New to this ibike thing! Am I on the right track?

[scsteven]

Hi everyone! I just got my new wireless ibike pro, got it all installed on Sunday, followed the instructions to a T. I just wanted to post my calibration ride, coast downs, and last night's ride to make sure that things look legit.
Of note, I am female, I ride a roadie with aero bars (tri set-up), my roads are country roads, fairly rough, not super smooth- some chip and seal. I weigh 147# and am 5'4. I am a triathlete for those who care
I am trying to understand how to intrepret this data and make it work for me. I don't think the software reference manual is too super helpful. Here's my data, then I will post my questions.



In case you can't easily see the images, here is the link: http://myridedata.shutterfly.com/ hint: if you click on slideshow, the images are much bigger and easier to read.
Ok, my questions are:
1. Do my settings from the cal/coast down ride look legit? Friction, aero, etc.. Are any of these numbers that I need to worry about improving?
2. Not sure I even know what most of these numbers mean: tilt, wind scaling, etc.. what can I read that will help me understand?
3. I was shocked to see that the calories burned from the 20 mile ride were only 345 cals! My HRM used to say something like 600-700 cals! Does it not to need to know that I am female, my age, etc (all of the data that went into my HRM)?
4. On the wind scaling pic, how do I know that this is accurate? Do I need to make any adjustments? I'm not sure what the wind offset and average ground speed things do at the bottom of the screen and why I would mess with it?
Obviously, I am very new to this, I love technology and feel that once I get a handle on my ibike, I can really start to improve as a cyclist.
One last question, I thought the ibike pro came with the reading material from Coach Boyd, "Fast Fitness with Power". How do I get this? It's not the ibike store.. I did do the fitness test and it says that my FTP is a pitiful 133W. Obviously, I am excited to get to work!
Thank you in advance for all of your help..

[JR_70]

I too am an iBike newbie and I think I have loaded up Boyd and Aaron's "Inbox" with countless rides to look at to determine if they are "OK" to use. I am a bit "iffy" on how to determine if a set of particular numbers are "good" to use or not....I know that a few people have posted here that the "actual" numbers are less important - that it is the consistent use of the numbers that will show progress (or lack thereof) ...and that "accurate" numbers are less important.

However, I would like to know a few things.

1 - I have a training bike and a race bike - so I want to know if the numbers I am using on my training bike can be translated over to my racing bike - i.e., if I am training and use "x"W - then I can use "x" W when racing as well. So the numbers do need to be fairly accurnate between profiles.

2 - I also have training wheels and race wheels - I am assuming that there is a benefit to using Zipp 606's over my Easton Vista wheelset - or else I have dropped a lot of cash for no reason...no comment..... but what number(s) should change as a result of using my aerodynamic wheels? And again, I would like to know that the numbers I am using with my Easton's and the effect it will have when I switch over to my Zipps. When I did my calibration ride and coastdowns (using the same Cervelo P3C bike) - my CdA was actually higher using the Zipps - which to me, seems odd? But at the same time my Crr was considerably lower as well (0.0023 as opposed to the usual 0.0055)....

So if anyone has any suggestions - I would appreciate hearing them as well.

I am very keen and excited to use my iPro - but have been a bit frustrated with knowing what constitutes a "good" calibration ride and numbers - and one that I can easily use across equipment - for training and racing.

Having said that I have found that Boyd, Aaron (velocomp) and John have been incredible at addressing and answering some of my questions - but as I mentioned I feel bad having to ask them questions after each ride....so would prefer to be more self-sufficient.

[lorduintah]

Aero effects with the 606's is not going to do anything until you get over 20 mph or so. Your Crr should be lower in most cases due to superior wheels and the bearings and so on that are built into those. Don't forget you also have a different weight distribution with an qero wheel - that is going to affect some factors - at low speeds.

On a fairly calm day, find a level to very gradual uphill section of road - get your speed to 20 mph and keep it there to see what kind of "average" Watts you are needing. Then go to the trainer and select the conversion set appropriate - do the same there - what level of Watts do you need to keep a rate of 20 mph? There is likely to be some difference (for no other reason than the variations of the power curve and each trainer, wind will have an effect and the resistance in the trainer) but I don't think you should have a wildly different value.

If you do this over three or more speed levels, you should be able to at least get a relative read on power on the road vs. stationary power.

Tom

[JR_70]

Hey Tom...so will the profile that I use for my training rides be the same as the profile I use for my race day?

[R Mc]

do a separate profile for each separate set-up that you use.

I train on a set of 32-hole box section tubulars--that's one profile;

race on a set of zipp 808 tubulars--that's another profile;

the time trial bike gets its own profile . . .

[bex]

Hello scsteven and welcome to the forum!
I too am in the learning curve and awaiting some help with profiles and information.
I can only answer and comment on a few things I am afraid.
1. The training with power is only available with the Isport as far as I am aware.
2. On your calibration ride file info it has weight as 176lbs. You mention that you weigh 147Lbs. so that allows the difference as bike/equipment weight. IS that correct, that seems a heck of a lot of weight.
The Crr looks low when compared to what others have suggested it should be for a road surface in general. Your number, 0045, would appear to be quite a smooth surface, but again, I would want somebody to suggest changes that you could make, I am not experienced enough to make a suggestion.
If, in your cal ride info page, you hit the drop down box that says crr fixed, what does crr change to? that might give some more interesting numbers.
Based on what others have experienced and my wifes TT bike and her Iaero I would suggest that your aero number might be out of whack, but I cannot say for sure, again, lack of experience. I am going by my wifes numbers, she is 137lbs wih bike and equipment and her aero figure is 0.145
This is not really of any help to you at all I think, but it might be a start.
What I do not understand is the crr number on your ride file is 0.0060 but on the cal ride data its 0.0045 can anybody say why?
I echo what others have said here, the team at Velocomp really are second to none with their service and support. Most questions are answered, quickly. Ride files and profiles checked.
One or two tips. If you decide to do another profile, erase your data. Fix your crr at 0.0055 or what you believe to be the right number for road surface.
Good luck!
Bex

[lorduintah]

R Mc is correct. I interpreted the comparison of trainer to road use. I thought that was part of what you were looking into. If you pick what you think is you road profile and you have a trainer profile from the set of those included - the comparison at different speeds could enlighten you as to a relation over the speed and associated power requirement to maintain that speed. Then you would know how much of a delta you might want to factor in at different efforts - trainer to road and vice versa. (Note: a plot of road power at speed(x) vs. trainer power at same speed would give you a correlation (maybe not liner, hence the choice of more than two speeds) that you could then relate.

Code: Select all

trainer speed(power)
                                 |             x
                                 |          x
                                 |       x
                                 |  x
                                 |>>>>>>>>>>>>>
                                         Road power

[/color]
x = speed(power)

Excel could be used to give you a mathematical relation to use if the need arises.

Tom

[scsteven]

Thanks for the initial replies! Yes, I thought 176# was a lot of total weight too! That means my bike, my fluids, my shoes, my helmet, everything else weighs almost 30#!! I see an issue there! I'm going to re-weigh everything tomorrow.
As for the Crr.. when I click on adjusted on that screen, it gives me a Crr of .0008 which I know is not right. You had mentioned that you saw that my ride data on showed a Crr of .0060. I entered that because of the quality of my road. I may just default that back to .0055.
I agree that I just need to go out and ride the bike and get familiar with everything. The only thing is, I don't just want this to become an expensive cyclometer.

[scsteven]

I couldn't wait until tomorrow to re-do the weight thing so I just re-did it. My adjusted total weight is 172#. My bike with fluids, bento box, tool bag, is 25# . WOW!! Also, I manually adjusted my Crr to .0055 to more accurately reflect my roads. I then saved my profile to the ibike.

[bex]

Just one more point regarding your calib ride.
It was a 2 mile out AND back, along the same route?
Its just that the elevation does not look too symmetrical.
Just a thought.

Bex

[scsteven]

Yes, it was one mile out (with a tailwind) and one mile back dead into the wind, same exact route (the manual said I only needed to do a 2 mile cal ride. I followed the instructions on the screen and turned around after 1 mile). Also, I didn't mention earlier, but I have a remote wind sensor on the bike too. I don't know if that matters or not.. I installed it before I did the cal ride and the coast downs..

[lorduintah]

I saw only four coast downs - and one was rejected. This is really not enough - reality is that around 10 is a better set of coast downs. A similar situation arises with the cal ride. 4-6 miles total is better and that should be out one one stretch and back on the exact same stretch of path or road (with the appropriate changes for traffic, etc.)

Three coast downs does not let the software use much to get the sensor responses straightened out very much. Although the tile correction you have is well within reasonable values. The cal ride is also better performed when the wind is near calm or no more than about 5 mph. And then one should try into and with the wind - avoid most of the route having a cross wind.

Remember that the CDs and cal ride are done in our normal riding position - hoods or drops.

If your weight is high - liquids - account for 1/2 of the volume not the amount you start with, but half of what you consume during the typical ride. (For example - 1/2 a bottle of fluids if you drink one bottle full on a typical ride). Half of the nutrition packs or other consumables.

Tom

[JR_70]

Tom ... on the calibration ride - if I ride past the 1mile mark and the iBike is saying to turn around - can I simply keep going and go an extra mile or two in the one direction and then turn around and complete the calibration ride - even if the unit told me to turn around at the 1 mile mark? Cheers!

[lorduintah]

You are correct - the iBike only changes to the back (as far as data is concerned) when the speed drops to less than 8 mph. So you can keep on going. The mileage will continue to increase until you slow to turn around and then will count down to zero and then Calc Cal Ride/Cal Ride pop onto the display.

[scsteven]

Thank you Tom! I have a ride scheduled for tomorrow. I will re-do the cal ride, making it 4 miles, and also the coast-downs. I'll try to get 10 of them done. I ride mostly in aero so I will make sure that I do the prescribed rides in aero. Thank you for your insight. As for the weight, I am confident that it is correct. It's just sad to think that my precious Trek 2100 weighs that much!

[lorduintah]

Weight is part of the cost of the bike - as you probably found out when you made your purchase. It also makes no sense to go spend $8000 on a carbon bike with high end hardware and wheels if it is going to sit in the garage. Get your exercise, get into shape if that is what you are looking for and see how you do. When you get really serious about riding and doing lots of miles, then it might be time to think about upgrading your bike - but there are other things that can be a downside to the high end - maintenance becomes even more critical - because grupo parts that get beaten up cost more to replace. For now you can just use the lower gears on what really is a pretty decent bike - and the easiest place to get a little more performance is the wheels - without going to carbon. (If yours has a triple chainring, another intermediate choice is to go to a compact duo.) But wait awhile and see how you do - one or two years and you may be in a much better position to drop a few more bucks on something else and not just some hardware on the bike you have. Don't forget that many shops re-sell used bikes - just make sure that you have a very serious talk with the guys in the service department about anything you might be looking at as your first stepping stone. A last consideration for an upgrade is that the ride will change in many cases - the frames are stiffer and thus the rides are too - so you likely will sacrifice a little bit of comfort and have a harsher ride until you get used to it.

I looked up some info:

So the TREK 2100 - last year it was made was 2007. It could have a triple or standard chainring. Going from a triple to a compact would probably need a rear derailleur change also. If you live in a hilly area, the triple is still worth sticking with - don't waste the expense. You COULD lose some weight with a wheel change, however - but by now I probably have your head spinning...

Stick with the bike you have. Have some fun now and for the rest of the year!

Tom

[JR_70]

And don't worry about the weight of your bike - I have one of those fancy TT carbon bikes - Cervelo P3C with Dura Ace components - but heavy wheels - but all loaded up with water bottles (3 of them) - gear bag, etc....my precious Cervelo still weighs in at close to 23lbs with my Zipp 606 wheels - it is still ~22lbs...granted it is a 56cm bike - but still that is a lot of money for a few lbs...not to worry - I subscribe to the idea that for TT bikes - "aero-ness" is more important than weight...and if I really want to drop a few more pounds off my total ride weight - I should be the one losing it....

Have fun and keep us posted on the new cal ride and coast downs - I too will likely head out for a longer ride and coastdowns - to see if it generates better data...

Cheers!

JR

[scsteven]

I re-did the cal ride this morning- made it a 4 mile ride. I also did 16 coastdowns immediately following the cal ride. I am happy with my results. I know that I did them to a "T". Here are my results:
aero: .143
wind scaling: .490
Cda: .291
friction: 6.038
riding tilt: -.2%
Crr: .0059
Now, I will take all of your advice and get out there and ride. And, I am going to embrace the weight of my bike! Sometime when I get my new TT bike, I will just be that much stronger!
Back to one of my original questions, I thought the ibike pro came with the reading material from Coach Boyd, "Fast Fitness with Power". How do I get this? It's not the ibike store.. I emailed customer service and have gotten no response.
Thank you to all!

[JR_70]

Hey...just wondering - did you enter the Crr yourself or was that the number that the iBike calculated on its own? Otherwise - I would tend to agree - the numbers do look pretty good...how do they compare to your first cal ride and coastdowns?

I am also interested in Boyd's reading...

[coachboyd]

Those numbers look to be pretty good, and a good test will be to make sure you do a wind offset (automatically performed for you on version 400). The go out and do a ride on a fairly calm day. When you download the ride go to tools->analyze wind and check if the average ground wind speed is less than 1mph +/- . If it is, then I would be happy with this ride and get out there and train.

As for the heavy TT bike, unless you are doing uphill TTs I wouldn't worry about it. Even my TT bike is a tank. I had an option of a lighter carbon frame but it wasn't as aero so I stuck to aluminum version. On time trial or triathlon type events, aerodynamics always triumphs weight. You can even play with those settings in the iBike software to see how much you would save or lose by dropping weight and/or increasing aerodynamics.

[scsteven]

Thanks for all of the great advice and replies! I really appreciate it! JR_70, as far as the Crr setting of .0059, ibike did that all by itself. I turned off the est fric from the racr menu and then did my coast-downs. When this setting is set to off, then the frictional drag and aero are both measured.
I have a question about this though, with that setting on off, does the ibike measure Crr for each and every ride? So, will it be different for every ride? The reason I ask is because I did the calibrate ride with the software, saved the profile to ibike, then did a short little ride and the ride data said that my crr was .00481
On my wind analysis screen, it says my average ground wind is .2. I guess that means it's pretty accurate! Thanks for that tidbit Coach Boyd!

[JR_70]

Interesting about the Crr...I too am curious about that then...good observation...you have excellent and helpful questions .... keep them up!

Cheers!

JR