Anyone using Powermatch feature in TrainerRoad? Help needed.

Brad Marcus

I have a power disconnect between what my Wahoo Kickr is telling me and what my P1 Pedals tell me. The difference is significant enough to screw things up when I compare my watts indoors on the trainer to riding outside. The Kickr is adding an extra 10-11% in power readings vs my P1's. I had a similar difference when with a Quarq.

Enter TrainerRoad's Powermatch feature. I had read that this feature would eleviate this exact issue by synching power numbers from my power meter with TrainerRoad which then sends that power info to my Kickr. However, when I am doing a workout, the power numbers shown on TrainerRoad seem to jump back and forth between what the KICKR and the Powertap are reading, thus making the power very "un-smooth". I've asked someone from TR about this, and they have told me that this is normal. I'm not entirely sure that this could be true.

Does anyone use this feature effectively? Any advice on how to make this work better? I'm trying to nail this down prior to starting the OS next week.



 I use TrainerRoad on my iOS iPad and also have the following settings:



Use powermatch

Use ERG

I have both devices checked (KICKR and Powertap) as well as a HR Monitor

Thanks for any insight!

Ashton Mossy

Interested in resolving this as I'm about to deal with the same situation...only I have Vector pedals and they display 20watts higher than my Kickr.

Sounds like you want TR to only use your P1 pedal's power readings, right?  Have you tried to disable it or manually offset it:

From the TR website:

Disable:  "Disabling PowerMatch will prompt TrainerRoad to display and record power readings from the power meter if both a power meter and electronic trainer are paired at the same time. According to our device paring hierarchy, the power meter will take precedence over the trainer."

Manual offset:  "If you know the power offset between your trainer and power meter and do not wish for TrainerRoad to continuously measure and adjust this, you can input this offset to be applied to the entire workout. You can do this within the pairing screen of your electronic trainer."

Does that help?

Brian Hagan

I had same issue with my Quarq vs. Computrainer.  I wanted to continue to use the Quarq numbers because that is what I use outside (and the Quarq measure the watts a little higher.....)  

Trainer Road will let you use your power meter (P1 pedels, Vectors or whatever) to measure watts and use your trainer to control the tension for erg mode based off of you powermeter.  That is what I did and it works great.  You just need to go into the settings.  

If you need help, send them  a message to support@trainerroad.com.  They are really good at responding.

 

Brad Marcus

@Ashton - I think I've tried that, and I get the same result: TrainerRoad alternately picks up power readings from the Kickr and my PM and effort becomes "jumpy" between the two numbers. Honestly, I didn't really see a difference between having powermatch checked or unchecked.

@Brain - What you mentioned is really what I'm trying to accomplish. When you have a chance, would you take a look and let us know what those settings are? I've emailed TR and although they tried to help, I don't think they addressed my question correctly. Thanks!!

Brian Hagan

@Brad - Yeah, I realized later you were talking about something else.  I will check into it when I get back home.  It actually sounds really interesting.

Tom Glynn

I tried the PowerMatch feature and didn't like it. There is some disconnect between my P1s and the Kickr even if I calibrate both of them. The numbers jumped around a lot as you noted above and it just drove my crazy so I stopped using it. Now I just use the Kickr number and realize there is a small difference that I can live with. When my next IM training season starts, I'll ride outside a lot more and depend on the P1 data. All race rehearsals will be done using the P1s too.

scott dinhofer

while we are on this topic, how do you report your wko to Strava? do you run your garmin & upload? or have it upload from TR?

Tom Glynn

@Scott. I use Garmin Connect for my central hub and collect everything through my 920XT. So trainer rides I use the Kickr and TR but also record data on my watch. At the end of the ride, my TR data gets saved to TR but goes nowhere else. I upload the Garmin to GC, which then feeds TraiingPeaks and Strava

scott dinhofer

thanks tom!
btw, just did my first ride on my new(used) kickr & the TR beta. The TR beta sucks on device synchronization because it doesn't show you the device ID #s. so apparently it was reading my Kickr as my powermeter and not the pedals. Now uploaded the old TR software and have everything connected & will give that a whirl tomorrow night..

one question.. how much noise is a kickr supposed to make? doesn't seem all that quieter than my powerbeam pro

Phil Mills

@Scott - the kickr is no quieter than the fluid trainers. The kickr2 is supposed to be quieter though.

Alvin Hom

@Scott & @Phil - A trick I learned from DC Rainmaker. Noise made on the Kickr is a function of speed that you turn the flywheel. So do your TrainerRoad workouts in lower gear (big cog small chainring). The Kickr automatically adjusts power to according to the workout so it doesn't matter what gear, you will be putting out same power. You will just be spinning the flywheel at a lower speed thus it will be a lot quieter! The only downside is that the total mileage on Strava that your workouts will show will be a bit lower but who cares! You are still doing the same power and getting the same workout. Now I can workout on the Kickr without blasting the TV while watching catching up on Game of Thrones!

Brad Marcus

@Scott- I've been using my garmin head unit to record my workouts. This does 2 things:
1- I am able to sync the garmin directly to my p1's (or whatever pm you are using) and get a consistent reading compared to the power numbers you will be using outside.
2- I am able to use the garmin to upload to Strava with the correct power numbers rather than use what TR is showing, which are most likely the power numbers you'd be getting from your Kickr.

Re Noise - I find mine to be extremely quiet compared to the 2 others I've owned and used: a cycleops mag trainer (SUPER noisy) and a powerbeam pro (better but still loud vs my wahoo). To put in perspective, my fan which is right in front of my bike is louder than the tainer. Possible something is wrong with yours?

scott dinhofer

2- I am able to use the garmin to upload to Strava with the correct power numbers rather than use what TR is showing, which are most likely the power numbers you'd be getting from your Kickr.

If I am syncing the PM to TR separately in the devices section, power shown should be off the P1s. Testing that tonight. Up until now i have done what you do, record w Garmin & upload THAT to strava



Possible something is wrong with yours?

THIS is exactly my concern, I did buy used... might have to come over and do a joint trainer session next week to DX

Brad Marcus

Posted By Scott Dinhofer on 30 Oct 2016 07:53 AM

2- I am able to use the garmin to upload to Strava with the correct power numbers rather than use what TR is showing, which are most likely the power numbers you'd be getting from your Kickr.

If I am syncing the PM to TR separately in the devices section, power shown should be off the P1s. Testing that tonight. Up until now i have done what you do, record w Garmin & upload THAT to strava



Possible something is wrong with yours?

THIS is exactly my concern, I did buy used... might have to come over and do a joint trainer session next week to DX

To do it correctly and not have interference, sync TR with your Kickr and Garmin with P1's. This way you can record. P1 power to your Garmin and upload to Strava. Also, you can go back afterwards and compare the power numbers recorded in TR and see the difference in power between Kickr and P1's at same effort.

Not sure about excess noise from your Kickr. Send a video so I can hear it. Also welcome to join me for a session in my pain cave.

scott dinhofer

have to find a pain cave date... maybe that's the next local group meetup!
just checked out some videos on youtube and mine sounds no louder than the ones I heard including DCRainmaker's comparison -
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yNcD3CTJn6Q