A few of my latest questions....

[gerrard]

Q1:
I've installed the RWS and aerobars on my bike, updated my profile, done a new cal ride and that all seems to be good. However I notice now whenever I sit up onto the hoods that wattage drops massively. Go down into aero and it displays about the right number, sit up and drops to about 1/3 of that.

Now I know the ibike doesn't recognise that I am changing positions so I'm wondering what makes this happen. No doubt my speed drops a bit with the extra wind resistance so without changing gear my cadence probably drops too (not massively noticeable tho). Is that what would be causing this variation? Anything else?

Q2:
Out riding yesterday. Let my bike sit outside for 5mins or so first. Went inside to do the autowind where it was dead calm. Start temperature was 15degrees C. It rose to 18 in the first 1.5hours then dropped quite quickly to 10 degrees for the remainder of the ride. When I got home and went back inside I checked the Cal Wind and it was showing -6.3. I assume this is to do with the temperature change? How much affect would this have on my ride data? Does this indicate I should be stopping more often to do a Cal Wind along the way?

Thanks
Gerrard

[racerfern]

AFA Q1:

There is a change in wind scaling as you sit up, IOW the wind pressure at the opening of the RWS drops as your body moves away from it. You can confirm this by changing the top window to show wind speed and you should see a drop in wind speed as you sit up and return to normal as you get back on the aerobars.

Note that as you climb, wind has very little effect on your effort so the change will be smaller or non-existent on climbs.

AFA Q2:

I let my iBike sit outside for about 10 minutes or so before riding off. Then about 5-10 minutes into the ride I do another wind offset now that the iBike has truly acclimated to the conditions. You'll get better results that way. If I have a substantial change in temps then I stop when possible to do another wind offset. I don't obsess over it but do it whenever time permits. It helps to note the temp of the unit when you do a wind offset. That way you can just check the temp and if it's within a few degrees there's no need to think about stopping for a wind offset.

[gerrard]

Thanks as always!

[andrep]

I the headline of this thread - so I use it for some more of my questions:

To be honest - as a germany guy with "acceptable" knowledge of english it is sometimes diffictult for me to understand the technical terms, instructions and manuals. But I think you can help me out. First of all: I have the new iBIke newton and with the new software.

1. Is it neccessary with the newton to do a wind calibration before using it? I read somewhere, that it is only optional for the newton. Do I have to put it outside (especially on cold days) for x minutes before doing the wind cal?

2. on the bottom of the iBike there is this "rubber cap" which covers the mini-usb-slot. But it is a littlebit damaged and sometimes it´s causing bad tilts because it sticks between the newton an the mount.

3. If I set a new profile I am asked if I use a RWS or not. Has the answer on this question a big influence on the wattages/measusrements?

4. I still "don´t trust" the newton to 100% and in MY OPINION I think, that I would have more accurate results, if I would do the coast downs. But of course - I have to wear exactly the cloth I wear in the training/competission, haven´t I? (That is one point I can´t trust the iBike - I tell it about my riding position - but: Isn´t there a big difference between winter and sommer-cloth in their cda?

5. All of you are writing about fric, cdA, crr - to be honest: I don´t understand much of that. And I can imagine that noone likes to explain all of it to me - But tell me: Where can I learn more about it to understand the numbers - to understand, if my are right? For example I have two profiles in isaac - I made accurate cal-rides but they show different numbers on the mentioned parameters. I don´t know why (and I don´t know which is right or wrong?!)?

6. There are so many possibilities for changing the ride parameters in isaac. Maybe they make sense - many possibilities are many possibilities of creating mistakes. What is (for a beginner and learner) usefull and neccessary?!

In easy words: Who can I be sure to measure the most accurate results in all of my rides to compare what it. In 2 weeks I will go to a trainings-camp and after it I will ride my tt bike again and have to set a new profile. I like to do the best I can to have the most accurate results. Pls give me a few answers on my questions and/or the overall-question: how to get the most accurate results? Many many thanks in advance!!!

[racerfern]

1. Is it neccessary with the newton to do a wind calibration before using it? I read somewhere, that it is only optional for the newton. Do I have to put it outside (especially on cold days) for x minutes before doing the wind cal?

Yes it is necessary to do a wind calibration with the unit at the outdoor ambient temperature. This should be done just prior to the initial cal ride. Off all your questions this is the most important one. Make sure you get a good wind calibration and after that just leave the wind offset alone. The unit will self-adjust to the existing conditions.

2. on the bottom of the iBike there is this "rubber cap" which covers the mini-usb-slot. But it is a littlebit damaged and sometimes it´s causing bad tilts because it sticks between the newton an the mount.

You can pull the cap off, it won't affect anything.

3. If I set a new profile I am asked if I use a RWS or not. Has the answer on this question a big influence on the wattages/measusrements?

It more than likely affects the range of the wind scaling so just answer whether you use a remote wind sensor or not.

4. I still "don´t trust" the newton to 100% and in MY OPINION I think, that I would have more accurate results, if I would do the coast downs. But of course - I have to wear exactly the cloth I wear in the training/competission, haven´t I? (That is one point I can´t trust the iBike - I tell it about my riding position - but: Isn´t there a big difference between winter and sommer-cloth in their cda?

I can assure you that you can trust the Newton. The most important factor is consistency. So take the steps to create a good profile and stick with it. Train with it, ride with it.

5. All of you are writing about fric, cdA, crr - to be honest: I don´t understand much of that. And I can imagine that noone likes to explain all of it to me - But tell me: Where can I learn more about it to understand the numbers - to understand, if my are right? For example I have two profiles in isaac - I made accurate cal-rides but they show different numbers on the mentioned parameters. I don´t know why (and I don´t know which is right or wrong?!)?

So some searching on Google for determining coefficient of drag. Cd is your total drag, it is made up of CdA the aero drag and Crr the drag created by rolling resistance. It's quite easy to determine total drag, it's tougher to separate how much drag is from aero resistance and how much is from rolling resistance. For that reason it is easier to accept the numbers Newton comes up with in the cal ride process by answering the fast start questions, doing a tilt cal, a wind cal and finally the cal ride.

6. There are so many possibilities for changing the ride parameters in isaac. Maybe they make sense - many possibilities are many possibilities of creating mistakes. What is (for a beginner and learner) usefull and neccessary?!

You really goof things up if you don't know what you're doing. The most important thing to remember is that when you change one thing, it will change something else. The equations still need to equal out.

[andrep]

Many many thanks for all your answers. One last for the moment: So do I understand it right, that, after I did a wind cal ONE TIME before the cal ride, I don´t have to do it again?! Never again?!

[racerfern]

Many many thanks for all your answers. One last for the moment: So do I understand it right, that, after I did a wind cal ONE TIME before the cal ride, I don´t have to do it again?! Never again?!

IF you ever need to do another cal ride because of a different bike, different position, change in something major then you should do another wind calibration.

The other time you might consider a wind calibration is if there is drastic difference in temperature between when you did the wind calibration and that particular day. Say a difference of thirty degrees fahrenheit. But the need to do constant calibrations during a ride or over the course of days is gone forever. Don't chase the thing because it really does self-adjust to ambient surroundings.

[andrep]

That sounds brilliant! Thank you again!!!

[andrep]

Dear Racerfern (the only responder in the forum ),

one more question:

I created in Isaac a new profile, loaded it to the ibike and did a new cal ride with my TT bike:

After my first ride I had 136 Watts in average. Then - I created a new profile by clicking "extracting profile from ride-file. Then I went to "Change profile after ride" and told isaac to use this profile instead of the "origin" profile. And that I had 131 average watts. ?!?!?! It should be the same, because all parameters (I can watch them in the profiles) are the same. But the software changed it and corrected it down. Do you have any explanation for this?! And - I wonder, that the average watts are so low. I did a 3 other cal-rides one week earlier - If I compare the three different results by using the three different cal rides as a profile I have differences of 50 watts. ?!?! Ok, it was very windy on that day but can it influence the results that much? In the manual I can read that very gusty winds are not allowed?! But what exactly is "very gusty"?!

Many thanks

André

[racerfern]

Any time you "Switch profile after the ride" you will have a slight change, even if you switch to the same profile. Don't do it unless you truly use the wrong profile.

As far as the difference it's usually only a couple of watts and won't affect your training results in any way.

Avoid doing cal rides on windy days because you're trying to find slight differences and emphasize sensitivity, not huge changes. I would say anything more than 2mph is excessive wind.

I live in a windy area so I do my cal rides before sunrise when it's calmest. But then I don't do another cal ride unless I've got a significant change like a new bike.

[andrep]

Thank you very much once again!

One more

I read about the "pre installed fitness workouts". And yes, I understand that the time and intensity depense on the fitness-score. But - I don´t have any idea right now, what I have to expect. And I don´t want to start the programm without knowing anything about hte next 30 or 200 minutes Can you please give me a SHORT inside, how the programs look like?! (for example for a FPT of 200).

Many thanks!

[racerfern]

FTP of 200 means that's the maximum average wattage you can hold for one hour. You need to do some kind of fitness test to establish a starting point. It doesn't matter if Newton comes up with 150 or 300 or something inbetween.

The point is do a fitness test in conditions you can return to on a regular basis. Then set training pattern for about six weeks and go out and do another fitness test. Ideally you'll complete the course in less time and hence establish a new FTP. Now all the training will get a little harder as you up the effort.

Keep feeding the training monster a year at a time.

[andrep]

Dear Fernando,

many thanks - but that was a missunderstanding. I know the fitness test and the fpt stuff. I spoke about the "Pre programmed fitness workouts in the "racer-modus". There are a few different programs but I don´t know, what is "in there" I can start them, but I don´t know how long they are and what I have to expect! That was my question! Sorry!

[racerfern]

I believe most of the info you're looking for is in the manual.

There are various exercises at L2, L3, L4, L5. From 60 minutes at 70%, to 1 minute at L6 or whatever. All you can do is try them, I personally don't use those although they're planned out very well. Get the book "How to Train and Race with a PM" and come up with a plan.

But the best thing would be activate the training screens, read the manual and have a look at all the different exercises. Also be aware you can design them yourself in Isaac then transfer them to Newton.

Good luck.

[andrep]

Thanks - and I am an owner of the book from hunter allen already But - I have to learn, I have to learn, I have to learn! It´s all not very easy to start the training with a powermeter and the manual in english isn´t always that easy to me. And there is so much you can do with the ibike and isaac. And in the moment - I have infected tonsins - I haven´t got the time for training and so think about the technical side of training

Thank you!