way to do that is to stop pedaling completely. The treadmill example is a good one. If you set it to 7.0 mph, you can't run 6.6 mph on it just because you're tired. You either run at 7.0 or you fall off. There is no compromise unless you change the settings.
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| 2014-12-04 1:55 PM in reply to: Jason N |
| 439 nashville, Tennessee | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question I don't know why this confuses me because I know its a simple concept. They say it makes it easy as far as not having to think about it because it does it for you. So, lets say I jump on this trainer and set the wattage at 150 for 10 min. I close my eyes because there's nothing I need to pay attention to. After 5 minutes I get tired and am unable to maintain that much power. On a normal trainer, obviously my power output would steadily drop. On a treadmill you have to jump off because the belt doesn't stop. I guess I just don't understand the point. How is it any different from watching your power meter and making sure you maintain the goal wattage for the 10 min. I'm sorry about all the stupidity and please feel free to say "I'm done with this idiot". I do appreciate all the explaination. |
| 2014-12-04 2:03 PM in reply to: mchadcota2 |
Veteran 720 Aurora, Illinois | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question If you set the Kickr to 150 for 10 minutes, the pedals won't turn unless there's 150 watts being putout. It's either 0 (your not pedaling) or 150, there is no in between (in Erg mode). So, if you close your eyes and start to fatigue, and can't put out 150, the unit's resistance will just not allow you to pedal. Using the treadmill analyze, you just fall off. It's different then watching your powermeter, just like it's different running on a treadmill vs running outdoors. You can set the treadmill to 7 min miles, and "forget it". You either run at 7 or get thrown off the back. If your running outside with a GPS, you have to constantly look at your watch, make sure your running at 7; which could change based if your running uphills, downhills, into a wind, etc... With the kickr, you set it at 150, and forget it. You either ride at 150, or you can't move the pedals. Doesn't matter what your cadence is, it adjusts to force you to put out 150 watts. There's no constant fluctuations like there is with a regular power meter. |
| 2014-12-04 2:07 PM in reply to: mchadcota2 |
| 439 nashville, Tennessee | Subject: RE: wahoo kickr question OK OK OK! My finally gets it. It just eventually gets to the point that I can't pedal anymore. Duh! Thanks for being patient with your explanations. |
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