What is "Erg Mode" on a Smart Trainer

Al Truscott

And how is it used in Zwift, Trainer Road, etc? (I'm posting this for the benefit of those who are just getting into their new Smart Trainer, and may be a little puzzled.)

Jeff Horn

I stated this in the GroupMe, but I did race tonight where my trainer was sorta stuck on erg mode.  I didn't change any settings before the ride.  Went in the corral, warmed up as usual and took off with a bang.  I realized about 5 minutes in when we hit the first little hill that I received no additional resistance going up the hill, my avatar simply slowed down.  This allowed to front of the pack to lose me and I had to expend a lot of energy to bridge back up.  By this point I was already invested in the effort, so just tolerated it.  
I think that someone had mentioned that up arrow might fix this during a ride?  My brain wasn't getting enough O2 at this point so didn't try it.

Paul Hough

"Aaargh mode" is when the smart trainer is preset to a given wattage.  On my Hammer I can adjust erg mode in 5 watt increments.  Say I want to do 3 x 10 mins at 210 watts.  I can just set 210 at the beginning of each interval and if I'm not cranking out the watts I'll come to a stop (especially since the power requirement to hit your setting increases as your cadence decreases - and vice versa).  On my phone app I can hit a - or + to decrease/increase erg mode on the fly.  Erg mode is best used when performing repeat intervals, but I've read that you should NOT use it when doing a FTP test.  If you were in Zwift on a solo Z3 ride you could use erg mode to control your intervals; but it's really not useful when you are racing or when you are on a significant climb.   

Ann Sloan

This brings me to my sorta dumb/should know question but new to Zwift and using new Wahoo '17 Kickr.  7 years on my computrainer i totally understood ERG vs non-ERG.  ERG = TrainerRoad...  Non-ERG - used Perfpro and road AZ course/LP course shifting as the terrain changed.  Made sense to me and felt 'normal'

Now....with Zwift and group rides I find I don't have time to Shift and *think* I should.  It is not (I assume) in ERG mode as the trainer acts like the computrainer did for riding 'courses'.  I find 'small' shifts are help, but not totally sure.  So far I have done 9 Group Rides and haven't figured out the shifting part yet...pretty much I stay in the same gear unless it's an up hill....downhill I go all out to stay in the draft.  

 

Al Truscott

@AnnSloan There is a setting in Zwift to control the sensitivity of your KICKR to the "terrain changes" programmed into the course. Get it set right, and you can shift to the little ring for climbs of 6% or more, get in the big ring/small cog if you want to bomb down hills (I like to coast, eg not pedal, it looks cool on the screen to aero-tuck).

Start Zwift like normal, select the KICKR as your controllable trainer. Then on the ride screen, select your course as usual. When you pop into Zwift, click on "Menu", and then on the Settings icon (two gears in lower right). In the middle you should see "Trainer difficulty". You can play around with that to find the sweet spot for you. I seem to have mine set @ about 50%; others seem to like 15-30% range. You can get back to that any time during the ride by just clicking on the screen to show the Menu button in the lower left.

I used a CompuTrainer 2007-2014, but find the KICKR much easier to deal with from a software perspective. They understand the need to play nice with others.

Ann Sloan

@Al Truscott 
 Thanks!  I actually figured out how to adjust that before my 8 am ride...it was much better.  I'll keep tweaking it.

Thanks for all the insight!  

John Culberson

Thanks for the OP @Al Truscott... I’ve been disappointed in Zwift, and tend to default back to Sufferfest, which works so well on my Computrainer ERG mode that I was really not in a rush to run out and get a smart trainer. I guess that to appreciate the social aspect of Zwift, one requires a friendly interface.

scott dinhofer

here are some good explanations as well. 
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LbeliW8uObk
https://support.zwift.com/hc/en-us/articles/209980783--How-to-use-ERG-Mode-in-Workouts
https://support.trainerroad.com/hc/en-us/articles/201869764-Erg-Mode-Explained

Al Truscott

John Culberson said:

Thanks for the OP @Al Truscott... I’ve been disappointed in Zwift, and tend to default back to Sufferfest, which works so well on my Computrainer ERG mode that I was really not in a rush to run out and get a smart trainer. I guess that to appreciate the social aspect of Zwift, one requires a friendly interface.

CompuTrainer is the ORIGINAL Smart Trainer. As such, they never bothered to enter the 21st Century, and apparently have still not learned how to play well with others. I think the problem is more likely with CT. I switched from CT to KICKR 3 years ago, and made my workout life a lot easier. But then, I have never had a PC only a Mac, so trying to run it on the PC emulation mode in Mac was part of the hassle, along with having wires all over the place.

Even operating in Stealth Mode on Zwift (ie, no EN team mates in sight), I find the swarm of rider avatars from all over the world is highly motivating, whether I am doing a race, a group ride, a group workout, or even just riding/working out on my own. The knowledge that they are seeing what my work is, and responding to my moves keeps me operating at a higher effort level with less mental strain than just watching a video, no matter how realistic.

John Culberson

@Al Truscott: I took an opportunity to go “Stealth” this morning. Despite a lag in transmitting power into (and out of) my avatar, I had fun mixing it up with numerous groups as they came from behind. I even had a two-man break that lasted for 15 min until my foe “disappeared into thin air.” Staying with an EN group through a crowd seems particularly challenging, but maybe that’s just because the other riders are faster than me! Unfortunately, today was supposed to be a gentle Zn 2 ride... but who needs one of those on New Years Day anyway. The CT on ERG is excellent for structured workouts, and the race videos can keep my motivated enough to keep pedaling. I can put out .95 FTP exactly without overworking, but’s it’s clear that a new smart trainer and Zwift will marked improve quality and consistency of longer rides, and yield massive ROM this season. IMAZ