erg mode for anything above 85/90% of FTP.

Below that, ride easy :-)

I think Matt's point was that erg mode makes you sort of mentally "lazy" with respect to how effort (how hard you feel you are working) translates to power output. When you get on the road, erg mode is not available and so you have to be more in tune with your body and effort level and how that relates to wattage.

While I probably agree with that conclusion, there are certain things that help me keep my sanity while training for 15+ hours a week, erg mode being one of them. So I'm keeping it. Plus, getting outside once a week or so should give you enough practice outdoors, if you are able to swing it.

I'm not 100% certain here but I don't think anyone is saying there is a fitness cost to using erg mode. It's just a mental thing.

---

Strava

I stopped using ERG mode after last winter. The difference in mental effort & concentration is considerable in my opinion.

yeah that sounds like me 80%+ ERG mode trainer road. I must be mentally weak. I'd give up if i had to do long hard sessions not in ERG mode.

Just a dumb trainer with virtual power here, so no erg mode here. I generally don't have any issues maintaining power on days that I connect up to the laptop. Just stick it in the right gear and keep pedalling the same cadence for the desired effort / duration.

That said, I don't worry about keeping the number too steady, as long as it's within a reasonable range I'm satisfied with that. Typically for steady state I want my 30s average power to be within 5 watts of target. (I use that because that's what's available on my software, I'd prefer 10s if I had it)

---

Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

2020 National Masters Champion - M50-54 - 50m Butterfly

I spend quite some time indoors in winter. Almost exclusively in erg mode. Erg mode was a game changer for me. Before erg multi hour sessions were not feasible for me. And of course all the multimedia distractions.

I haven't noticed any negative impact on my outdoor riding.

Do you guys use ERG mode with TrainerRoad workouts? Or is that a bad idea?

After using a powermeter and dumb trainer for three seasons, I went smart trainer this winter. I've used it in ERG mode all winter (TrainerRoad), so I guess I'll have to get back to you after I see how this season goes.

---

Not everything is as it seems -Mr. Miyagi

You can get yourself an Airhub for outdoor riding, probably as close as you can get to an indoor trainer in erg mode.

Or you can just ride outside normally. If you're having trouble riding a consistent wattage you probably need to work on that. Races are outside where you have to control your watts, not on a trainer in erg mode

Thanks for the post. I use erg mode and too think it helps me get that last few % out of an interval (as I know I just have to hang on!), but I have long wondered about this exact thing and have never really heard anyone talk about it. Interesting indeed.

---

Power Meter City
Your Power Meter Specialists

I totally disagree. It's probably more personal person to person than that.

To me, an erg mode on the stationary Cycleops in the work gym has done wonders for my RPE. I have a meter on the bike itself, but I've gotten really good at feeling it out.

I mean, my first ever 10 mi ITT was at a VI of 1.02 and I looked at the meter maybe once per lap to check my lap splits.

Paying attention to erg mode means mentally, on the road, I can in my mind go "hey, this feels like this power level and I can last this long doing this".

Use the ERG to target the physiology you want to stress. Then outdoors, feel it out and just glance at the meter/HR once in a while to be sure.

I use erg mode for anything up to 100% of FTP. Those intervals tend to be longer and it helps me to "zone out". Anything over that and I switch it off.

The number one development i would like to have TR add to the workout builder is, to have programmable sections that do this automatically. Tabata workouts would be a good example of how useful this could be really beneficial.

I never thought of this before but it would be very cool if possible. It would have made the sprints at the end of my workout last night much better and realistic.

perfpro has the concept of a mixed workout.

Erg or Grade based workouts... workout this AM was 30 x 0:30 sprint (so that was on a 2% grade for me) then 30 minutes @ 88% (so that was erg)... one workout, and just ride