The Wattage Thread
Discussion
nammynake said:
How accurate is the power measurement on the spin bike? I'd say that most decent club riders are around 250 W, with Cat 3/4 racers closer to 300. It does vary quite a lot though, and the bigger guys will generally have a higher FTP.
Not a clue how accurate they are which is obviously something of a concern, the read suite has a Wattbike so may borrow that at some point.I've been out with a mate on a power training session who has a higher FTP and I kept up quite happily although I'm not sure how indicative that is.
I need to test again on better equipment but at least I have a starting point to measure any improvements.
As long as you train on the bike you did the FTP on, or one that gives the same results , then it won't really matter if it's 'accurate' by which I mean reading higher or possibly in this case lower than other devices. You need it to be consistent.
You'll get in a pickle if you have a power meter on you bike which doesn't give the same results.
You'll get in a pickle if you have a power meter on you bike which doesn't give the same results.
RGambo said:
As long as you train on the bike you did the FTP on, or one that gives the same results , then it won't really matter if it's 'accurate' by which I mean reading higher or possibly in this case lower than other devices. You need it to be consistent.
You'll get in a pickle if you have a power meter on you bike which doesn't give the same results.
I agree to an extent, but accuracy is important for measuring relative improvement. If true FTP is 300W but spin bike says 250W, then a subsequent 10W improvement will appear more significant when measured relative to 250W than the true 300W.You'll get in a pickle if you have a power meter on you bike which doesn't give the same results.
Some interesting numbers quoted here by Jack Bobridge on the Holly Grail of Wattage
So what power do you expect that you’ll have to generate consistently for the hour on Saturday?
“At my weight at the moment, I’m going to have to average at least 375-380 watts to break the current record.
“It’s all just a matter of having to play with the numbers and how the legs are and what the conditions are like.
“I know the 52 minutes I did at the road time trial for the nationals, I had 385 [watts] average… so that was a good indication back then and I’ve done a lot since with Down Under and a bit more training."
Full interview here ... http://www.ridemedia.com.au/interviews/jack-bobrid...
So what power do you expect that you’ll have to generate consistently for the hour on Saturday?
“At my weight at the moment, I’m going to have to average at least 375-380 watts to break the current record.
“It’s all just a matter of having to play with the numbers and how the legs are and what the conditions are like.
“I know the 52 minutes I did at the road time trial for the nationals, I had 385 [watts] average… so that was a good indication back then and I’ve done a lot since with Down Under and a bit more training."
Full interview here ... http://www.ridemedia.com.au/interviews/jack-bobrid...
Sandersports said:
when you look at it like that, at World tour Level .... a extra 65ish Watts per hr gets you around around 2million Euros per contract !
I've said before that I reckon the difference in ability between best and worst in pro tour is almost like 4th cat-elite if you look at it in w/kg terms. That doesn't tell the full story of course but the swing in aerobic ability is huge.
Had my first proper play with power today. Bloody windy out there! Quite useful being able to gauge effort so accurately.
Spot the tailwind section.
Looking forward to seeing the data after Hog Hill next weekend.
https://www.strava.com/activities/249112278
Spot the tailwind section.
Looking forward to seeing the data after Hog Hill next weekend.
https://www.strava.com/activities/249112278
Ponk said:
Had my first proper play with power today. Bloody windy out there! Quite useful being able to gauge effort so accurately.
Spot the tailwind section.
Looking forward to seeing the data after Hog Hill next weekend.
https://www.strava.com/activities/249112278
1 think to remember about Hog Hill is that the NP (normalised power) will be skewed/too high due to the repeated high 20-30 second going up the hill. My NP is always a good 25-40 watts hight than my FTP even in a 1 hour 15mins race.Spot the tailwind section.
Looking forward to seeing the data after Hog Hill next weekend.
https://www.strava.com/activities/249112278
Just a quick query regarding power.
My current FTP is 221W, it was measured doing a twenty minute test on the turbo. Today I did a 2 x 20 session at Hillingdon circuit and after uploading the ride to Golden Cheetah it shows that my 20 minute peak power was 260W which would equate to an FTP of 247W.
Should I update my FTP to 247W or stick with it as it is and do another test on the turbo in a few days time?
My current FTP is 221W, it was measured doing a twenty minute test on the turbo. Today I did a 2 x 20 session at Hillingdon circuit and after uploading the ride to Golden Cheetah it shows that my 20 minute peak power was 260W which would equate to an FTP of 247W.
Should I update my FTP to 247W or stick with it as it is and do another test on the turbo in a few days time?
neenaw said:
Just a quick query regarding power.
My current FTP is 221W, it was measured doing a twenty minute test on the turbo. Today I did a 2 x 20 session at Hillingdon circuit and after uploading the ride to Golden Cheetah it shows that my 20 minute peak power was 260W which would equate to an FTP of 247W.
Should I update my FTP to 247W or stick with it as it is and do another test on the turbo in a few days time?
You may simply have struggled to get the power out on the turbo - I know I do with threshold efforts! I'd update it with your latest data.My current FTP is 221W, it was measured doing a twenty minute test on the turbo. Today I did a 2 x 20 session at Hillingdon circuit and after uploading the ride to Golden Cheetah it shows that my 20 minute peak power was 260W which would equate to an FTP of 247W.
Should I update my FTP to 247W or stick with it as it is and do another test on the turbo in a few days time?
fromage said:
I can't get the same numbers out on my turbo's, only turbo that feels more natural to me and therefore easier to get my 'road' power on is the Kurt Road Machines. I get around this issue by never going on the turbo trainer. I prefer riding up and down the A21
I only go on the turbo when I've forgotten how much I dislike the turbo 
Today's session will see me off for at least another couple of weeks before I forget again!I did my first ever baseline test session today on a Wattbike; LT test, FTP test, and a bunch of other tests - I will get the full report eMailed over to me this weekend but my headline figures were;
FTP = 285
20 mins sustained output FTP test = 300 watts average (think I could up this a bit because I was a little too conservative for the first 5 mins)
Power to weight = 4.41
He gave me a bunch of other stats but I was a little too broken to take them in, given I have a stinking head cold I think that's not too bad but having never really focused on power output before need to do a little reading. He did say it was a good place to start the year, I also managed to hit a cadence of 178 which was also the highest he has had on the bike in a while!
FTP = 285
20 mins sustained output FTP test = 300 watts average (think I could up this a bit because I was a little too conservative for the first 5 mins)
Power to weight = 4.41
He gave me a bunch of other stats but I was a little too broken to take them in, given I have a stinking head cold I think that's not too bad but having never really focused on power output before need to do a little reading. He did say it was a good place to start the year, I also managed to hit a cadence of 178 which was also the highest he has had on the bike in a while!
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff