Inside Ride Smart Resistance Control with QUBO system

[jscottyk]

Has anyone had a preview of the recently announced Inside Ride announcement?

This winter I'm going to spend some time riding inside with Trainer Road and/or Zwift and have been waiting to see what Inside Ride's final solution was going to be. I'm either going with a Wahoo Kickr or this latest Inside Ride rig.

Thoughts or opinions?

[11.4]

Had a chance to ride this setup. I'd suggest you think about it in two ways.

First, it's a variable resistance program but it doesn't have the +/- 2% accuracy of a Wahoo Kickr or similar high end device. It basically gives you a programmable resistance on InsideRide rollers, but you'll find it varying as you go through a workout and a particular setting may not give the same resistance from one day to the next. If you want to get on the rollers, dial the resistance, and ride it, adjusting as needed during your workout, it's fine for that. And realistically, that's how many people actually would use it -- as you warm your legs up you increase your power, and as you tire, you dial it down again. In that kind of situation it would work fine and let you ride rollers.

Second, what do you really want to do in your indoor workout? If you are interested in high-wattage intervals, the QUBO system will tend to be a bit inconsistent. This is where you set it for, say, 350 watts and do a 30 second or 120 second workout. I tried a few of these and it faded during them, both measured against a power meter on the bike and by my legs (which are immensely well calibrated to pain). I find the best purpose of the Kickr is to support workouts based on high power intervals, and it's superb for that. I wouldn't do those on a TruTrainer (which I personally use) or on an InsideRide (which I own but don't use as much). However, if I was doing 5-10 minute intervals, I might enjoy them more on the QUBO and be willing (and have the time during the workout interval) to dial resistance up and down a bit to keep myself at a particular exertion level. If you want to do intervals, for example, where you peg your heart rate to 190 and want to keep it there, this could work for you. (And people think of heart rate monitors as old fashioned next to power meters, but a power meter is just an indication of how much power you're generating, not how hard your body is working. The difference is very important and the latter metric is the more relevant one when doing intervals. You'd like to do a workout to work your body hard enough and then see wattage increase over time as one gains fitness. It doesn't help to keep dialing power up and then choke because your body can't respond to it. Hope I'm clear there.)

Since you mentioned TrainerRoad and Zwift, if you want to take their feeds and be riding to an accurate power level, I'd think more about the Kickr. If those apps are really just for entertainment and distraction while you burn your legs to stubs, then you could go either way.

Hope I touched on the points you were interested in.

PS: One advantage of the Kickr is simply that you can move it more easily. If you're going to see the family for a weekend or want to do a workout on a warm day at Barton Springs and then go for a swim, it's a lot easier to carry the Kickr. And the newer one is very quiet, while the InsideRide isn't the quietest and the QUBO adds a bit more to the noise level.

[jscottyk]

Lane, thanks so much for your insights. This is exactly what I was looking for.

I think my purpose of indoor workouts this winter is to maximize my evening workouts during the week with sweetspot and VO2-max intervals. So, probably longer efforts than 30 to 120 sec efforts, but definitely training those zones.

…And people think of heart rate monitors as old fashioned next to power meters, but a power meter is just an indication of how much power you're generating, not how hard your body is working. The difference is very important and the latter metric is the more relevant one when doing intervals. You'd like to do a workout to work your body hard enough and then see wattage increase over time as one gains fitness. It doesn't help to keep dialing power up and then choke because your body can't respond to it. Hope I'm clear there.

Yes, this makes total sense.

I really like the idea of the ANT+ FE-C integration with the Inside Ride rollers, but it feels like the Kickr might be a more versatile tool.

[Blue Jays]

If not digging into all the science details, how are InsideRide and TruTrainer smartrollers for joining Zwift rides?
Does it reflect reasonably accurately on the screen and with other Zwift participants?
Trying to get this all sorted so I can have rollers (preferred) in my basement before the deep snow arrives!

[Blue Jays]

InsideRide order is imminent...with all the bells and whistles.
Looking forward to joining you half-minds on winter virtual rides!