How many watts is decent cycling power/fitness ?

I stumbled across this rider power data on two eMTB displays, not sure how accurate they were but both were in the same ballpark. I did some experiments.

On a smooth slope with gearing that allows decent cadence, I can do around 200W for a good while say at least 15-30 minutes. Steepen it or shift gear up to make it harder, and I can do 250W but I’ll be sweating overheating and needing a break and drink in 5 minutes, and I’d be half knackered for the day after doing that a few times. On a short high cadence burst to get up something say less than 30 seconds I can do just under 300W.

That was on a moderately hot day. Is that good, bad, average? I weigh 75kg. I’m expecting it’s bad; I run a 30T chainring on my normal bike, do a lot of climbing in first gear (51T), a 10% gradient will have me pushing on a fire road or even less if it’s a chunkier surface.

The figure you’re after is your FTP – functional threshold power – which is supposedly the maximum power you can sustain for an hour but is usually extrapolated from a 20 minute test. It’s usually expressed in watts per kilo – bigger people can usually put out more power so that normalises the figures a bit.  According to my Garmin figures above 3ish are “good” so that’s about 225 watts for you. Could you sustain that for an hour?

But remember FTP doesn’t in any way measure how much you enjoyed riding your bike.

Not sure what power I can put in on an mtb offroad but I do have a powermeter on my road bike.

I’m 76kg ish / 5’9 / aged 43 – been doing Trianerroad or Zwift for a few years. My ftp is 265watts give or take – vs the 200w ish when I started training I feel a lot fitter now – although there are plenty on the forum here with a better power / weight ratio.

I could bang out 250w for quite a while I think (if I had to) – the other day I had someone pull up at the traffic lights behind me and try to draft me up a gradual hill that goes on for a while – I pushed quite hard to see if I could lose them and was over 300w for a decent stretch (up to 400w when I looked down a few times) – I was blowing a bit by the top – but absolutely rinsed the guy despite him trying to keep up. Very satisfying.

I’d imagine what you’re doing is average ish for someone who does some frequent biking but isn’t specifically training to boost it. I’ve found since doing training I’m pushing a higher cadence than before and can really push on at a high cadence too.

The chart is actual power output vs time recorded by Cycling Analytics users. They make the point that “It’s important to keep in mind that this data represents what people have actually done, and because most people haven’t attempted a maximal effort at all durations, these numbers are lower than the true potential maximums of the population it represents. This is probably especially true for the lower percentile levels.”

I would also add that their users tend to be keen cyclists who are bothered about their power output.

No affiliation to them, but I thought that the article that the graph comes from was an interesting read:

https://www.cyclinganalytics.com/blog/2018/06/how-does-your-cycling-power-output-compare

On the full Strava membership you get a power curve and it lets you estimate FTP even if you’ve not done a test. Garmin Connect has something similar. But you need power data.

Different riders will have different graphs. Some people will have massive short term power and make good sprinters. Some will be able to push 200W for ever making them better at endurance. Then there is stuff in the middle.

It really depends on what you are aiming to be good at. FTP (20-60min) power is nice as general fitness. In the UK most of our climbs are short so to be a good climber you probably need to look at <20min., 5min might be more appropriate. But it isn’t just one effort either. I’m training for the nat hill climb which will be 3:40-4:00. The numbers I can hit in a one off race are not obtainable in training doing multiple intervals.

All that said, it still comes down to being faster than your mates and having fun.

that’s about 225 watts for you. Could you sustain that for an hour?

In cool conditions, with a couple of breaks, and with gearing allowing good cadence – yes.

But remember FTP doesn’t in any way measure how much you enjoyed riding your bike.

That’s the priority. If I feel it’s wearing me down or doing my legs in, I’ll walk to save my legs for the descents.

I’d imagine what you’re doing is average ish for someone who does some frequent biking but isn’t specifically training to boost it.

Yep that’s me! I do see people passing me not in 1st gear and presumably most don’t have a 30T.

I would also add that their users tend to be keen cyclists who are bothered about their power output.

Interesting chart. Yes I wasn’t bothered but it was interesting on the TQ motor display to see the two numbers side by side for how much I and the motor were contributing. Gives some perspective to 300W vs. 600W bikes.

It really depends on what you are aiming to be good at.

Getting to the top without being so ruined that I ride like crap on the descent. And not having to call it a day at 2pm.

By “sustain for an hour” he means without any breaks!

Tbh, unless you’re actually training, or wanting to improve, then knowing your wattage isn’t really that useful…

200watts for 20 min is ‘better’ than 150watts.. ???.

Different riders will have different graphs. Some people will have massive short term power and make good sprinters. Some will be able to push 200W for ever making them better at endurance. Then there is stuff in the middle.

This is also v true…

My power curve probably starts at 900w, and DRASTICALLY and almost immediately plummets to about 300watts…then properly flats out..

By this, I mean I’m RUBBISH at sprinting..but can maintain a good wattage around the 250-300 mark for longer than ‘expected’…

This knowledge is only really useful for ME in racing… I don’t want to get caught in a finish line sprint (as I’ll lose) so I’ll drop some watt-bomb action a few km from the finish, in the hope I can drag myself away enough to not end up in a sprint!

DrP

DrP I agree. I am rubbish under a minute. But 5-30min is good. When I was road racing you could bet you life savings on me going hard on a short climb and then putting in a TT effort to establish the break.  Also had good recovery and could do multiple 5 minute efforts so could really make a lumpy race “fun” for the sprinters by lining it out on every climb.  I’m 71kg so even with a good FTP of about 350W I get a kicking by bigger riders on flat rides.

By “sustain for an hour” he means without any breaks!

Ah. It’s quite possible that I’ve never ridden my bike continuously for an hour!

Tbh, unless you’re actually training, or wanting to improve, then knowing your wattage isn’t really that useful…

It was useful for understanding eMTB modes and models, e.g. this bike in medium is 1x me, that bike in turbo is 3x me

30-70 minutes duration for FTP, those used to regular training (and testing) hitting 40 minutes+

Is that good, bad, average? I weigh 75kg. I’m expecting it’s bad; I run a 30T chainring on my normal bike, do a lot of climbing in first gear (51T), a 10% gradient will have me pushing on a fire road or even less if it’s a chunkier surface.

It’s not bad IMO, you probably find you’re not at the back of group rides on the climbs, eh?

It’s just that most people who bother to measure their power will be at the higher end because they are training for racing (and because most of us don’t care), so your numbers may feel small by comparison to those you see bandied about online.

But remember FTP doesn’t in any way measure how much you enjoyed riding your bike.

Great answer.

For somebody at 75kg, 200 – 250watts steady output is enough to enjoy your riding. A pro rider at that weight would have an FTP of 400watts, so would be able to ride like you on an e-bike!

But remember FTP doesn’t in any way measure how much you enjoyed riding your bike.

I like this.

I have never tested myself to get an FTP, keep thinking I should. Wahoo/Strava keep telling me my estimated average power ion a ride s about 100-120 watts, which sounds pretty shit, even for an overweight 55 year old, but most of my riding is done leading groups who are even slower than me, to be fair.

If I had the space I quite like the idea of spending a winter on Zwift or one of the others in a little “pain cave”. A friend lost her outdoor riding mojo last winter and did this and is handing me my arse on hills now she’s back outside again.

so would be able to ride like you on an e-bike!

Is pretty much my first thought whenever I get the chance to ride an e-bike: This is what it would feel like if I was an international pro roadie on a regular bike. If nothing else it gives you an insight into what the difference feels like. It’s as far as my curiosity goes if I’m honest. I can enjoy the riding I do and want to continue to do, and that’s enough for me.

Watts per kilo is a decent measure of fitness (although it doesn’t take into account power curves, ie you may be able to climb a hill for an hour like me, but have zero sprint)

Andrew coggan’s chart below is useful. Sounds like you are in the ‘fair’ category. Most I ever got to was 4.2w/kg and I was well above average for the folks in my cycling club. I’d say anything over 3 is decent. Anything over 5 is superb but very very hard, if not impossible to achieve for most

What I will say from personal experience is that focusing too much on your watts per kilo/fitness/whatever metric you choose can quickly suck the enjoyment out of cycling. Aim to be as fit as you need to be to be able to enjoy your cycling. Unless you are racing and care about results then that’s all that matters imo

https://www.google.com/search?q=andrew+coggan+power+chart&oq=andrew+coggan&gs_lcrp=EgZjaHJvbWUqBwgCEAAYgAQyCggAEAAY4wIYgAQyBwgBEC4YgAQyBwgCEAAYgAQyBwgDEAAYgAQyBwgEEAAYgAQyBwgFEAAYgAQyBwgGEAAYgAQyCAgHEAAYFhgeMggICBAAGBYYHjIICAkQABgWGB4yCAgKEAAYFhgeMggICxAAGBYYHjIICAwQABgWGB4yCAgNEAAYFhge0gEINDcxOGowajSoAg6wAgE&client=ms-android-samsung-ss&sourceid=chrome-mobile&ie=UTF-8&chrome_dse_attribution=1#vhid=fxekBxUFq2NkdM&vssid=l

Noob gains are transformative – going from untrained to OK fitness on a bike is a massive improvement, the biggest one most of us ever see. Ask anyone who has put 50W on their ftp like that if they enjoy riding their bike more, or less – you’ll get a consistent answer. It is so much more fun to feel fit and strong on the bike.

Of course folk are right to caution getting into the numbers game – seek balance in all things. Improving past OK is progressively far more difficult and means a different approach to riding which not everyone wants. But that initial fitness jump you get from training is worth considering – it is the biggest, easiest, and most impactful one most of us make.

Just to add going from 200w ish to 250-260w ftp ish has made my mtb waaaaay more fun. I get to the top of climbs less broken and technical bits of climbs are more do-able as you’re not already on your arse when you get there. Even if they’re mid climb I can generally accelerate my leg speed as I have lung / leg / hr capacity to do that which I didn’t used to have.

Some good answers above, but unless you’re racing or are into the numbers then I’d not worry too much about your watts.

There are so many variables in measuring fitness the answer to your question on what’s a decent power output is “it depends”

If you’re riding regularly and are enjoying it and still feel you’re improving then I’d just keep doing what you’re doing.

watt-bomb action

🙂

FTP is useless. Average speed is the go to metric for performance cycling, why do you think so many plonkers have aero bikes?

Even T Piddy wears aero socks.

Paired my Garmin to my new lite eMTB. With it in eco (max 100W) on a regular fire road climb, which I know I could sustain for an hour at the pace I was doing, I was doing 200-220W so that’s 2.8 to 3 w/kg. Probably not the best test due to the assist. On a non assisted bike I’d be doing more watts, going slower, sweating a lot more, and depending on conditions maybe have a break for a minute and a drink every 15 mins.

Ask anyone who has put 50W on their ftp like that if they enjoy riding their bike more, or less – you’ll get a consistent answer. It is so much more fun to feel fit and strong on the bike.

Just to add going from 200w ish to 250-260w ftp ish has made my mtb waaaaay more fun. I get to the top of climbs less broken and technical bits of climbs are more do-able as you’re not already on your arse when you get there.

I can really appreciate this now. Loads more energy for the descents. I think I did better hops and wheel lifts despite the bike being 4kg heavier and chainstays 20mm longer.

When fit and firing, I have an FTP of about 270 according to my turbo, around 3.75watts/kg. For comparison in a recent interview Pogacar said his zone 2 is about 320watts, he can do it it for 5 hours but his heart rate does drift up out of zone 2 at the end…I can do 320 for about 5 mins and am breathing through my arse!!!

Until I had kids my FTP was 300w ish @ 72kg, which was about 4.1w/kg. Meant I could get KOMs, do big alpine passes, and mtbing was easy with my mates. Since kids FTP is more like 255w @ 75kg meaning much more average numbers – haven’t had a KOM for a while…  That said 255w maintained by doing turbo training sessions at lunch still means that when I do get out for MTBing I can enjoy it rather than blowing out of my arse.

My FTP is about 190. intervals.icu tells me that’s around the 40th percentile for a man of my age (measured amongst people who care enough to measure). I do feel it should be higher and I’d love to even get to the 60th percentile of around 214 watts. I reckon I could do this with a bit of specific bike training over the Winter, but I’m also running, walking etc so I find it hard to keep any programme going. However, I am able to sustain a decent power output for longer than most folk I ride with who, in theory, have a higher FTP than me.

I now struggle to do 305 for 2mins, in ’22 I could hold over that for 20mins until covid late September became long covid.

That was on a moderately hot day. Is that good, bad, average? I weigh 75kg. I’m expecting it’s bad; I run a 30T chainring on my normal bike, do a lot of climbing in first gear (51T), a 10% gradient will have me pushing on a fire road or even less if it’s a chunkier surface.

Does it matter? Most of us know whether we’re feeling strong or not regardless of what the figures say. On top of that, ‘fitness’ on a bike is way more than just steady state power production on a 20-minute climb. Stuff like the ability to repeat hard efforts and recover in between. Being able to push above threshold for a sustained period of time and recover etc.

I weigh the same as you and those figures would be somewhere in my zone 2 / endurance area, but again, so what? Post long covid my steady state stuff is comparable to my ‘before’ figures, but my repeated anaerobic recovery and top-end has fallen off a fair bit, so in the real world, on a mountain bike, I’m a bit slower slower.

I’d ask yourself: ‘Am I fit enough that I enjoy the cycling I do / want to do?’ ‘Is there a aspect of my fitness that’s holding me back in that area?’ ‘Do I care enough to train my butt off all winter indoors – or out – so you can come mid-pack in Zwift races and humble brag about my power output on here / start never-ending threads about zone 2 training and how Tadej Pogwotnot only every rides at walking pace etc.

Also, depending on heat adaptation, hot conditions may have substantially capped your power output. I’m really bad with heat, take time to acclimatise, so that may impact your very small sample size data.

As above, before Covid and EBV I was 3.8-4wkg, now at about 3.2.   This makes a big difference in XC races but long-ish Z2 is still a thing for me, 4hrs at 180w on Saturday.

I doubt I’m ever getting back now, but taking inspiration from the fact that some people way unfitter than me were enjoying just being part of the Hever Castle Triathlon (downgraded to duathlon) at the weekend.  In recent months I’ve been riding with an old friend and very much enjoyed riding vs training TBH.

Vis a vis, it probably doesn’t matter unless you know you need more w/kg than the next guy

For comparison in a recent interview Pogacar said his zone 2 is about 320watts..

I saw that too… bonkers isn’t it!!

DrP

Pre- Long covid, racing every week or so, I was at about 4.3 W/kg. Enough to get a second cat race license and “do something” in races. However I’m a diesel engine, and what wins races is your sprint part of those curves. Mine was always rubbish. But my 12hr FTP was 2.9 W/kg. Now I’m down at about 3.3 W/kg (and climbing, still 72-74 kilos though), but the longer distance efforts are still good. I did a 100tt fixed and just missed 4h, and a couple sub 2h 50’s, including one on the trike.

I never tested on Zwift, I prefer either a circuit race or a 25mi TT, and see what watts I can do. The much shorter algorithms are helpful there. Riding pacer rides at fixed W/kg on Zwift, measuring heart rate for effort, is all you need. That and Eurosport on a big TV above the iPad!

This year mine is down to around 3.7W/kg on an FTP of 270w (May).  Last year I was ~4-4.2W/kg.  My top end is a little lower this year, but my sustainable power for 2-3 hours is still 220w (down from 225w), so not much difference.  I’m 73kg and 179cm and would consider myself as “okay” fitness wise.  I have reasonably good burst power at ~1100-1200W for 5s and can maintain 800-900W for 15-30 seconds and 600W+ for over a minute quite easily, BUT these figures are distinctly average when viewed in a general population.

I’d ask yourself: ‘Am I fit enough that I enjoy the cycling I do / want to do?’ ‘Is there a aspect of my fitness that’s holding me back in that area?’ ‘Do I care enough to train my butt off all winter indoors

This is my thoughts too. If course, it would be great if I was a bit fitter to more easily keep up with all those younger folk I ride with, and so that I could, in theory, get further in any given time window, but there’s a balance between enjoyment and training and I’m not prepared to prioritise the latter in the short term.

Zwift recently decided my ftp was 276w after a quick (for me) Cat B race where I had a really strong first 20 mins before I started to fade a bit and dropped off the front pack. Think this is broadly as fit as I’ve ever been.

At Cwmcarn on the weekend I rode Cafell with a mate who’d never ridden it before. I had to stop a bit for him as his fitness isn’t there at the moment, but I can’t think of a time I’ve ever found that climb as easy.

Being relatively fit just adds so much more enjoyment / less suffering to mtb rides.

I’ve always questioned FTP “estimates” or even the 20 minute test or ramp tests for people who have primarily gained their fitness via MTBing, especially in the less hilly parts of the world.

Last year/this spring my FTP was determined to be about 325 via a ramp test. There is no way in hell I could do 325W for an hour. Don’t think I’ve ridden at a continuous effort for an hour in my life.

But using that figure (or the resultant W/kg) seems to work fine with the zwift workouts and zwift racing categories for shorter races. So I’m probably riding at an “effective” 3.85ish W/kg for shorter efforts but in reality I’m probably a much lower FTP but with a good sprint…..

[for clarity on all the above, a Wattbike is the only power meter I have ever ridden on, have never seen what power I can do on a real bike (skinny or fat tyred) outside]

Vis a vis, it probably doesn’t matter unless you know you need more w/kg than the next guy

I do feel like I could do with raising my FTP as it’s is pretty ‘low’ TBH according to the Zwift ramp tests I’ve done anyway (not done one for a while though) ~180w @85 kg = 2W/kg.
It might have crept up in recent weeks just because I’ve been doing some consistent workout sessions, but I’ve never been able to really drag it up significantly. At the same time I know can sustain 180~220ish W for a reasonable period (say 10mins), have a 30-60 second spin and then repeat that effort on Zwift or real life climbs if I’m warmed up, fuelled up and feeling in “the Zone”, I’m just not attuned to the ramp tests I think. I might try another one this week just to see how I get on actually, while I can make bigger numbers, sustaining tham for more than a minute or two just ain’t feasible, I can’t imagine being able to sustain 300+W for several hours.

Thing is though I’m still fit enough to do solo a 6-8 hour road or Gravel effort on a weekend, crank out a few hours on the MTB now and then, and seem to be among the fitter/faster riders for my similar aged (non-racing) roadie peers, I reckon I’m a bit off the level for MTBing Vs younger me these days, and the occasional Sunday league CX race has really driven home that while I can ramp up the output for a long steady climb on the road or Zwift, “choppier” riding that requires more spikes in effort on top of a higher baseline level of output combined with technical riding, definitely does me in much faster, I can grind on through and find a rhythm to work at, but just churning out more watts at a higher cadence defeats me currently…

I think the biggest thing I could do to improve my enjoyment of riding in general right now would actually be to lose ~10 kg which, assuming I didn’t lose too much power, would put me at about 2.4W/kg, and mean that generally my energy was being used more efficiently, almost equivalent to rustling up an extra 50w…

When I first started turbo training for added fitness I was on TrainerRoad and did an awful lot of sweet spot training which got my base level up fairly quickly. These days I’m on Zwift and either do a zone 2 ish plod watching the tv, or I do racing. So I’m getting base and threshold but not much in the middle. But then mtb is possibly filling out that middle but a bit as it’s often like doing intervals.

Cafell at Cwmcarn doesn’t let you settle on the climb – it’s reasonable long but is constantly changing gradient or going round a switchback etc – I love that I’ve got that extra burst of power / cadence available to go over rocks / up little steeper bits without blowing up like I used to.

There is no way in hell I could do 325W for an hour

You don’t have to, it’s steady state between 30 and 70 minutes not an hour.

If your ‘test’ is full of surges then you may just be very good anaerobically so your result may be a bit high.

Assume your fussed enough I’d do a longer form test to set your base zones, but once training over threshold maybe use power based on what you know you can do.

If your ‘test’ is full of surges then you may just be very good anaerobically so your result may be a bit high.

Assume your fussed enough I’d do a longer form test to set your base zones, but once training over threshold maybe use power based on what you know you can do.

I think thats it – I’m good anaerobically/recovery. I’m about to start my “winter training” i.e. fairly unstructured zwifting because weather is crap. Thats all I really care about. Even though I plan to get back into (low level) XC racing in 2025, I dont think I’ll reach the stage of wanting/benefiting from a power meter on my real-life bike.

Being relatively fit fitter than your mates just adds so much more enjoyment / less suffering to mtb rides.

FTFY

@J-R well there is that too!

Although I ride with a variety of people – some who get more time out riding / weigh less etc. I think I’m middling out of all the people I ride with despite my best efforts.

Remember you don’t have to out run the bear, just out run your mates. Anything around 3W/kg will make cycling much more pleasant. Above that and it’s skills that will be limiting not power. On and off road.