Hi! I’m on the hardest gear on my bike (MTB), with an FTP of 137 and trainer difficulty set to almost 100%…can’t get any speed and my workouts are too easy. Any help appreciated!
Can you share with us a little more about your setup. What trainer are you using?
Sure! Kickr Core.
Ok, so it’s a direct drive trainer. What’s the gearing? Also what are you running Zwift on and is it Bluetooth or ANT+? Finally, when you say that you can’t generate any speed are doing a free ride or a workout?
Oh, and can you clarify what you mean by can’t generate speed? Is your trainer bogging down or are you pedaling really fast and your speed is very low?
A few things to check. Make sure your trainer is paired to Zwift vas controlable. Make sure when you pedal your power number go up, if you are doing a workout make sure ERG mode is off.
Thanks, Bob. Pedaling really fast to get the watts. Completing workouts (ERG off and trainer is paired) which request 40-70w intervals at times- almost impossible to pedal that low without stopping. Don’t have enough resistance to stand for harder intervals either.
I’ve read that I don’t need to change gears for a workout but can for free rides or events; I don’t have another gear though (12spd), so how would I generate more resistance and speed?
Running Zwift on MacOS Mojave and ANT+.
You don’t need to change gears if ERG mode is on. So when you free ride is everything ok? Do you have resistance? If not make sure your trainer is also paired as controlable and not just power.
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How did you determine your FTP is 137W?
If it is actually much higher, you may experience similar problems to those you describe.
Before starting a workout, manually change your FTP to, say, 200W and see if the workouts now have more resistance.
It is unclear to me what your problem is. Are you in workout mode and the workout is telling you to hit a certain power output (watts) and you can’t hit it because of lack of resistance? Are you hitting the target, but it is just too easy? If you are in a free ride (not a workout) do you have the same problem?
I’m using an old MTB right now (a 3x8) and I only have issues with wanting higher gears on flat or downhill sprints.
Thanks, Clive. I did the FTP test and saw 137W marked on the screen for afterwards. I’ll select another option and see if I get a similar result.
Thanks, David. Both. I’m in workout mode following a six week program with 150W-300W requested; there’s barely any resistance and I’m pedaling as fast as I can to reach the target. The closest feeling would be pedaling on a flat or downhill on granny. Surely I should be able to spin slower with more resistance to meet higher watt targets?!
I’ll try a free ride to see if I can get more resistance.
Trainer is paired as controllable. I’ll try a free ride to see if there’s a difference.
Yes, in ERG mode you should be able to spin slower, in any gear, and resistance will increase. Something is wrong.
Sometimes people have these symptoms when using a USB extension cable, and removing the cable magically fixes the issue.
Sometimes people have this issue (I did) and resolve it by uninstalling and reinstalling Zwift.
Which trainer?
Which PC/phone/tablet?
How are they connected?
Here is a new twist.
My computer has 3 USB ports and the video ports on one side and a single USB port on the other side.
I use Ant + and if I use a USB port with other plugins nearby, ie HDMI cable or computer cooling fan, I seem to get erratic interference.
If I isolate my Ant+ dongle, I have no issues.