i've decided to use my turbo trainer for interval work going forward - chiefly because i love the accuracy of being able to program it for eg 5 mins at power X, 5 mins at power Y, etc - and it gets me away from issues of traffic/wind/gradient, oh and english weather!
the first thing i did was calibrate the mag unit resistance using my SRM equipped road bike on the turbo. that was only just possible, using the "heaviest" calibation, but they are now consistent at a benchmark of 200 watts.
what bothers me is the apparent difficulty of gettign to the same power outputs and HR levels on the turbo as compared with the road. are there any theories to explain this and suggestions as to tailoring workouts to account for it?
I have had exactly the same experience. While I don't have a theory as to the cause of this sensation, Andy Coggan said in another thread that he always requires a cyclist to ride for a few weeks on an indoor trainer before participating in a test. So, I think the perception of increased difficulty of attaining the same power numbers is temporary and after a few weeks of training indoors you would be able to do equivalent interval sets.
