Geek Review- Value of Computrainer Ironman Video: Dave C

Fellow triathletes I am not trying to promote anything here, I am not an elite athlete, I just want to do the best I can given my limitations. This is a tool that helped me and I need all the help I can get. I was surprised that I had one of the better bike splits from our community - my confidence and timing was certainly much better than it would have been without it. I sent this message into Computrainer after completing IM CdA:

Hello Computrainer,

I was one of the first people to order the video software when it came on the market. When I called to inquire about customer satisfaction guarantees, your bottom line statement- if your not satisfied - sorry. Not very reassuring.

I have had problems in the past with the computrainer software so I was leery. The good thing is that I have always gotten customer support. I went ahead and paid I think about $100 for it.

With all of the above said - this is without a doubt the best add on for this machine. When I finally got it installed it was great. I knew that the course had been changed and it was now "more scenic" which is generally a code phrase for hillier and it was far more hilly.

I loved the fact that it had been filmed on race day so I knew where every aid station was, I knew every turn, every incline, every landmark. When I drove a portion of the course before the race I saw a deer just about in the same place it was on the video.

It was critical that the grade was posted on the read out as I rode because the video can not fully show you what the hill looks like. That was the biggest difference between the course and the video - but it wasn't that surprising. The other difference was the wind at the end. I guess that is fairly typical of the course, you might want to have someone write a course guide to go along with the product describing typical conditions, or put in a wind direction and speed factor.

I did this event a couple of years ago so I knew we were riding the run course - there are probably a lot of people that did not know that. You might want to film the run course and include a ride on that in future versions- why not it is probably a fairly easy thing to do and would be very valuable to your customers.

I am the president of the Las Vegas Triathlon Club and I put an announcement on our website that if anyone wanted to come to my house and try the software+computrainer out they were welcome.
http://www.sntriclub.com/tribb/viewtopic.php?f=1&t=618 I only had one taker John Vigil pictured in the photo. He agreed with me after the race that this was a great help. I had to put up with kidding from people who think trainers are stupid or from people who think the only kind of workout is an interval workout.

The Computrainer comes with software that features robot bicyclists in front of repetitive fake scenery the whole set up is boring. The video software was the missing link; I was able to go on an "enjoyable ride". I trained for 3+ sometimes without getting bored; I trained while it was still dark. I liked it so much I would turn off other things; I have another monitor with the Tour on it next to my computrainer - I had to turn it off because I would rather ride this course video without distraction.

I am 58 - I am a serious participant but not a real competitor, I generally finish in the top half of my age group. This was a great training tool and it really helped.