Drag Factor… Again

[John Foy]

Back in my RowErg days, it was usually considered best practice to pick a DF you felt comfortable with and use it exclusively for every piece aside from extremely short or extremely long efforts.

Is this the same on the Bike Erg or are there different schools of thought on this?

My goal is to focus on improvement on sessions 60 mins or less.
Am I best picking a DF I can spin at 80rpm at and just stick there, or is there more to it than that?

Would appreciate any advice or thoughts for a beginner.

My erg arrived yesterday and I have done one 10k, so I am at rank beginner stage currently.

[Dutch]

I have had a bike erg for nrly 3 yrs and find that a df of 72 is good for all pieces about 15 mins upwards. 4k is good for about 85 and 1k and under, df 100, up to 140 for a 200 sprint. I was in the middle of experimenting going higher for my 200 sprint but never got higher than 140 in the end.
If I dont have it on these numbers my legs feel heavy, I found these numbers by just riding and lowering it mid ride, I just leaned down and moved it until i felt comfortable. The sprints were done just as a a single ride with no adjustment, Then i would do another either slightly higher or lower.
It took lots of rides to get it right, I mainly went by what df allowed me to get the rpm I wanted and made sure that at the end of the ride my legs were not bloated with blood from having a strength workout instead of a cycle. I have probably termed it wrong but I am sure you get my drift. But bear in mind some people on here have far more powerful legs and prob look at my numbers and think i use low df.

[gvcormac]

I use DF 77 for almost everything. That works out to about 190 watts at 80 RPM; 290 watts at 90 RPM.

I generally do my easy workouts at 60-70 RPM. 80 is in around my aerobic threshold, and for sprints I do 100 RPM (about 400 watts).

So no, I don't move the damper. I've tried heavier, but that kills my legs.

Some people simulate hills by moving the damper during a ride, but I can't be bothered.

P.S. I use toe clips. I've read the studies that say they don't help, but I prefer not to have to focus on keeping my feet from flying off. $5 from C2.

[Cyclist2]

The drag factor on the RowErg simulates heavier or lighter boats, e.g. a racing shell vs a wherry. When you are rowing, you can't change that (unless you switch boats), so pick a DF that feels like the boat you want to row and leave it there. The effort of the workout depends on how hard YOU pull the handle, not the DF.

It's different on a bike. Bikes go up and down hills, effectively changing the "drag factor". That's why bikes have gears. Use the DF lever on the BikeErg like you would gears, or to simulate hills. On smart trainers using connected apps, the resistance (DF) is automatically adjusted as the app goes up and down hills (I don't have one, just what I've read). But like the RowErg, YOU control the effort - you can do it at a fast cadence (flat time trial) or low, heavy cadence (steep hill).

On my RowErg, I like a DF of around 125; feels like my rowing shells. On my BikeErg, I am adjusting the DF during the whole ride to get the full range of riding simulation.

[CaseyClarke]

Back in my RowErg days, it was usually considered best practice to pick a DF you felt comfortable with and use it exclusively for every piece aside from extremely short or extremely long efforts.

Is this the same on the Bike Erg or are there different schools of thought on this?

My goal is to focus on improvement on sessions 60 mins or less.
Am I best picking a DF I can spin at 80rpm at and just stick there, or is there more to it than that?

Would appreciate any advice or thoughts for a beginner.

My erg arrived yesterday and I have done one 10k, so I am at rank beginner stage currently.

Figure out your optimum, preferred and most efficient RPM for any single time or distance and set the drag accordingly. If you want to do 2:00 pace at 58 rpm then that’s possible. If you want to do 2:00 pace at 105 rpm, that’s also possible. And everything in between.

Some like to grind at <80rpm, others prefer to spin at >90rpm.

Also, as mentioned, the drag is like gears on a bike. I find it beneficial to do some heavy drag work, and some high cadence spinning at low/er drags.

I have different preferred drag factors for different distances. Mainly between about 105 and 135 for all hard TTs, although I’m using the entire range on a very regular basis.