TrainerRoad
TrainerRoad is low on thrills and high on structured workouts. TrainerRoad
Compared to Zwift and Wahoo X, TrainerRoad takes a stripped-back approach to indoor training. Instead of entertaining you with virtual worlds, races and group rides, TrainerRoad focuses solely on making you faster with a personalised training plan.
TrainerRoad claims the app uses AI to adjust your plan to your performance levels in sessions, increasing the difficulty if you’re going better or decreasing it if you’re struggling.
This leads to fewer unfinished sessions and more subscribers increasing their Functional Threshold Power, according to TrainerRoad.
The app is available on iOS, Android, Mac and Windows.
icTrainer
icTrainer offers video of real routes, as well as enabling you to upload a .gpx file to follow.
icTrainer offers real route video, and gives you the option to upload your own .gpx files to follow.
Value-adds include in-app video chat, which you don’t get on Zwift or much of the competition, free music to match your tempo, an integrated web browser to watch Netflix as you work out and offline operation, so you’re not tied to a live internet link.
There’s a comprehensive range of workouts and tests, as well as the option to craft your own sessions, and the software enables two users to ride in parallel.
Price: £24.99 / $29.99 / €29.99 per year
Download: icTrainer.de
Golden Cheetah
Golden Cheetah gives you forensic data for exercise analysis. Golden Cheetah
If you want to track and analyse your training data, but baulk at the idea of an expensive subscription, Golden Cheetah is an ideal solution.
Available for Windows, Mac and Linux, Golden Cheetah is a feature-rich app that replicates much of the functionality of online subscription-based services, in a free, customisable and offline format.
You can track your day-to-day rides and performance, analyse trends, model your critical power, perform structured ERG mode workouts on a smart trainer, or even analyse Chung method aero testing data. And that’s by no means an exhaustive list of features.
BikeRadar’s resident smart trainer and power meter tester, Simon von Bromley, even uses it to compare data from various sources as a means of verifying the accuracy of new models.
And, because it’s open source, the rug won’t be pulled from underneath you in a few months’ time and the service monetised.