Had a go of a Wattbike today
Discussion
As part of the physio I'm having on my knee for persistent patella-femoral pain I had a go on a Wattbike today. I've been pretty much pain free for a few weeks now after lots of exercise to get it sorted and strengthen the right muscles (VMOs for those that care!) and because my physio is also into cycling he suggested I try it out. Being in the military I'm lucky that all the in-house physios and equipment are of a really high standard.
Anyway, for those that don't know of it, the Wattbike is a posh exercise bike with the ability to measure effort from individual muscles. It's display looks like this:
The bit on the left should be a close to a circle meaning each leg is doing the same amount of work and also that you're pushing and pulling equally. First thing I noticed, was that I'd been compensating for my right knee injury with a pronounced bias towards my left leg 55% vs 45% and also that my hamstrings were doing very little work. Anyway after 20 minutes I'd made some headway into reteaching myself how to cycle
and got it looking more like the 'peanut' shape above.
I also did a 3 minute aerobic test, I'm not sure if anyone else has done one but my results weren't bad if nothing spectacular. Being 38, I'm getting on a bit too but my results were av power over 3 minutes 281w with a peak of 339w and I achieved 3.74w/kg of body mass (I'm 75kg). On the chart this puts me as Level 4 fitness out of 5 levels which isn't bad and equates to an 'Active Cyclist'....spooky that
Anyway, cool story and all that! Anyone else used or regularly use a Wattbike? I'd never even heard of one before today, but I plan to do the 3 minute test every couple of months to track my fitness levels and also to see if my technique has improved!
Anyway, for those that don't know of it, the Wattbike is a posh exercise bike with the ability to measure effort from individual muscles. It's display looks like this:
The bit on the left should be a close to a circle meaning each leg is doing the same amount of work and also that you're pushing and pulling equally. First thing I noticed, was that I'd been compensating for my right knee injury with a pronounced bias towards my left leg 55% vs 45% and also that my hamstrings were doing very little work. Anyway after 20 minutes I'd made some headway into reteaching myself how to cycle
and got it looking more like the 'peanut' shape above.I also did a 3 minute aerobic test, I'm not sure if anyone else has done one but my results weren't bad if nothing spectacular. Being 38, I'm getting on a bit too but my results were av power over 3 minutes 281w with a peak of 339w and I achieved 3.74w/kg of body mass (I'm 75kg). On the chart this puts me as Level 4 fitness out of 5 levels which isn't bad and equates to an 'Active Cyclist'....spooky that
Anyway, cool story and all that! Anyone else used or regularly use a Wattbike? I'd never even heard of one before today, but I plan to do the 3 minute test every couple of months to track my fitness levels and also to see if my technique has improved!
okgo said:
See the Wattage thread on the bike forums.
280w for 3 mins I would say is occasional cyclist territory rather than active cyclist. I did 280 for 2.5 hours the other day and that was riding with someone else!
Oh! There's no way on this earth I could have kept that up for 2.5 hours, after 3 minutes I was done in, it was max effort at 100rpm and my heart rate was near 190. Frankly it was bloody hard work! Either the wattages are not representative to a road bike or I'm seriously unfit (I don't think I am!) 280w for 3 mins I would say is occasional cyclist territory rather than active cyclist. I did 280 for 2.5 hours the other day and that was riding with someone else!
Edited to add, just seen the Wattage thread, sorry I should have put this in there. Also I guess I'm equating CV fitness (mine is quite good) with quad strength (which looks like it isn't!)
Edited by grenpayne on Wednesday 5th February 16:46
Its meant to be 100% dead accurate and very comparable to bike powermeters out on the road.
Its likely that you're not quite as fit as you think, and that you don't cycle much (which improves rapidly with more riding), a combo of the both. For example I am fit, but I can't run a fast 10k because I don't ever run.
Keep at it!
Its likely that you're not quite as fit as you think, and that you don't cycle much (which improves rapidly with more riding), a combo of the both. For example I am fit, but I can't run a fast 10k because I don't ever run.
Keep at it!
The peanut shape in itself is not bad. However, a better one will be like that, but with a bit of rotation anticlockwise. It's to do with the angle that the torque gets applied.
If you've got easy access to one it'll be a good way to judge progress. Try the warm up like Wiggo if you fancy a tough 20 min workout.
Not sure if that early one supports it, but you can pair a Wattbike to a Garmin of other Ant+ device and upload workouts. Wattbike computer may need a firmware update.
Aside from the pedals and saddle, I think it's a decent piece of kit.
If you've got easy access to one it'll be a good way to judge progress. Try the warm up like Wiggo if you fancy a tough 20 min workout.
Not sure if that early one supports it, but you can pair a Wattbike to a Garmin of other Ant+ device and upload workouts. Wattbike computer may need a firmware update.
Aside from the pedals and saddle, I think it's a decent piece of kit.
Thefungle, no I'm at Brize, I think they have 4 in the physio place! Agreed they should be in the gym too though.
Magic919, that's encouraging, my 'peanut' was skewed anticlockwise slightly. Just need to up the power now as said earlier and strengthen my leg muscles by getting out more. Will be out first thing in the morning!
Magic919, that's encouraging, my 'peanut' was skewed anticlockwise slightly. Just need to up the power now as said earlier and strengthen my leg muscles by getting out more. Will be out first thing in the morning!
I've had mine since last July. Used it quite sporadically until October, from there on it's been 3 sessions per week. I do like it lots, the pedalling action is light years away from my turbo & I've got it set up to replicate my road bike position (near enough).
It's just started to play tricks on me though, the power readings started to fall & fluctuate all over the shop. Anyway I did a "reset to zero" & a complete reboot & it's still goosed. I called them this morning & they're coming for it next week.
It's just started to play tricks on me though, the power readings started to fall & fluctuate all over the shop. Anyway I did a "reset to zero" & a complete reboot & it's still goosed. I called them this morning & they're coming for it next week.
Wattbikes are the only ones as far as I know that are properly accurate.
You mention you averaged 350w over half an hour, yet in another post mention 350 over 4 mins?
350w for half an hour would mean you'd be far quicker than you are, you would not be struggling with those group rides you mention for example.
You mention you averaged 350w over half an hour, yet in another post mention 350 over 4 mins?
350w for half an hour would mean you'd be far quicker than you are, you would not be struggling with those group rides you mention for example.
Started using these recently in our gym, which has an Altitude Centre attached. Couple or related Qs:
I have the peanut, counterclockwise rotated, was wondering if normally running Q Rings make a difference or not (annecodotally, just switched back to a "standard" ring on winter bike, and chuffing nora my legs hurt).
Also, what affect would the altitude actually have on power. I rode 203watt average for an hour the other week, and was shattered! Altitide was 3030m. I probably have to run a power meter at both normal and altitude; but accessing a wattbike at non-altitude is problematic.... Anyone have any ideas/ suggestions (i.e. you need to do this)? TBH, I suspect I'm not as bike fit as I hoped, and I'm getting a lot of "aero-advantage" on rides. I'm thinking at investing in a power meter anyway; but with minimal structure on rides / worry that its a waste of money (and thus may as well invest in some natty Assos gear instead).
I have the peanut, counterclockwise rotated, was wondering if normally running Q Rings make a difference or not (annecodotally, just switched back to a "standard" ring on winter bike, and chuffing nora my legs hurt).
Also, what affect would the altitude actually have on power. I rode 203watt average for an hour the other week, and was shattered! Altitide was 3030m. I probably have to run a power meter at both normal and altitude; but accessing a wattbike at non-altitude is problematic.... Anyone have any ideas/ suggestions (i.e. you need to do this)? TBH, I suspect I'm not as bike fit as I hoped, and I'm getting a lot of "aero-advantage" on rides. I'm thinking at investing in a power meter anyway; but with minimal structure on rides / worry that its a waste of money (and thus may as well invest in some natty Assos gear instead).
My local gym had two WattBikes installed in December. Since I haven't been commuting recently, I've gone back to using the gym and I use a cross trainer for 45 minutes and then do 20 minutes on the WattBike. I really like it. I've used various exercise bikes over years including spinning bikes and the WattBike is by far the best one that I have used.
Its actually the first time I've ever seen my watt figures, so I have nothing to compare it to.
I thought about buying one and then I found out that they are £2k. I'm just about the spend that much on my road bike!
Its actually the first time I've ever seen my watt figures, so I have nothing to compare it to.
I thought about buying one and then I found out that they are £2k. I'm just about the spend that much on my road bike!
Dizzeeeee, 320-350 Watts for 6 minutes is vastly different to 350 for half an hour as I'm sure you well know.
If you were doing around '300 Watts to warm up', then why did you only do 320 for 6 minutes?
There's a Wattbike at my work gym and I would say it's pretty accurate based on my figures and what other riders I ride with have calculated on crank based systems. What my gym definitely needs though is a fan, if you are holding >300 for anything more than 10 minutes I seem to start melting
If you were doing around '300 Watts to warm up', then why did you only do 320 for 6 minutes?
There's a Wattbike at my work gym and I would say it's pretty accurate based on my figures and what other riders I ride with have calculated on crank based systems. What my gym definitely needs though is a fan, if you are holding >300 for anything more than 10 minutes I seem to start melting
Gassing Station | Pedal Powered | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff