Will the trainer make you faster? Answer: no. However, with a smart trainer folks often use Zwift or another training platform, and using that in a good way could translate to speed gains.

The Kickr is a great trainer, but instead of adding the climb I'd suggest adding a power meter. That way you'd be able to train with power inside and out. The climb would simulate hills, but a watt is a watt regardless of flat, up or down terrain. I have done more and more training inside recently and have done races with pretty hilly bike courses where I've done pretty well - just stick to the watts you know you can sustain and good things happen!

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I would say that having power figures will very likely help you to improve purely because you have better ability to pace your training. I found it VERY useful and I did improve when I started training with power. However, I don't think a smart trainer is vital. A power meter may be a better option if you want to use it outdoors too. I don't consider the smart trainer functions like terrain simulation using software like Zwift, or the ability to have the trainer dictate the power to be very important.

can you indulge me a question? do you have an e-reader? like a kindle? how do you read books? in what format?

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I bought a Tacx trainer one year ago and I improved my power by about 20%.
I was biking mostly based on HR but with no specific program.
I am followimg trainer road program and it takes all the guesswork out
You just need to jump on the trainer and push the pedal.
I use ergo mode so power is applied directly by the program.
The workout are intense and based on your power (you start by doing FTP test which you redo every 8 weeks) but with some good recovery rides.
The hard workout are harder that what I was doing and the recovery much easier than I was doimg also.
I also find this very time efficient vs road nd you don’t need to think of safety and traffic so you can push without worrying.
I watch netflix on tablet while I am doing it.
Trainer road works better for me than Zwift since more structured and less distraction.

It is not so much as the trainer itself as using power and structured training.

I got about 90% of my performance on a dumb trainer using virtual power and doing workouts from the trainer's app. Then switched to TrainerRoad and got a power meter. But, I continued to use the dumb trainer. I reached that last 10% of my performance on TR. My reasoning is that TrainerRoad's plans were superior to my ad-hoc selection of workouts.

Then I got a smart trainer. It really did not add performance. But, it made training in general much easier, and that helped maintain my peak performance and rebuild when I let performance drop.

If you have an opportunity to get a great smart trainer at a great price, get it. But, switch your workout to something structured like TrainerRoad or entertaining like Zwift that engages you. You will get faster, but it will be more the training program than the device.

But the Kickr and save the money on the Climb and apply that to Zwift or another smart trainer platform.
You can make huge gains with the smart trainers, but you need a good plan and not just try and kill every ride.

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Ryan
http://www.SetThePaceTriathlon.com
http://www.TriathlonTrainingDaddy.com
I got plans - https://www.trainingpeaks.com/...dotcom#trainingplans

Regular, structured, power-based workouts will make you faster. A smart trainer is but one tool that can facilitate such training, and a rather expensive one. You can get the same results with a dumb trainer and a power meter, or even a dumb trainer + speed and cadence sensors, assuming your dumb trainer is supported for "Virtual Power."

The Easiest, Most Cost-Effective Way To Train With Power (TrainerRoad)

The value in a smart trainer over a dumb trainer is if the smart trainer keeps you engaged when you'd lose interest/motivation on a dumb trainer.

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"They're made of latex, not nitroglycerin"

Agreed

I initially trained with power using a "dumb" KK Road Machine and Zwift virtual power. This worked great for me for nearly two years and I did make very significant gains in this period. I give a lot of the credit for my gains to having objective performance measurement and a platform for consistent training. A few months ago I bought myself a powermeter and the first thing I did was use it in parallel with Zwift virtual power fro a couple of rides and compare the data. Across a variety of interval intensities and durations I found the two corresponded impressively well. They were much closer than I'd expected with an error of only <2% on the vast majority of intervals. Warm-up and <1min high intensity intervals including major accelerations showed some differences but still only in the region of 10%. Granted there's no guarantee everyone is getting such good data from virtual power and it depends greatly on the trainer (KK Road Machine should be about the best for this purpose) tyre choice, and amount and consistency of tyre pressure and roller clamping pressure. I was always careful to keep these variables the same for each session.

I don't notice any real difference with the power meter, except that I now have the data outdoors too and I have confidence in it's accuracy.

You can always use virtual power with the proper wireless speed sensor and pair that with trainerroad. Works for me.

If it makes you train harder / better then yes, you should get faster.

I have an e-reader but it's rather dusty.

I’ve been using zwift with virtual watts for around 3 weeks. It makes me want to train more and I can actually follow a plan with objective data. That is what I think makes the biggest difference, not necessarily the trainer. Also, knowing I’m spending $15 a month on Zwift makes me feel bad if I don’t ride at least 3-4x a week.

the question is, you dont read or you prefer paper books ;-)
i guess that will be important for slowman to know.

i ask, because i have an e-reader. a kindle. i began to read a LOT more when i got my kindle (many years ago). does the kindle make me smarter? does it make me more well-read? not per page. reading a page from a paperback and a page from the kindle delivers the same information to me. the benefit is that i can read at night, without a light. i can get a new book instantly. i can change the font size. it just makes reading easier.

that's my answer. you aren't going to get any faster, per pedal stroke, with a Kickr. but if the whole experience is more pleasurable, if participation in (say) trainerroad, zwift, etc., becomes more accessible, then it makes you faster, just, indirectly.

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

I see your point.

A smart trainer will make you faster if you exploit the enhanced load monitoring made possible by quantifiable and controllable external load. See "Internal:External-Load Ratio" in...

https://journals.humankinetics.com/doi/pdf/10.1123/IJSPP.2017-0208

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Interval Design Studio
YouTube | SoundCloud

Interesting comparison. I read paper books and use a dumb trainer with my Quarq. Call me old fashioned....

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Instagram | Team Kiwami North America

you're old fashioned ;-)

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Dan Empfield
aka Slowman

This! I rode the trainer quite a bit while living in AK during the winters. I watched movies and sports (streaming wasn't a thing then though...). It was HARD to get motivated. Two years ago I was coming back from meniscus surgery and weight gain, had the same (now 10-year-old) fluid trainer. But...I had a powermeter and joined Zwift. Enjoyed almost every indoor trainer session, dropped the weight and came out of the winter faster on the bike than I had been in a while.

I prefer papyrus scrolls myself.

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Swimming Workout of the Day:

Favourite Swim Sets:

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

On the one hand, nothing you can buy is going to make you faster. YOU have to do the work.

But to the point of your question, yes, a smart trainer can help you do the work to get faster.

I have been in this sport since 1985 and have used dumb trainers and rollers, was an early adopter of Computrainer, but never put in long, consistent training on that because I prefer to ride outdoors, have been early adopter of HR and Powermeter training techniques, etc. As mentioned, I generally prefer to ride outdoors whenever possible, probably 95% of my training prior to this year has been on the roads and trails.

This year I have been in a time-challenged situation for training with both a full-time (50-ish hours/week) job and full-time MBA school. I have averaged about 10 hours per week of training for duathlon, with roughly 6 hours of cycling and 4 hours of running as a typical week. Long story short, I invested in an Elite Direto smart trainer in February, along with a subscription to Zwift. The ability to get consistent, quality training in a time-compressed schedule with no time for logistics of getting to decent riding roads (whether riding or driving) was a season-saver for me. I can wake up, down a quick cup of coffee, and immediately mount the trainer to get in a detailed, concise workout (FTP, steady, tempo, long ride or otherwise). I’m in and out of an hour-long ride in less than 1:15 from start to showered and out the door to work. I can do exactly the type of workout I need to do without a lot of fluff and filler. And the logistics of long, harder bricks got a ton easier when I could do them on the trainer, have all the nutrition staged, and then jump off, out the door for the runs. I could not have gotten prepared for my races this year without it. 3700 of my 5000 cycling miles so far this year have been on the Direto/Zwift combination. It has been amazingly trouble free. I use the trainer, a Wahoo Bluetooth HR strap, and an iPad Pro for my compact setup in my home office. The iPad is mounted on one of my camera light stands with a dedicated iPad clamp. I have a small tornado fan and a trainer mat. Super streamlined approach and has not failed even once.

Going forward, I’m done with school soon, but I have to say that the new smart trainers coupled with services like Zwift or Trainerroad are a revelation for targeted training. I’ll still work to get out the door to ride roads because I love the freedom of cycling. But I’m definitely going to do 1-2 key workouts per week on the trainer because it’s so efficient at getting to the target work. No more getting stopped for a train or stoplight in the middle of an interval, or traffic slowdowns and intersection navigation while trying to get in quality work. Just ride and hit the power targets.

If all you want is something to entertain you while you ride, or just plug along at a steady pace, stick with a dumb trainer and YouTube. But if you want the ability to do targeted work, quickly and efficiently, without interruption, then the new smart trainers will transform your training. I would not part with mine now, and when it dies another will quickly replace it.

And an abacus for tracking the swim set?

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Instagram | Team Kiwami North America

Coming from you, sir, I’m ok with that.

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