How much do you pay for coaching services?
What do you get for it specifically?
And how much do you benefit from it?

I just got solicited via DMs on Instagram by a "strength and conditioning cycling coach" based in England who found me because I commented on a cycling post. He promises to help me "get stronger and faster than ever on the bike". He did zero research or he would have easily discovered that I'm no longer racing and care nothing about speed anymore.

So I just wonder how much are you paying and what are you really getting?

I do not discuss how much I pay for products or services. It seems to go nowhere other than to create discord. Ask a Ferrari owner how much he paid for his car? Please. I have seen coaching services priced from a couple of hundred dollars a month for a basic type of email to hundreds and over a thousand per month for highly specialized coach available 24/7 to provide advice. And there is the internet based AI driven stuff that offers some kind of plan and feedback for less than $100??? Pick your poison.

Strength training and conditioning that supports cycling has been elusive for me. The reason being that strength training that provides strength gains is hard of the muscles and takes more time from which to recover. And it wrecks cycling performance. The best program that I have been subjected to was strength training in the fall with easy cycling and then begin to taper strength and start more base and then climbing with strength stopping. The track is different where strength can be done all year long but varied. It strikes me that one needs an eyes on hands on coach to combine strength and cycling together or a strength coach that reports to a cycling coach. The problem I have had with strength coaches / trainers is that they focus on the gym. The goal of the strength coach is to design a program that increases strength while allowing the cyclist to perform on the bike. Otherwise, fire him. Strength coaches for basketball teams know that if athletes in the schools strength program cannot perform at basketball practice, then he will be out of a job. The same should be true for cycling, if I cannot perform at a team camp due to strength training then the coach is worthless.

With respect to cycling coaches, I have found that in person hands on is what works. I need a coach that can take me to a place I cannot take myself. I can put plans together but what do I do for feedback? Stand in the mirror and tell myself to HTFU? In person, 3rd parties keep me focused and provide feedback. And working out with a coach and the other clients at the track or in a team situation on the road is more engaging and fun. And there is always competition and I learn from the other racers by observing and discussion.

If you are out of the game, then you are out. It takes research, discussion with other racers using different coaches and then review of results to pick a coach for strength, cycling or both. Once one is picked then it is a matter of financing the services and affordability.

I like having a coach for the accountability. If I am paying someone to set up my plan, I just find I am more committed to following it.

As for remove vs in person, I've had both. For the most part, remote has worked fine - though I've met up with my coach in person periodically. Those in-person sessions are hugely valuable to address form and tactics issues. (I am mostly talking track sprinting.) Video can also be used, but it's great having instant feedback that you can try to address on your next go.

I'd like to someday do coaching on the order of a couple to a few hundred per month, but so far I have not been willing to allocate that from my slim "play" funds. Maybe once my daughter is in school and the cashflow is better.

We have a local coaching partner for our club in San Diego whom a lot of our racers patronize. I once did a consultation session to set me up for the 2023 race season, which saw me win three races in Master's 35+/SCNCA. I attribute a lot of my confidence and marginally higher power numbers to that session, and the training plan outline that got me thru winter and into racing season. It really helped that the coach was also a local pro who knew me personally and knew me as a rider.

You answered my question pretty well regarding pricing. The range is about what I thought.

I have zero interest in getting a coach now. I was just curious about what people spent and what they got in return. I made it to Cat 1 racing without a coach, and I don't see the value of spending even $100 per month for someone to tell me what to do. When I was racing, I had a friend who pushed me to be better and I think I pushed him to be better. And we spent a LOT of time lifting in the winter and motor pacing with a motorcycle in the summer.

I wonder about the value. I wonder about someone who pays - let's say - $1200 per year for coaching only to win $500 in primes and prize money. Or to podium at Nationals.

Another thing I really appreciate about having a coach is the time management aspect. My coach lays out a plan that enables me to maximize my training with the time I have.

Like many on here, I'm a masters racer. I do this for fun - winning prize money isn't really a concern. I have a full-time job, family, and other responsibilities. But I want to do well when I do compete. The coach helps make that happen.

Coaching and training are different. A coach helps you win. A trainer helps you be the strongest and fastest. I invested a lot in my kid's training. Looking back now (10-15 years), he needed more coaching than training. All moot now as he/we left the elite levels of the sport.
Point is - that they are different and rarely do you get both from the same person.

If you are over 14 (maybe 16) there is no ROI in cycling other than your personal satisfaction. The good coaches also have connections. In the USA they tend to hang around Colorado Springs (where I am BTW).
If you are a teen, pay one of these and get noticed, get on TEAM USA etc. it is worth getting into a college.
Sooner or later you have to decide if you want to be a pro cyclist and work in Europe. If yes to all the prior - get a coach. And also get a trainer.

A good distinction. For the average amateur "trainers" are a dime a dozen. IMO AI is going to decimate the training business. Not a lot of coaches at the grass roots level.

AI needs to shape up a bit. It is not to the point of being trusted. It wouldn't surprise me it hears about CO (carbon monoxide) training and suggests you sleep in a car with the exhaust redirected to the interior.