Review TrainerRoad
WORKOUTS AND COUNTING
HERE’S WHAT RIDERS SAY.
Helping to Save Lives!
Hello! So just to be up front, I am not (yet) a paid subscriber. I'm 40 years old, live in Washington State, a husband & a father. I turned to cycling 4 years ago as a way to change my life. I bought a '04 TCR from Craigslist, rebuilt it from the frame up over winter learning as I went, & have just over 7k miles on it since Aug 2018. In 2013 I retired from law enforcement after 13 years at 315lbs, a raging alcoholic, & physically a real dumpster fire. At the time I thought medical problems were my reason for leaving, I was told I need a hip replacement, back surgery, & would most likely walk with a cane the rest of my life. After watching a documentary on a childhood "hero" using yoga to reinvent himself, I sat on my couch crying & decided to give it one last shot before succumbing to the knife. Yoga built me up so I could ride & I've reinvented who I am as a father, husband, and human being from the saddle. Yes my body was broken & weak, but I was suffering misdiagnosed PTSD (as are 80% of police officers) & I can now be honest with myself & the world at large. I never had any surgeries, I became plant based as did my whole family, quit alcohol & nicotine, & most everything that crippled me was my own doing....... apparently. I've turned myself into an amateur endurance athlete regularly completing 20+ hour training weeks riding 4 - 6 days anywhere from 3 - 5 hours generally. I'm 170lbs, still riding the Giant, & 100mi+ at 18mph+ average is my current fitness level. In fact tomorrow I set out for a solo 150 on my birthday just to prove I can! So how has TR played a part in all this? As I mentioned, I have yet to subscribe but if life ever blesses me I would love to. Honestly my family has to come first, the last couple years have been a struggle for us, so I stay on my trusty older bike for now. I have full sensors, but never could ethically spend the money on a power meter or personal trainer while my family still has needs. That being said, I'm a person with a high cognitive load & my favorite for long rides is podcasts, which is where TR has become a constant source of information, science, & companionship during huge days in the saddle. You truly are "tip of the spear" & along with other learning I've been able to change my life; & in no small part you have helped to save me. Thank you SO much for EVERYTHING you do for the cycling community & sports science in general. I truly hope life affords me the ability to view power & a program one of these days, but until then I genuinely appreciate what you've done for my life. I'll never be a racer & that was never my goal, just health, fitness, and optimizing who I am today to be better for tomorrow!
Travis S. / United States
Awesome Training and Customer Service
I am new to TrainerRoad but I am already loving the progress. After doing 1 week of workouts, I went outside and had my best ride speed wise. I dd 23.5 miles with a avg speed of 18.6! I can't wait to get more training in because I'm certain TrainerRoad will get me to my goal of averaging 20 mph on any given day! Also, Gillian, a customer service rep was awesome in assisting me! 10/10
Orlando M. / United States
TrainerRoad has help me improve as a cyclist in almost every way.
When I started TrainerRoad 8 months ago a was a horrible cyclist in almost every way. I wasn't very fast, and had tried to train myself for a year and just couldn't put anything together that worked for me but TrainerRoad just makes it easy in almost all aspects. with training programs like Zwift you have to go through a ton of step to start a structured workout but wit TrainerRoad you go straight to it with helps when you have a short amount of time and want to make the most of it. Also in the workout they have optional instruction a that will help you develop not only your fitness but your for as well which will help you to stay health and injury free. Don't even get me started on how much I love there podcast that they put out for FREE it is an incredibly resource and instead of being a podcast dedicated to one thing or another it covers everything in cycling from nutrition to workouts to race strategy it has it all and they still manage to keep it fun and entertaining. I love TrainerRoad and would highly recommend it any cyclist that is to take there whole cycling experience to a new level.
Ben E. / United States
Best Training Product Available
Quite simply the guys at Trainerroad know what they’re doing. From training plans to podcasts with the added bonus of the performance analytics, calendar and great community this will make you a faster cyclist. Trust in the process and you will achieve your goals & beat your competition!
Lewis R. / United Kingdom
What they said
TR is great: the software, the forum. the YouTube vids, the podcast (of course), all of it. I trust them. I trust their motives. Yes, they're a business, but they are cyclists, and they are dedicated to making us (as the say) faster cyclists. The podcast is entertaining and informative. The training software is simple and elegant, but it's bottomless in its potential. I am very glad they do what they do. Thanks, guys.
John H. / United States
This is next level stuff
I can't thank you all enough for putting such a good product and podcast in our sport. That's what got me into racing and improving myself. I have learned so much new stuff about training, racing, nutrition, health related stuff and list goes on and on.. I am relistening to all of your podcasts from the start as I did before in random order. It's an awesome podcast, the best for me actually and I'm never bored of your voices. Keep on doing what you are doing - you are the rare diamond in the cycling community! Cheers guys!
Tadas K. / Lithuania
The structure that took me further
TrainerRoad Is like having a coach by your side, but without the high cost. It drastically upped the gains per hour spent! Fantastic!
Hans H. / Norway
Excellent! Follow plans and will make you faster...
Started biking and using TrainerRoad as means to get fit due to a non-bike injury + desire to improve health. Didn’t come from much of an athletic background (let alone any cycling experience) so literally had no idea about cycling and structured training. Initial FTP Test on TR was 200 watts, 148lb at age 31. Followed format of Base, Build, Specialty progression, repeated this a few times. Also, used their podcast- was quite helpful to add context to objective of plans and learn other fitness/biking info to implement to help improve. Got to 309 watts at 147.5lb at ~23 months of training with software. Hoping to touch 4.8-4.9 watt/kg this year. Would highly recommend giving a try if want to get faster, fit and do so in a time efficient manner.
Matthew / United States
the Best tool beginners like me
Thanks for a great training resource and the other bits like "ask a cycling coach" podcast and the forum it creates a great environment for helping people like me. I've only been cycling for a year and half so a lot to learn and a long way to go.
Dexter C. / Australia
Very good software!
Used it to significantly improve my FTP and performance over the winter, and now use it outside! Highly recommend
Maxim L. / United States
Amazing!!!
The information provided in these podcasts is amazing! Very well researched and explained well. I specifically like how even when they do not agree with a certain type of training, or style of dieting, they still uphold the merit of that fad, or what have you. Intermittent fasting for example - Coach Chad talks about how intermittent fasting is extremely effective in losing weight; referencing Jason Fong multiple times, but it is not effective for endurance athletes like us cyclists. It gives us looking for answers a unique understanding of what is essential for cyclists to maintain performance and increase FTP, W/kg, or whatever it is we seek, rather than focus on what can help you attain the best results with a certain factor of racing, i.e. weight. The other thing I enjoy is the race results, as well as the guest starring of THOR - Pete. It's nice to have real world contribution from a Pro Conti rider! 5+ stars for these guys! Amazing content and always fun to see them at my local races.
Griffin N. / United States
Mills 1 year ago versus Mills today
December 2017 I was goofing off with TR just doing a mixture of workouts. Canceled in February when the weather improved. I also didn’t understand what structured training really meant. Fast forward to today, nearly finished with SSB MV2 (now understanding structure). I completed Mills and felt great, even increased it 5% for the last set! I then saw in January 2018 I attempted Mills and failed mid-way through the second set at an FTP 30 watts lower than it was today. Wow. Thank you TrainerRoad for making me awesome. I definitely will not be canceling this February :heart:
Randi A. / United States
From 2.5w/kg to 4.35w/kg
TR hurts in the pain cave but it makes you faster - for sure. You'll beat guys with 5000km or more on the road because - not all TSS are created equal. On peak times, I ended up on roughly 4.7w/kg - on the same trainer with the same bike settings. This is fun on the roller and even much more outside!
Matthias / Switzerland
Amazing
So first of all I love the podcast and it gives a lot of helpful tips. I love the programs I can do, because there are only so many preset up workouts on Zwift and I love the variety. Overall Great!
Katie S. / United States
Everything you need to get fast
The massive workout library and the well thought out plans make TrainerRoad a great fit for 99% of athletes out there. Stick to the plan, listen to the podcasts, look after yourself outside of training and racing and you WILL get faster with TR. It's that simple.
Justin H. / Australia
GREAT value for money !!!!
I started using trainerroad 3 months ago and improved my FTP 15% . Before i was riding outside and doing a lot of "junk" miles now with trainerroad i can achieve BETTER results in a shorter time . Consistently measuring your progress is a great motivator and keeps you focused. It's not only a great software tool but they also have great resources like their forum where everybody is happy to help !
Thomas D. / Belgium
Best Training Product Available
Quite simply the guys at TrainerRoad know what they’re doing. From training plans to podcasts with the added bonus of the performance analytics, calendar and great community this will make you a faster cyclist. Trust in the process and you will achieve your goals & beat your competition!
Lewis R. / United Kingdom
Perfect for time-crunched with family priorities
I liked the "Ask a Cycling Coach" podcast so much that I signed up for 2 months of TrainerRoad. This is significant because my region is well-known for consistent weather year-round that's suitable for outdoor riding. After training on my own for 2-3 years, I became very confused about programming workouts, and really desired for my limited training availability to be invested in a worthwhile manor. It was so nice to simply follow a plan and not have to worry about what workout would be beneficial. What's more, training time for an 8-5 employee with family priorities is scarce, and every minute of availability has to count! I did the full mid-volume general power build and went from a ramp test of 273 to 301! With that, I have been on the podium at weeknight crits and set a Power PR at a recent 40km Time Trial. Going forward, I will turn to TrainerRoad whenever I seek to get serious about training and set personal records.
Matthew N. / United States
Freshman Fourty
My journey began as a track and cross country athlete in high school. I was competitive enough to make it to state every year here in Alabama. When it came time time to graduate, I moved off to college and quit exercising completely. After only 5 ish months from my last track meet, where I ran a 50.95 400 meter split, I had gained the freshman 40. Now this is commonly mistaken as the freshman 15, but is most definitely different. I couldn't even scratch my back and don't get me started on tying my shoes.So I attempted running again, and of course tried to pick up where I left off in my then "glory days." You can guess what came with that... Injuries. So since my family had gotten into cycling, I decided to spend some of that college loan money on a something important like a bike instead of all of that education stuff. I mean do you really need books for classes anymore? Being the super competitive people that my brother and I are, we quickly began betting who could get the best W/kg average. Now being the young gun with an unbreakable mentality, I destroyed myself with the improper structure another platform offered. My brother, the nerd engineer that he is, ingeniously found the Trainerroad Podcast and gave it a try. Once I switched over, the impacts were incredible. I shed the weight and am starting to climb the ranks in my area for the roadie life. So thank you, Trainerroad, for providing me the invaluable tools necessary to tear off these competitors legs.
Cody M. / United States
Great community, great product
This is my second season training with TrainerRoad. It is undoubtedly the best of its kind in cycling training. It has changed my world. I take my fitness and health overall more seriously, because I can really see that the investment in my training is working. I’m faster, stronger, safer, and having more fun than ever before. It is a great investment in my fitness and health. The software in and of itself is great and accessible for all manner of cyclist, but there is a global community of cyclists with which to share and learn. You can come in at any fitness level, even with basic equipment and see gains in weeks. I’ve never considered myself a podium qualifier, but I sure have fun training like one... and I have even started seeing that as a possibility! I’ve shared TrainerRoad with several friends who are now active users and having the same positive experience. Five stars, keep up the good work there at TR!
Stephanie B. / United States