Team BKool CycleChat

[Monte]

Monte, it's no problem to do that. Just put in the short ride and let me know the correct time.
Last nights ride was dodgy from the start but hopefully just a one off.

@BILL S - told you my effort was nothing to write home about - 1.02.10sec - 21.3 miles

 

[bobinski]

While you will be missed here Rick I will keep an eye on you in Zwift. Just remember to stay away from my PB times

 

[LBHIFI]

Lars, I think you mean that I was dumping you on the hills last night, which seemed to be the case during the ride. However the stats say I was making 10 watts more but that you were making slightly more w/kg than me. You are still perhaps not back to full fitness after your injury.
Back in the good old days before the new updates we both used to be putting in a fight for the front but those days are gone now. Whatever caused this seems to have done the same to us both. From my point of view I'm thinking it's more realistic for me now as I had super powers before and now its just plain old me. Having ridden with Bridgy in real life I think the difference between us now is justified and it's a reflection on real life watts rather than massive sling shots that used to give me an advantage. I think the rides are harder now as there's no rest even down hills as no matter what the gradient you just slow down if you stop pedalling. I'm happy with the new order of things though and as AAAC said, it's the racing that's the important thing and it's as tough as it ever was.
I'm not sure if you're highlighting a separate problem Lars or if you have just been brought back down to earth with a thud like me because of the updates.

The problem is the way underreads and overreads are distributed. It takes the fun out of racing, since anyone going the same pace as me uphill wil get dumped when we get to the flat, and anyone I can follow on the flat will dump me when we get to the hills.

For the last half of the stage I actually dropped looking at the screen and just concentrated on trying to keep my powermeter beyond 300 watt. I only looked up to makes sure I was not wasting my watts on blue numbers

I don't think I have been "brought back down to earth" since I always knew Bkool was not realistic. I know we have all got used to wild watts in Bkool, but 280 real watts for 46 minutes is actually pretty darn good. Back when I was trying to qualify for the world amateur time trial championships, I calculated that 300 watt for 30 minutes would be enough.

 

[bridgy]

Yes actually. Race tire and tube blew up some time ago and I have been using a 25 mm Conti Ultra Sport and a normal tube for the whole of November Chaingang, and of course this is the prime suspect. The reason I didn't changed it yet, is because I got a more realistic avg. watt, but my problem is that it really underreads a lot on medium hills.
E.g. in yesterdays race BKool consistently was about 70 watts lower than my power meter. By the time I get over the hill there's noone there to draft.

It's puzzling that this issue is affecting you more than others though? We all know you're a really strong rider on bkool and in the real world. Unfortunately I don't have a power meter to compare watts like you do

 

[berty bassett]

How much does this cost? I've tried the bkool plans and never completed one.

Also can you export to garmin connect?

i did a couple of the training plan bits but found them a bit boring - and they dont export to strava so guessing they won't to connect

 

[bobinski]

The problem is the way underreads and overreads are distributed. It takes the fun out of racing, since anyone going the same pace as me uphill wil get dumped when we get to the flat, and anyone I can follow on the flat will dump me when we get to the hills.

For the last half of the stage I actually dropped looking at the screen and just concentrated on trying to keep my powermeter beyond 300 watt. I only looked up to makes sure I was not wasting my watts on blue numbers

I don't think I have been "brought back down to earth" since I always knew Bkool was not realistic. I know we have all got used to wild watts in Bkool, but 280 real watts for 46 minutes is actually pretty darn good. Back when I was trying to qualify for the world amateur time trial championships, I calculated that 300 watt for 30 minutes would be enough.

Perhaps the updates have affected different units in different ways. There is no way to check your pro or to recalibrate it short of bkool dialing in. Once you have changed your tyre and inner and seen if thos changes have an impact perhaps the next thing is to get bkool to check. Its clearly not just anecdotal with you LB because you have your power meter readouts to compare with, even putting aside possible differences cause by fact they are pedal based and bkool relies on pressure and speed to calculate watts-i think.

 

[bridgy]

Perhaps the updates have affected different units in different ways. There is no way to check your pro or to recalibrate it short of bkool dialing in. Once you have changed your tyre and inner and seen if thos changes have an impact perhaps the next thing is to get bkool to check. Its clearly not just anecdotal with you LB because you have your power meter readouts to compare with, even putting aside possible differences cause by fact they are pedal based and bkool relies on pressure and speed to calculate watts-i think.

An interesting experiment would be for everyone to swap trainers with someone else for a stage and see what happens! Not easy for Lars I admit...!

 

[Monte]

Perhaps the updates have affected different units in different ways. There is no way to check your pro or to recalibrate it short of bkool dialing in. Once you have changed your tyre and inner and seen if thos changes have an impact perhaps the next thing is to get bkool to check. Its clearly not just anecdotal with you LB because you have your power meter readouts to compare with, even putting aside possible differences cause by fact they are pedal based and bkool relies on pressure and speed to calculate watts-i think.

Guessing anything mechanical is going to have differences - I know when I got my replacement trainer it was completely different to my first unit, that's why I sent it back to Wiggle. The unit I currently use I purchased second hand, which feels the best unit I've had.

 

[Daddy Pig]

An interesting experiment would be for everyone to swap trainers with someone else for a stage and see what happens! Not easy for Lars I admit...!

You don't need to swap units, just pass around the same power meter and compare bkool watts versus the power meter. This would show the variance between units.

 

[rob01792]

@CXRAndy when doing a training plan on TR is it just a graph u follow? cos I need to get some kind of training plan as I just seam to be going backwards but I'm not sure I can follow a graph there would be no motivation like on the bkool rides where u can chase ghost

 

[RickB]

It's puzzling that this issue is affecting you more than others though? We all know you're a really strong rider on bkool and in the real world. Unfortunately I don't have a power meter to compare watts like you do

Mentioned it earlier but it seems mine has the same as Lars problem. What he describes is exactly how I feel about mine. Bill witnessed it when we were neck and neck for a while on a ride a few weeks back. Any slight hill and I went backwards.

 

[theboxers]

@CXRAndy when doing a training plan on TR is it just a graph u follow? cos I need to get some kind of training plan as I just seam to be going backwards but I'm not sure I can follow a graph there would be no motivation like on the bkool rides where u can chase ghost

That's part of the issue I had with the bkool training plans I tried previously and trying the workouts. The shorter workouts are ok. But the longer ones take a lot to keep going. I may not have the persistance to stay on some of these graph type displays, but I can normally keep going when a video is involved. It's just finding the right combo to keep going.

 

[bobinski]

Rick, wasn't this cured by the last small update? I recall having same problem. But it seems to have gone now. I actually uninstalled the software and reinstalled because i couldnt get the update to start and though that might have improved the shallow incline power. Can I ask, what about in Zwift?

 

[Randyberlin]

Mentioned it earlier but it seems mine has the same as Lars problem. What he describes is exactly how I feel about mine. Bill witnessed it when we were neck and neck for a while on a ride a few weeks back. Any slight hill and I went backwards.

Just a guess on my part, but I think the software has big differences depending on weight. Even the 10 lbs I've added made a big difference and there is absolutely no way I can overcome the blue numbers on anything over -1.2 %

 

[CXRAndy]

@CXRAndy when doing a training plan on TR is it just a graph u follow? cos I need to get some kind of training plan as I just seam to be going backwards but I'm not sure I can follow a graph there would be no motivation like on the bkool rides where u can chase ghost

Yes Rob, it is just a line. There is function to overlay videos, which they list on their website. There are guide instructions that appear on screen when working out.
I can mentally switch off and just listen to music and follow the line. At the moment the workouts are manageable with the last interval beginning to take a degree of concentration to hold form and hit the numbers. I am doing the sweet spot base training presently. There is the traditional base work which involves longer steadier workouts if you have time. After base work comes build, where apparently the power training comes in to build on the base. It is all based around your own ftp and the training is meant to elevate this by doing a regular structured plan over many weeks. You can if feeling strong add other rides in as well. I am picking the odd Chaingang rides just to keep my power up and to gauge if I can feel stronger as the weeks go on.