Indoor cycling terms explained
New to riding indoors? These are the words you will meet in Pedalsim and elsewhere, in plain language.
Smart trainer
A trainer that holds your bike, or is a whole bike itself, and can change how hard you have to pedal. Pedalsim tells it the gradient of the road, and it makes you work harder uphill and lets you spin downhill. Wahoo KICKR, Tacx, Elite and Saris all make them.
Bluetooth FTMS
The standard way modern smart trainers talk to apps over Bluetooth. If your trainer works with the well-known training apps over Bluetooth, it almost certainly works with Pedalsim. Some older trainers only connect with ANT+, which Pedalsim does not use.
Power and watts
How hard you are pushing the pedals, measured in watts. It is the most honest measure of effort on a bike, because it does not depend on the wind, the hill or your gears. Most smart trainers measure it for you. A separate power meter on the bike does the same.
Watts per kilo (W/kg)
Your power divided by your body weight. It decides how fast you climb: a lighter rider needs fewer watts to go uphill at the same speed. That is why Pedalsim asks for your weight.
FTP (Functional Threshold Power)
Roughly the highest power you can hold for about an hour. Workouts use it to set targets that fit you, for example 90% of your FTP. Do not know yours? Pedalsim has two FTP tests.
ERG mode
A mode where the trainer holds a set power for you, whatever your speed or cadence. Pedal faster and it gets lighter, slower and it gets heavier, so you always hit the target. Structured workouts use it.
Cadence
How fast you turn the pedals, in revolutions per minute (rpm). Most riders sit between 80 and 95 rpm on the flat.
Heart rate zones
Bands of heart rate from very easy to all-out. Pedalsim works them out from your maximum and resting heart rate, and adaptive workouts use your heart rate to decide how hard today should be.
TSS (training load)
A single number for how hard a session was, combining how long and how intense it was. An hour at your FTP is 100. Training plans use it to balance hard and easy days.
Structured workout
A session made of set steps, such as 10 minutes easy, then 4 times 5 minutes hard with rests in between. The trainer holds each step's power for you.
Adaptive workout
A session that decides its exact shape as you ride, from your heart rate and how you feel today. See workouts.
Virtual gears
Gears that live in the app instead of on your bike. Shifting them changes how hard the trainer feels, like a real gear. See gears and shifting.
GPX file
A common file for a route: the line you will ride, point by point. Route planners, bike computers and event websites let you download one, and Pedalsim can import it.
FIT file
A common file for a finished ride, with your power, heart rate, speed and route. Strava, Garmin Connect, intervals.icu and most training websites accept one.
.zwo file
A widely used workout file format. Pedalsim can import it, so workouts you find online or made in other apps ride the same way.