FTP

jmeadows

whats a good ATP for a recreational/ non race rider.
started riding a mtb in jan 08 then swapped for a roadie in feb 09.
done a test on tues and my FTP was 315watt.
what do you all think?

amaferanga

How much do you weigh?

Btw what are you using to measure power?

Bronzie

6.0W/kg is good

jibberjim

Bronzie wrote:

6.0W/kg is good

As long as you don't want to race obviously...

Bronzie

jibberjim wrote:

Bronzie wrote:

6.0W/kg is good

As long as you don't want to race obviously...

With 6W/kg you can do whatever the hell you like

reppohkcor

6W/kg and you won't be racing in England mate

smithy1.0

315watt? Is great, if you are 60kg. If you are 80kg then it's not so impressive..

jmeadows

weighing 70kg, think that makes 4.5w/kg?
from what i can gather that aint so bad?
tested on a turbo, i understand they arent 100% accurate too

jibberjim

4.5w/kg at 70kg is very good, it will make you at least as stron as most 2nd cats. Of course racing is not just about FTP. Certainly more than good for a "recreational" rider and you should consider racing if you're so inclined.

Of course that assumes your reading is accurate, and your method of determining is reasonable, but the numbers are good.

freehub

smithy1.0 wrote:

315watt? Is great, if you are 60kg. If you are 80kg then it's not so impressive..

Still pretty good for someone who is 80kg, if that was there ftp they'd be capable of doing pretty good in races and doing under 25mins in TT's which ain't so bad.

Alex_Simmons/RST

jmeadows wrote:

weighing 70kg, think that makes 4.5w/kg?
from what i can gather that aint so bad?
tested on a turbo, i understand they arent 100% accurate too

What turbo?

In the end, it is what it is and the main thing is to get out there and enjoy it. If you want, you can also train to improve power.

jmeadows

jibberjim- would consider racing, any training i have ever done i have aimed to compete at some level, something i enjoy.
got the test out of cycling plus from a little while ago, which was supposed to be good way of determining ftp.
done test on tacx flow, which i would imagine is fairly accuarate as you can calibrate it before every session, plus i dont cheat or cut corners as thats just silly, thanks for responses everyone

nmcgann

jmeadows wrote:

jibberjim- would consider racing, any training i have ever done i have aimed to compete at some level, something i enjoy.
got the test out of cycling plus from a little while ago, which was supposed to be good way of determining ftp.
done test on tacx flow, which i would imagine is fairly accuarate as you can calibrate it before every session, plus i dont cheat or cut corners as thats just silly, thanks for responses everyone

No, it's not accurate at all. It's a very good turbo (I have one), but it's quite a way out compared to a real power measuring device. I use a powertap on my turbo bike and in comparison the flow reading is very optimistic and also varies session-to-session and drifts within a session too.

It's fine for working within fairly broad training zones on the turbo though, so still a useful tool if you don't want to spend the cash on the more expensive training kit.

jmeadows

thanks for weeing on my bonfire

Bronzie

Old Chinese proverb say "Before waving willy in public, ensure you have measured it with tape measure rather than old stick"

LJAR

it is the wise camel that knows which way the crow is pointing.

jmeadows

thanks guys! you have to ask to find things out!
regardless i love training and speaking to people about the routes i am riding i seem to progressing well.
i read that LA used to push 6.7w/kg at his peak so 6w/kg for a recreational must be outstanding & suspect, more than good

Bronzie

I wasn't being entirely serious with my suggestion of 6w/kg..................and 6.7w/kg is probably only physiologically possible with "assistance"...........although to be fair I'd take some of the figures bandied about for the pros with a pinch of salt.......little bit of mental warfare before the racing even starts.

Have a look at the power profiling categories to see how you "measure up"
http://home.trainingpeaks.com/articles/ ... iling.aspx

Just out of interest, what is the recommended test protocol for FTP you used?

Alex_Simmons/RST

jmeadows wrote:

i read that LA used to push 6.7w/kg at his peak so 6w/kg for a recreational must be outstanding & suspect, more than good

You either read wrong or read something that was wrong.

LJAR

Alex_Simmons/RST wrote:

I read that LA used to push 6.7w/kg at his peak so 6w/kg for a recreational must be outstanding & suspect, more than good

You either read wrong or read something that was wrong.

That would make his FTP about 500 watts!

I have heard that figure too, but I always thought it was his 20 minute power or shorter, not his FTP.

To put that into perspective, world record power on a rowing machine is about 525 watts for 5 minutes and 30 seconds!

jmeadows

rst- read that in tour de force, with his famous ferrari tests/ there aim by the looks was to get to 7w/kg
bronzie- will dig the mag out and post asap, out of cplus last year

jmeadows

oct 09 cplus
20min 65%
3x60sec sprint with 60sec off in between
5min easy
5min 100% effort
10min off
20min tt effort
take wattage from tt & minus 5% for your ftp

read in tour de force that cunego pushed 7w/kg at giro he won, shocking
says LA pushing 470 and aim was to get close to 500

Alex_Simmons/RST

7W/kg just ain't sensible.

It would require a rider to posses all of the following:
have a VO2 max of at least 90 ml/lk/min
be able to sustain 90% of VO2 max for ~ 1-hour
a gross metabolic efficiency of 25%

That's one hell of an implausible troika.

Team Banana Spokesman

that actually sounds possible though. a rare gem that rider would be. but possible.

anyway. i can ride at 7 w/kg easy.





not for very long though.

Alex_Simmons/RST

Team Banana Spokesman wrote:

that actually sounds possible though. a rare gem that rider would be. but possible.

Well given that Armstrong's efficiency was reported by Coyle at ~23.0% and his VO2 max was 6.0 l/min at peak of fitness, then 7.0W/kg simply isn't plausible, even for the most dominant TdF rider in history.

It would require him to exceed his VO2 max for an hour.