The Wattage Thread

[Talksteer]

I've just got a Powertap G3, any recommendations for a cycle computer.

[E65Ross]

Granfondo said:

944fan said:

E65Ross said:

My FTP is now 229W but bear in mind I'm under 54kgs....means I'll need fewer watts for a given speed.

Your power to weight ratio is double mine. Need to lose some serious weight and up the old power a bit :-(

On the hills the power to weight will count but on the flat Ross will struggle against the higher output guys.

Edited by Granfondo on Saturday 30th April 11:14

Yup, although I reckon considering that, in this case, he's 5% more powerful, but I'm 1/2 the weight I probably would be quicker on thr flats.

I prefer more hilly routes anyway

[Granfondo]

E65Ross said:

Granfondo said:

944fan said:

E65Ross said:

My FTP is now 229W but bear in mind I'm under 54kgs....means I'll need fewer watts for a given speed.

Your power to weight ratio is double mine. Need to lose some serious weight and up the old power a bit :-(

On the hills the power to weight will count but on the flat Ross will struggle against the higher output guys.

Edited by Granfondo on Saturday 30th April 11:14

Yup, although I reckon considering that, in this case, he's 5% more powerful, but I'm 1/2 the weight I probably would be quicker on thr flats.

I prefer more hilly routes anyway

You are definitely built for the hills so every chance you get stick it to the roulers.

Edited by Granfondo on Saturday 30th April 14:44

[944fan]

Can I have some help with my power numbers please? I have been training using HR zones until recently. I bought a G3 powertap. My old garmin didn't support ANT+ so I did my first FTP Test using my phone and strava, which came out as 251W for 20 mins.

I then bought a Garmin 910XT. It recognised the power meter straight away and asked if I wanted to calibrate, I said yes and it said successful. I programmed in my FTP and it calculated the zones. I went for a 90 min ride on my usual routes. It was set to include zeros in the average

When I have put it on garmin connect the numbers don't make sense.

https://connect.garmin.com/modern/activity/1147711...

My average HR zone is low Z2, but my power zone is 3.5 and my 20 min max average power is 223. The average speed is the same as my last two long rides.

Have I done the FTP test wrong and should I re-do it with the Garmin? It seems if I kept my power zone in Z2 I would be much slower than before and my HR would remain pretty much in Z1.

[E65Ross]

Probably be worth doing another FTP test but I wouldn't worry about the difference between power and HR zones, HR zones are not that great for training because it takes time to get up. You'll rarely get into VO2 max zone, and doing anaerobic work you'll never get there really, simply because you can't sustain it long enough for the HR to adapt.

My HR zones don't always correlate to my power zones, but training with power is much, much better....so make sure you get that right.

Your max average power is lower than the rides NP. you ideally need to have a consistent power to best get a realiable result. The fact your NP is higher than your peak 20mins power means your FTP will be AT LEAST 234, the fact you did this from no warm up, and over 1hr 30....I would hazard a guess that, actually 241W of your FTP setting is possibly a little low.

[944fan]

Thanks Ross. Will do another FTP test using the Garmin. That ride felt from an RPE and average speed / climbing etc to be Z2 so I think the FTP is out.

I just ran a half marathon yesterday so might give it couple of days.

[JEA1K]

Received my P2M yesterday so couldn't resist setting it up and taking it out on a training ride last night. It's a reasonably quick route with some hard efforts over 48 miles which resulted in the following:

245w av power
325w av power (20 mins)
1132 max power
292 normalised power
51%L 49% R L/R balance

Whilst the 20 min power gives and FTP of 309w, it was in the midst of a 2 hr + ride so I suspect I need to test myself in isolation to get a true figure bit its a start.

So, buying it and installing was the easy bit, now on to the tough bit, building in some training structure in an attempt to increase my wattage.

[944fan]

Stupid question. If my training plan says 70km Zone 2 what value on the Garmin should I be looking at?

There is no field for average zone. Just the current zone. Do I try and keep that value between 2.0 - 3.0 or should I use average power and just remember the values for Z2?

[broster]

Does anyone use the Strava power curve and estimated FTP as a means on monitoring gains out of interest?

[E65Ross]

944fan said:

Stupid question. If my training plan says 70km Zone 2 what value on the Garmin should I be looking at?

There is no field for average zone. Just the current zone. Do I try and keep that value between 2.0 - 3.0 or should I use average power and just remember the values for Z2?

You can try to keep the value between 2.0-3.0 (or 55-75% FTP) as best you can. You can set a power alert on the Garmin to warn you if you're putting in too much power, or not enough.

Rightly or wrongly, I tend to use normalzed power rather than average power, as I find this gives a better reflection on your overall effort....though if you're trying to keep to a certain zone there shouldn't be a big difference between NP and AP.

[E65Ross]

JEA1K said:

Received my P2M yesterday so couldn't resist setting it up and taking it out on a training ride last night. It's a reasonably quick route with some hard efforts over 48 miles which resulted in the following:

245w av power
325w av power (20 mins)
1132 max power
292 normalised power
51%L 49% R L/R balance

Whilst the 20 min power gives and FTP of 309w, it was in the midst of a 2 hr + ride so I suspect I need to test myself in isolation to get a true figure bit its a start.

So, buying it and installing was the easy bit, now on to the tough bit, building in some training structure in an attempt to increase my wattage.

It's a really easy bit of kit to install.

My only concern is just how big a difference I'm getting between L/R balance....I'm typically 46/54, sometimes even 45/55%

[JEA1K]

E65Ross said:

It's a really easy bit of kit to install.

My only concern is just how big a difference I'm getting between L/R balance....I'm typically 46/54, sometimes even 45/55%

I suppose in reality, how much difference does it actually make even if you have a 50/50 L/R balance? I suspect on an indoor bike, mine would probably be different to riding outdoors ...

Lets see how much change I see after a month or two's use.

[okgo]

broster said:

Does anyone use the Strava power curve and estimated FTP as a means on monitoring gains out of interest?

Yeh but you really need to have done max efforts of most durations up to about 40-50 minutes for it to be worth worrying about. It said my I was 394FTP after a ten minute 430w effort but has dropped to 385 now I've done some longer efforts. Which I think is about right.

[ALawson]

I don't trust the Strava estimated FTP, has me down at 288 even though the best 20min effort in the last 6 weeks was 260W. That was part of a 2hr ride though.

[fromage]

Mine is almost right if I use all of my 2016 figures, but if I use last 6 weeks it gives me an FTP which I have actually averaged for 2 1/2 hours within the last 6 weeks and is well below what I have done for an hour in the last 6 weeks.

[okgo]

It will be about right if you've done all the hard efforts at multiple durations, otherwise it won't

[E65Ross]

Do the p2m power meters (paired with an edge 1000) give any indication of a low battery level? Or do they just suddenly stop giving readings? Ideally, I'd like to change the battery before that were to happen!

Cheers

[Dowks]

E65Ross said:

Do the p2m power meters (paired with an edge 1000) give any indication of a low battery level? Or do they just suddenly stop giving readings? Ideally, I'd like to change the battery before that were to happen!

Cheers

Yes you get a little notification pop up on the Garmin reminding you that "Power meter battery low"

I usually replace it soon after and never have a problem, well apart from keeping stock of those Renata batteries

[E65Ross]

Dowks said:

E65Ross said:

Do the p2m power meters (paired with an edge 1000) give any indication of a low battery level? Or do they just suddenly stop giving readings? Ideally, I'd like to change the battery before that were to happen!

Cheers

Yes you get a little notification pop up on the Garmin reminding you that "Power meter battery low"

I usually replace it soon after and never have a problem, well apart from keeping stock of those Renata batteries

Cheers.

I'm guessing you have thr first model? The later models, apparently, are not stuck to just that brand of battery.... I think any C2450 (or whatever it is) works fine.

[fromage]

okgo said:

It will be about right if you've done all the hard efforts at multiple durations, otherwise it won't

It's just odd that the hour figure it has on the power curve for the last 6 weeks is 30 watts higher than the estimated FTP figure