St Kilda Triathlon Club Coach on WHY YOU SHOULD TURN OFF ERG MODE

St Kilda Triathlon Club Coach, Steve Davis says, “I'm often asked about the best way to structure indoor bike sessions. A frequent topic of discussion is whether to use ERG mode on smart trainers. While ERG mode can be a useful tool in certain scenarios, I recommend turning it off for the majority of your wind trainer sessions, especially if you're preparing for real-world triathlon racing”. Here’s why.

1. Improves Ride Feel and Control

ERG mode automatically adjusts the resistance on your trainer to ensure you hit a target power output, no matter how fast or slow you’re pedaling. While this can seem convenient, it removes an important aspect of cycling: control.

In a real-world scenario, you have to make decisions based on terrain, wind, and fatigue. Turning off ERG mode gives you a more authentic ride feel and trains you to manage gear selection, cadence, and effort yourself. You become responsible for hitting power targets by adjusting your cadence and gear ratios, just like you would on the road.

2. Better Cadence Training

When ERG mode is on, your power output is locked, which can limit your ability to vary your cadence naturally. In contrast, turning off ERG mode lets you experiment with different cadences and teaches you to hold steady power across a range of speeds. This is crucial for building strength and efficiency, especially in varying race conditions where you might be forced to ride faster or slower than you planned.

By focusing on maintaining a target power yourself, you learn to adjust your cadence to meet power goals, which helps improve overall pedaling technique and efficiency.

3. Mimics Real-World Effort Fluctuations

ERG mode can create an almost robotic feel to training, where the resistance is perfectly matched to your power goal, regardless of your input. In a race, however, power output fluctuates due to factors like changing terrain, accelerations out of corners, and other competitors. By turning off ERG mode, your effort levels become more organic. You learn how to handle shifts in power and effort, preparing you for unpredictable race-day dynamics.

4. Builds Mental and Physical Toughness

When you’re out of ERG mode, you’re forced to grind through harder efforts without the trainer automatically holding you to a specific power level. This means you might have to push harder to maintain your goal during a tough interval, just like you would on a steep hill or during the latter stages of a race. This builds not only physical endurance but also mental toughness.

With ERG mode off, you learn to engage more fully with the workout. You can’t just relax into the power target; you need to actively work for it.

5. Essential for Pacing Practice

Pacing is one of the most critical skills in triathlon, especially over long distances like 70.3 or full Ironman events. With ERG mode off, you can practice self-regulated pacing, a skill that will pay dividends on race day. You’ll learn how to manage your energy, conserve effort when needed, and push when necessary—all by controlling your power and cadence yourself.

When you use ERG mode, you miss out on this crucial pacing practice, as the trainer does too much of the thinking for you.

6. Replicates Outdoor Riding Variability

Outdoor riding isn’t constant, and your body has to react to these changes. On the road, your effort naturally ebbs and flows—uphills, downhills, wind resistance, and drafting all impact how you ride. ERG mode removes this variability by holding you to a steady-state effort, which rarely happens in real-world cycling.

By turning off ERG mode, you can replicate outdoor variability in your trainer sessions, making your training sessions more race-specific.

When to Use ERG Mode

While I advocate for turning off ERG mode during many sessions, it does have its place. ERG mode can be useful for very structured workouts where hitting precise power zones is critical, such as highly controlled interval sessions. In those cases, it helps you avoid distractions and lets you focus entirely on your effort. However, these sessions should be the exception, not the rule.

Conclusion: Real-World Racing Demands Real-World Training

In triathlon, the ability to self-regulate power, pace, and effort is crucial for success. By turning off ERG mode in your bike training, you give yourself the chance to develop these skills in a controlled, but more dynamic environment. You’ll gain a better understanding of how your body reacts to different efforts, improve your cadence control, and build the mental toughness you’ll need to perform on race day.

So, the next time you hop on your wind trainer, challenge yourself: turn off ERG mode and take control of your session. It will pay off when you’re racing outside, where there’s no ERG mode to save you!