and was intrigued…you mean I can go from 5:28 at Ironman LP to 4:58…I’m thinking that this is too good to be true…so I click and I end reading the text below… but there is no mention of an “Ironman time” just a 10K TT…I want my money back if I don’t go 4:58 at Ironman LP, just like the ad says…
Nevertheless, I can’t imagine a 2 mph improvement over a 10K TT given that I can already go 38-40 kph on a flat 90K tri course…where will this magic power come from…I already rode 12,000K last year and did train with power on my TACX trainer…I’m tempted to take them up!!!
 The CompuTrainer
Performance Improvement Guarantee RacerMate Home Unlock Your Race Potential with a CompuTrainer Guarantee to Increase Your Bike Speed by 2 MPH
The regular use of CompuTrainer will increase your bike speed by 2 to 4 MPH. This is a bold statement which is backed up by the experiences of over 25,000 triathletes and cyclists of all ages and ability levels over a 20 year period! It is such a routine result that we unequivocally guarantee it!
If your bike speed does not increase by at least 2 MPH over a 5 month period of regular use, you can return the CompuTrainer for a full refund of the purchase price.
Purchase CompuTrainer’s Performance Improvement Guarantee
Terms and Conditions
The original purchaser of a CompuTrainer may return it within 12 months of the purchase date for a refund of the purchase price if his/her cycling power (watts) and speed have not increased by 2 MPH or more after training on it for a minimum of 3 days/week, a minimum of one hour per day, for 5 consecutive months. The following conditions apply to this Guarantee. 1) The 5 month period begins as soon as the purchaser starts using the CompuTrainer. The date of first use must be within 6 months of the purchase date. The 5 month period ends 22 weeks from the date of first use. 2) The Racelog option within the 3D software “Options menu” must be activated and the actual racelog.csv (which lists the dates and actual training times for the 22 weeks use on the CompuTrainer) must be provided. 3) The beginning power and speed used as the basis for the determination of the percentage increases are to be determined within 3 days of the date of first use. Power and speed are defined as the average speed and average watts recorded on the standard CompuTrainer 10K Time Trial course which can be downloaded from the web site. The beginning 10k time trial performance must be saved in the CompuTrainer 3D software to substantiate the initial average power and average speed results. 4) At approximately one month intervals four additional 10K time trials are to be saved (recorded) using CompuTrainer 3D as evidence of the continuous 5 month training program with the last time trial recorded at the end of the 5 month period. 5) It is assumed that a CompuTrainer returned under this Guarantee will show signs of normal use. An adjustment in the refund amount of the original purchase price, excluding freight, will be made for damages which occur during return transportation, for missing parts, and for water damage.
I saw more than 30 minute improvement in my IM time. My IMAZ splits over the years have been 6:08 / 5:29 / 5:21. The computrainer was bought 8 months before posting the second IMAZ split. I also dropped 21 minutes off my run time over the same period…but computrainer doesn’t make that guarantee
Hey I got my new insideride rollers (www.insideride.com) and I rode them every day in Dec and all but 2 in Jan…
I have no doubt that the CT is a great tool, but I can’t see it doing anything more than a TACX trainer and as such I can’t believe that a well trained Ironman guy is suddenly going to cut 30 min off an Ironman split…if Frank Day made this claim, ST would be all over him.
So you just trained more between Ironman 1 and 2, or did the CT do some magic…I’ve done 15 Ironmans…and raced Ironman LP 8 times…sub 5 hours on Ironman LP is like going sub 4:40 at Ironman Florida…do you really believe that buying a CT is going to make an experienced rider vault to a 4:40 caliber status? To put it into perspective in 2006 when Ironman Lake Placid was the pro championships, only FOUR pros went sub 5!!!
So yeah, I am completely skeptical…its going to suddenly make me 4 minutes slower than Rutger Beke…yeah …right!!!
+/- 50 watts…hmmm. Depends where you’re starting from. An awful lot of masters men are stuck under 200 FT watts. An awful lot of them can get to 250-260 if they put in the time. I’m one – I learned to my great dismay after I got a powermeter that I had the fitness level of a novice teenage girl (according to Coggan’s original power profile tables).
With a little work, I have lifted my fitness almost up to the level of a Cat 3 woman.
The crazy thing about our sport: That fitness level is sufficient in the M45-49 age bracket to be a top 5-6 cyclist in a 150+ person field.
The message here is: It ain’t that hard to pick up 50 watts if you’re currently racing outside the front third of your AG.
Be very interesting to know how many get returned pursuant to that offer. Seems like anyone riding the trainer 3 times a week for an hour plus for 5 months straight would have to be following a pretty serious training regimen on the bike. Even if you did not gain the 2 mph I imagine you would make some gains and want to keep the thing.
I dropped from my IM Arizona bike split from 5:20 in 2005(cycleops), to 4:53 in 2006(CT). The best workouts for me were riding 3-5 hours on an IM course (alot of times the whole course) and focusing on keeping the average watts as high as I could…you can really destroy yourself like this, especially b/c you can’t coast the downhills and you end up hammering the downhills so your average watts don’t drop.
I was going to try it because a) I want one anyway and b) I’m training on the bike 3x a week anyway for IMAZ and c) I wanna get faster and if it works, I’m happy to pay… but I think where they’ll get you is if you’re injured or sick or on vacation you’re screwed because you’re outside the “3 times a week”.
I too would be curious to hear how people who have stuck by their program do… and how many returns they actually get.
The difference is BigZach is 23? I’m 42 on the wrong side of the “upside potential curve”…you think that 50 magical FT watts are going to arrive out of a CT purchase… over my current TACX trainer, or even buying a powertap?
That the biggest difference I saw last season after ridding the CT all winter. When it thawed and I got out on the road I’d never coast anywhere because you can’t on the CT when you watching watts.
This seemed to translate to me carrying more seed over the top of hills and going like a bat out of hell down them
I don’t think it would take 30 min off Devs IM split though.
“This is a bold statement which is backed up by the experiences of over 25,000 triathletes and cyclists of all ages and ability levels over a 20 year period! It is such a routine result that we unequivocally guarantee it!”
1). Note the use of the word “routine.”. 2). The claim is way calmer than what FD alleges. 3). You might engage the guarantee.
N=1 and all that but I got my two.
I have also become an erg mode person unless I have a specific race that is hilly and then I use the 3D software. You can’t dog it in erg.
Someone come rescue me from Newark airport. Please…
I think the difference between this claim and Frank Day’s claim is the Frank Day says that his product improves running and cycling more than regular cranks even for the same amount of training time. Whereas, Racermate is simply making a training guarantee. If you train 3 x week for an hour over 5 months you will improve. It isn’t a comparison over other methods of training.
I do agree that in the case of some (perhaps you are one of them), that you won’t be able to improve by their claim, because your starting position is already very good. However, I don’t think they are gearing their ad towards you. Rather, they are aiming their ad to most MOP and BOPers who probably would gain speed just from consistent training.
What is your current power output on your Tacx trainer?
If you invest the time, the CT can help you improve. 30 minutes? In some cases, yes. In others, no. My guess is that in your case you wouldn’t see a 30 minute improvement. But, I’d be willing to bet that you’d see enough improvement to keep you from taking RacerMate up on their reimbursement offer.
Besides, most people who are going as fast as you cite aren’t looking for a “30 minute magic bullet” because they’re (a) realistic, and (b) too confident that they training they’ve been doing to date is working for them.
And, to answer your question, I actually ride less on the computrainer in training than I did before I purchased it. It’s just more structured and focused than it was when I would only log lots of long miles outside.
typically - I do 3 rides per week. One long ride on the specific IM course I’m training for, or a hilly course that I’ve built. One steady (erg) ride of 2-3 hours at higher than IM effort. Then I do one ride that’s a 30 minute warm-up, followed by 2x40 on 5’ recovery at a very hard effort, also in ergo mode.
This has been a pretty consistent structure for me since I bought the CT. If I add an extra ride, it used to be a course ride. But, I’ve since learned that the benefit really comes from the steady rides. So much so, that in lieu of doing all my long rides on a course in my buildup for IMAZ this year, I’m alternating each week between that and a 4 hour steady ride.
It's a bold guarantee indeed. Our improvement as cyclists/athletes has nothing to do with riding a computrainer v.s riding anything else. The point is just riding more. I don't need to tell you this Dev. Your results speak for themselves, and are a product of consistent training volumes week in and week out over months and years. I have never touched a Computrainer in my life and my 3 ironman bike splits have been 5:55 (03 IMOO), 5:39 (05 IMLP), and 5:18 (07 IMKY). Things just start to click on a bike after a while if we consistently, and progressively up the miles, and intensity.
It seems stupid for them to make that kind of "guarantee" to sell a good product with a good reputation. So go for it I say. You could end up with a great winter training tool for free, or end up with a blistering 4:58 bike split at IMLP. Either way it's a win, win for you.
That the biggest difference I saw last season after ridding the CT all winter. When it thawed and I got out on the road I’d never coast anywhere because you can’t on the CT when you watching watts.
This seemed to translate to me carrying more seed over the top of hills and going like a bat out of hell down them
I don’t think it would take 30 min off Devs IM split though.
Exactly what happened after a long cold winter on CT, i was looking at the power data of a race and saw I actually never stopped pedalling.
CompuTrainer’s Performance Improvement Guarantee
