Coachbox Ride

With Coachbox Ride you ride a planned bike workout on your smart trainer straight from Coachbox, without Zwift, Rouvy or another app in between. Coachbox sets your trainer's resistance to the right power block by block, and when you finish, your ride is in your calendar next to the planned workout.

What you needCopy Anchor Link

• A Bluetooth smart trainer that supports FTMS. That is the open standard an app uses to control the resistance. See below for which trainers do.
• Optionally a Bluetooth heart rate monitor, such as a chest strap.
• The Coachbox app on your iPhone or Android device, or Chrome or Edge on your computer or on Android. Safari, Firefox and every browser on iPhone or iPad cannot control a trainer; there you ride in the app.
• A planned workout with power blocks, built as an exportable workout. Coachbox cannot put a workout without power targets on your trainer.

Which trainers workCopy Anchor Link

Coachbox Ride controls your trainer over Bluetooth FTMS. This list follows the manufacturers' specifications.

• Update the firmware first. Older Wahoo and Tacx trainers only gained FTMS through an update. You do that in the brand's app, such as the Wahoo app or Tacx Training.
• If your trainer is not listed, check its specifications for "Bluetooth FTMS". "Bluetooth" on its own is not enough: many older trainers use a protocol of their own.
• Virtual shifting with a Zwift Cog or Zwift Click only works in Zwift. In Coachbox Ride you ride those trainers in ERG as usual.

Starting a workoutCopy Anchor Link

1. Open the planned workout in your calendar.
2. Click or tap Start on the planned workout.
3. Choose Start with Coachbox Ride.

The first time, you get a short tour. To see it again later, click the question mark next to the Coachbox Ride logo.

Pairing your devicesCopy Anchor Link

Coachbox shows four roles: Resistance, Power, Cadence and Heart rate. Your trainer fills the first three at once, your heart rate monitor the last one. Each role shows the paired device and a live value, so you can see straight away that you picked the right one.

• In the browser, click Connect next to a role and pick the device in the Chrome or Edge window. A browser does not remember your devices, so you pair them again for every ride.
• In the app, tap a role and pick the device from the list. The app remembers your devices and connects them by itself next time.

Once Coachbox has control of your trainer, Start riding becomes active. After the countdown you clip in and you are off.

While you rideCopy Anchor Link

Your trainer rides in ERG: it sets the resistance to the target power of the current block by itself, including on a block that ramps up. All you do is pedal.

• Power and target power sit side by side, with the block and the planned range underneath.
• Adjusting: and move the target 5 W up or down each time. The adjustment holds for the rest of the ride. In the browser the up and down arrow keys work too; in the app you swipe up or down over the target power.
• Calmer numbers: click or tap a value to switch between the reading and a 3 or 5 second average. A trainer in ERG wobbles a few watts around the target, and an average is easier to read.
• Blocks: you see the current block with the time left, the next block, and a profile of the whole workout with a line showing where you are. Before each block change Coachbox counts down from 3 to 1 with a beep.
• Next block skips the rest of the current block. The skipped block stays in your ride with the time you actually rode.
• Pausing: with Pause, or the space bar in the browser. If you stop pedalling, the ride pauses by itself after a few seconds and carries on as soon as you pedal again.
• Stop saves what you rode so far and puts it in your calendar.

In the browser you switch devices during the ride with in the top bar.

Warming up freelyCopy Anchor Link

Tick Warm up freely first before the start if you prefer to warm up on feel. You then ride without a target until you click Start workout yourself. Coachbox remembers this choice on your device.

For a test that button reads Start test. The warm-up is then left out of the ride by default, so the ride only holds the test protocol. To keep it anyway, also tick Keep the warm-up in the ride.

After the rideCopy Anchor Link

Coachbox puts your ride in your calendar right away, linked to the planned workout, with a lap per block. You see the duration, your average power and your average heart rate, and Back to the workout takes you to the workout. In the app, Coachbox then also asks how the workout felt.

If the upload fails, for example because your connection dropped, the ride stays saved on the device you rode on. Click Try again, or open the same workout in Coachbox Ride later: you then get the choice to upload the unfinished ride or throw it away.

As a coachCopy Anchor Link

You can also start an athlete's workout on your own device, for example in your lab or studio. The ride then goes to your athlete's workout in their calendar.

Good to knowCopy Anchor Link

• If Start riding does not become active, your trainer is probably still connected to another app, such as Zwift or MyWhoosh. Close that app completely, also on your phone or tablet.
• If you lose the connection to your trainer, your ride pauses. Switch your trainer back on or pair it again, and the ride carries on where you left off.
• A separate power meter or cadence sensor cannot be paired yet. Power and cadence come from your trainer.
• If you would rather ride with your watch or in another app, the same Start button also has the export to, for example, Garmin, Zwift, Rouvy or Wahoo.