How long can you hold hour record pace...

bobmcstuff

I don't normally watch a lot of GCN and I certainly wouldn't usually post one of their videos - but I thought this was really interesting. Basically seeing how long various people could hold Wiggins' hour record wattage (440 watts).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVO5ILQfx0Y&t=330s

I liked how clearly it shows how hard it is... Might have a go myself...

Also think the "pro" is Connor Dunne but maybe that's just misdirection on their part (he held it for 46 minutes as well...). Edit: It definitely is.

DeVlaeminck

Last couple of years my riding has been sporadic and social so no idea but pretty sure it'd be less than the "enthusiast" though a fair bit more than the non-cyclist. I have just joined a gym with wattbikes, New Year and all that, so might give it a bash.

the_rover

I went on a “ evening with Bradley Wiggins” and he spoke about the hour record and how he’d worked out during the ride that to get the record that he needed to do approx 500 watts for a certain amount of time.
All the audience deflated in both awe and the feeling of being very inadequate!!

larkim

It's a bit like the treadmill they put up at big city marathons - how long can you run at world record marathon pace; with just about everyone falling off in a few seconds. Even the 2:02-ish actual WR (not the sub 2) is about 35s per 200m, or 70s for a 400m lap. I could just about hang with 200m of that, and I'm a reasonably OK club runner (38:00 min 10k). It's insane the levels that professional athletes can perform at.

bobmcstuff

larkim said:

It's a bit like the treadmill they put up at big city marathons - how long can you run at world record marathon pace; with just about everyone falling off in a few seconds. Even the 2:02-ish actual WR (not the sub 2) is about 35s per 200m, or 70s for a 400m lap. I could just about hang with 200m of that, and I'm a reasonably OK club runner (38:00 min 10k). It's insane the levels that professional athletes can perform at.

Yeah, I think that was the inspiration for the GCN vid.

I think my 440 watts duration would be better than my ability to run at sub 3 min/km (2:53/km or whatever it is). My 10k record is 43 mins, I could probably do 2:53/km for like 100 metres or something pathetic. Worse now since I haven't run for ages.

I asked if TrainerRoad would make a workout for it... They said they wouldn't but it's easy enough in the workout creator.

rick_chasey

440 watts for one of the biggest lads in the pro-peloton last year a lot easier than say for Pozzovivo.

N0bodyOfTheGoat

Withoutout realising it at the time, I managed over a minute up to the summit of a local short/sharp incline on the 4th, but that's still ~17secs less than I managed up another local short/sharp incline to the summit in March last year.

Mediocrity (at best) MAMIL is me!

fenix

I watched that video and thought it was Lloydy being the pro - clearly I wasn't giving it my full attention. Scary power levels that just show the difference between professionals and normal people.

I do love the treadmill challenges at the London Marathon Expo - who goes on that the day before a marathon ? You're only going to get spat off the back within a minute or so. Don't risk an injury !

bobmcstuff

rick_chasey said:

440 watts for one of the biggest lads in the pro-peloton last year a lot easier than say for Pozzovivo.

Of course, but it is still interesting. I was thinking Dunne had a bit of an advantage, but that's probably one reason he agreed to do it...

cruff

Ha! Funnily enough, I did this as a 'challenge' a few weeks after the hour record. The *actual* figure quoted for Bradley was, I believe, 446. I managed a paltry 4 minutes and 21 seconds. AT the time I reckon i weighed around the same as Brad (78 kg or so) - albeit being five inches shorter

Superhuman, those lads

RichN95.

fenix said:

I watched that video and thought it was Lloydy being the pro - clearly I wasn't giving it my full attention. Scary power levels that just show the difference between professionals and normal people.

Dunne's has joined GCN as a presenter, so definitely him

bobmcstuff

RichN95. said:

fenix said:

I watched that video and thought it was Lloydy being the pro - clearly I wasn't giving it my full attention. Scary power levels that just show the difference between professionals and normal people.

Dunne's has joined GCN as a presenter, so definitely him

Yeah, was announced the day after so was only "secret" for maybe a day.

In the comments some people spent waaay too long trying to identify him.

m.r.m.

The thing I also find incredibly interesting with cycling is how sometimes super skinny legs (Wiggins e.g.) put out considerably more watts than really muscular looking legs. You'd think more volume = more power, but that isn't always the case (white contrasting with red muscle fibers playing their part as well).

slowbike

m.r.m. said:

The thing I also find incredibly interesting with cycling is how sometimes super skinny legs (Wiggins e.g.) put out considerably more watts than really muscular looking legs. You'd think more volume = more power, but that isn't always the case (white contrasting with red muscle fibers playing their part as well).

Fuel?

bobmcstuff

m.r.m. said:

The thing I also find incredibly interesting with cycling is how sometimes super skinny legs (Wiggins e.g.) put out considerably more watts than really muscular looking legs. You'd think more volume = more power, but that isn't always the case (white contrasting with red muscle fibers playing their part as well).

At these durations it is almost entirely about oxygen uptake rather than muscle mass. That's why the bigger guys are able to put out more power, generally speaking - they'll have a higher absolute VO2 max (not relative VO2 max, which is the commonly reported one and is related to body mass, and obviously is important for climbing potential).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/VO2_max

"The highest values in absolute terms for humans are often found in rowers, as their much greater bulk makes up for a slightly lower VO2 max per kg. Elite oarsmen measured in 1984 had VO2 max values of 6.1±0.6 L/min and oarswomen 4.1±0.4 L/min.[20] Rowers are interested in both absolute values of VO2 max and in lung capacity, and the fact that they are measured in similar units means that the two are often confused. British rower Sir Matthew Pinsent is reported to have had a VO2 of 7.5 L/min[21] . He also had a lung capacity of 8.5 litres.[22] New Zealand sculler Rob Waddell has one of the highest absolute VO2 max levels ever tested.[23] These VO2max figures are absolute figures (ie the total amount of oxygen metabolised in a minute). Rowers tend to be more interested in absolute VO2max whereas runners are generally more interested in relative VO2 max (ie the total amount of oxygen metabolised per minute per kilogram of body weight)[24]."

RichN95.

m.r.m. said:

The thing I also find incredibly interesting with cycling is how sometimes super skinny legs (Wiggins e.g.) put out considerably more watts than really muscular looking legs. You'd think more volume = more power, but that isn't always the case (white contrasting with red muscle fibers playing their part as well).

Surely the muscular legs will put out more peak power than sustainable power. There are probably quite a lot of people who could match Wiggins's peak power

bobmcstuff

RichN95. said:

m.r.m. said:

The thing I also find incredibly interesting with cycling is how sometimes super skinny legs (Wiggins e.g.) put out considerably more watts than really muscular looking legs. You'd think more volume = more power, but that isn't always the case (white contrasting with red muscle fibers playing their part as well).

Surely the muscular legs will put out more peak power than sustainable power. There are probably quite a lot of people who could match Wiggins's peak power

There are a lot of people who could match road sprinters peak power as well - just not after 5 hours...

timothyw

Most noticeable from the video was how smooth the pro looked when pedalling, looks miles more efficient.

Of course, you have to imagine a bit of tv magic is going on, it wouldn't surprise me if the amateur had actually done the effort there and then but the other two were just pretending, they would have been sweating buckets putting out those efforts on a static bike with no apparent fan to keep them cool (and wearing a wig and helmet...)

Ben6899

larkim said:

It's a bit like the treadmill they put up at big city marathons - how long can you run at world record marathon pace; with just about everyone falling off in a few seconds. Even the 2:02-ish actual WR (not the sub 2) is about 35s per 200m, or 70s for a 400m lap. I could just about hang with 200m of that, and I'm a reasonably OK club runner (38:00 min 10k). It's insane the levels that professional athletes can perform at.

If you're running a 38min 10k, I reckon you could run a 1:10 400m. No?

larkim

You might think that, but my experience differs! I might manage 72-73s for 400m at peak (and better of course if I specifically trained for it), but my legs are too short and I simply don't go that fast!!

zest28

440 Watts is nothing special as Eddie Merckx was doing 485 Watts, Indurain 477 Watts and Rominger 468 Watts. (I cannot do it ofcourse as I am an amateur)

Makes you wonder how meaningful the hour record really is when the best cyclists get outperformed by weaker riders.

It would have been great to see Merckx in his prime with modern technology.

No_Ta_Doctor

Strongest doesn't equal best. But yes, it would have been interesting to see what the riders you name could achieve with modern tech.

philbar72

zest28 said:

440 Watts is nothing special as Eddie Merckx was doing 485 Watts, Indurain 477 Watts and Rominger 468 Watts. (I cannot do it ofcourse as I am an amateur)

Makes you wonder how meaningful the hour record really is when the best cyclists get outperformed by weaker riders.

It would have been great to see Merckx in his prime with modern technology.

of the more recent pure-ish time triallists Cancellara/ Wiggins/Martin were all around 480 for the hour.

if they were all on the same machinery, with the same equipment (skinsuits/ lids) and all on peak form there wouldn't be a great deal of difference.

bompington

philbar72 said:

if they were all on the same gear

FTFY

bigmat

Indurain was over 500w from what I've read, aero as a brick though compared to his rivals. Merckx was well below 440w.

mtb-idle

good vid. Maybe if George hadn't changed his shoes during the attempt he would have done better (all white with BOA at start and white with blue velcro straps at the end of his effort)

bigmat

Had a go at this today, managed 5 minutes. In my defence, it was my first ride for a month and I've been doing pretty much no training since August but still, quite humbling!

bobmcstuff

bigmat said:

Had a go at this today, managed 5 minutes. In my defence, it was my first ride for a month and I've been doing pretty much no training since August but still, quite humbling!

Good effort! I'm a bit nervous about trying. I think 5 mins will be out of my range at the moment...

bigmat

bobmcstuff said:

bigmat said:

Had a go at this today, managed 5 minutes. In my defence, it was my first ride for a month and I've been doing pretty much no training since August but still, quite humbling!

Good effort! I'm a bit nervous about trying. I think 5 mins will be out of my range at the moment...

have since recalibrated my power meter and, well, I'm not sure I fancy another go...