Those who use TrainerRoad / power meters

What was your FTP when you first tested it, and (if you’ve been doing it a while) what is it now?

Not wanting to start a willy-washing context, just curious as to where my first ever FTP test score of 153 puts me (2x8min test on TR)

Started at 200, jumped to 250 on second test after about 4 weeks. A lot of that I put down to being better at the test.

It’s all relative though, I’m 85kg so W/kg could do with improvement.

228W was the first test back in 2013. It does go up pretty quickly though when you start getting use to doing intervals on the turbo. Those sorts of efforts (longer constant power) are quite artificial, especially if you don’t race. Gone up a fair bit since then!

I think my first ever attempt using the 3 and 20 test was in the region of 250… First time using 2×8 was 273 and it looked much “better” with less left on the table. It’s been as high as 300W although I over did that one (honestly I felt ill for 2 days afterwards). As per Jambo w/kg is the measure and if you google it there will be plenty of comparisons to show roughly where you rank.

3.8W/kg a couple of winters ago, to around 4.5W/kg at the start of this season.

Then I decided to start running again 😯 so its probably back to about 3 😥

153? id say something is setup wrong,

^^ Possibly depending on weight/sex … sweamrs1 is at about 183W but as she weighs 55kg her power to weight is 3.3 which isn’t unreasonable.

If using virtual power I’d not worry too much what the actual number is as long as it’s consistent. Your 150 watts is unlikely to be the same as someone else’s 150 watts on a different setup. And if you’re an average trail rider then a hard sustained effort is probably not something you’d be well practiced at so it should go up pretty quickly just as you get more use to it.

First test was around 228 (from memory), the highest I got to was 297 and currently 247. I’m a big ol’ unit though so watts per kilo is basically dreadful.

If using virtual power I’d not worry too much what the actual number is as long as it’s consistent.

Aye, that was part of my thinking. I’ve no idea whether the number’s good, bad or indifferent, and I’m only just coming back to riding regularly, so not expecting miracles. I’ll repeat the test maybe next week and see what comes of it. Cheers for the responses so far!

And if you’re an average trail rider then a hard sustained effort is probably not something you’d be well practiced at so it should go up pretty quickly just as you get more use to it.

this, you’ll get better at testing very quickly

but as she weighs 55kg

is she nervous about her GCSE results?

is she nervous about her GCSE results?

Nope 😀 Closer to retirement than GCSE’s…

Another thing that helps with a test is if you have a number to aim at, which on your first test you don’t. So next time you’ll have done a fair few sessions and know what 150, 175, 200 watts etc feels like and what you might be able to do.

OP, do you mean only Trainer Road and PMs or Trainer Road or PMs on road?

I found my power was higher on the road for a 20 minute test than on the turbo.

OP, do you mean only Trainer Road and PMs or Trainer Road or PMs on road?

Either, really! I’m using their Virtual Power thingy so again, there’s a bit of scientific wild-arsed guesswork involved.

Comparing FTP is always tricky, especially with the variety of tools to measure power out there, as well as the different shapes/sizes of riders. The most important thing is knowing your own number, and measuring it consistently every time you are training. So if you’re using virtual power, you want to make sure you have the right trainer selected each time, the skewer tension is the same, tire/tire pressure is the same, etc.

Coach Chad (our USAC Level 1 coach who writes the plans) just recently posted a great blog on some important techniques to practice during your test, too. Check it out: How to Nail Your Next FTP Test

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Professional Mountain Bike Racer & Community Manager at TrainerRoad – Cycling’s Most Effective Training Tool

Just realised wheel size was set wrong – 2096 rather than 2155 (and will change again when I put a proper turbo tyre on)… So 153 might be a bit off, one way or another. Oh well…

I take all my FTPs from races as I’m not really convinced about testing. After all, when are you going to use the data? 😉

Anyway my FTP is just shy of 300 watts and that is 4.2 Watts/kg. The more respectable measure is your power profile for 20, 5, 1 min and 10 seconds. If you disregard the 5 min, power should double at each jump. So that’s 4.2, 8.4 and 16.8 Watts/kg for 20 min, 1 min and 10 seconds. Oh I wish I had 16 Watts/kg for a sprint.

Anyway, comparing with other riders is willy-waving (assuming you have one). But comparing progress is useful. I started at about 3.5 Watts/kg.

I tend to use heart rate more now (my power meter is loaned to a rider I coach), and I also use Powercal approximate power. This gives (for me) Power = 2xHR – 80 Watts, so my threshold heart rate at last night’s TT was 178 bpm and that’s an average power of 286 Watts, which is almost bang on. I also used it to estimate an over-optimistic CdA of 0.2 using the Chung method for virtual elevation matching.

EDIT – and for all you TR junkies, how often do you measure rear tyre pressure? With what gauge? Power settings will be tyre, tyre pressure and tension dependent. Are you sure you control all these factors to within 1-2% (that’s about 3PSI irrespective of wheel tension setting). Hence I like field testing.

Tested via three different powermeters it was 278W three months ago. The virtual power never quite seems to match up on my turbo though.

I definitely have a willy, yes, but no plans to wave it, especially as my meagre score seems, well, meagre. and I’m not admitting to how many kilograms I am, that’s precisely what got me to faffing around with turbo trainers and TR in the first place.

As for ‘when am I going to use the data’ – data analysis is what I do for a living, and I’m a geek. Looking at it for progress is more my idea, but thought asking other people was an interesting place to start. I’ll be looking at the ‘STW approved sessions’ list next, but think I’m just going to start with one of the ‘General Build’ plans.

Welcome to the geek club :-). I play numbers all day. I also like to analyse my data using SAS 😳 . Funny thing is, when it comes to training I use the numbers as a much rougher guide. Yours do look a little off to be honest. As I said, after wheel calibration, look at tyre pressures and contact resistance. Then just keep track of your own values. Speed for heart rate at constant effort will give a less painful measure of fitness improvement too 😉

some good numbers on display here..

Whilst an FTE of 153 aint great, its not horrific if you are just starting out and you are light. I was around 230 ish 18 months ago, but I’m now down to 195 ish..and im 10 kg heavier…I have a long road ahead of me this winter I reckon

on a slightly different note..Why is it when I do all the workouts with my FTP set at 210 its reasonably easy, but when I try to do a test for an hour I’m around 195…

Are you actually using a power meter, or is that TR’s virtual power? I notice a vast difference between the two even using the power curve for my turbo.

4.3 w/kg was the best I ever got to, but I didn’t have a power meter when I was at my fastest! I suspect it’s about 3w/kg now 🙁

DIT – and for all you TR junkies, how often do you measure rear tyre pressure? With what gauge? Power settings will be tyre, tyre pressure and tension dependent.

95psi, same guage each time and tension set by placing a ruler (2mm thick) between tyre and roller to set the gap before flipping the lever.

If you’re going to geek, do it properly :-p

If you’re going to geek, do it properly

well said, yes same bike, same rollers, same tyre pressure, same room temp

EDIT – and for all you TR junkies, how often do you measure rear tyre pressure? With what gauge? Power settings will be tyre, tyre pressure and tension dependent. Are you sure you control all these factors to within 1-2% (that’s about 3PSI irrespective of wheel tension setting). Hence I like field testing.

Kinetic road machine and Kinetic INRide with a roll-down calibration after warming up.

Virtual power using Elite Arion Mag rollers on setting 1

First test was 234, then 263, then incrementally up to 300 over the next 5-6 weeks. I agree with the previous comments; that the initial increments are due to practice and come from understanding how hard you’re capable of pushing during the tests.

Peaked at 337 after 9 months coinciding with a 6kg weight loss to 74kg so 4.55 w/kg…ya bunch o’ pussies 😛

I suspect the above is more than a little flattering… 😳

I’ve had a lazy and greedy summer, I’m back up to 80kg and I reckon if I did the test tomorrow I could hit 300 or thereabouts.

Again, as has already been said, I don’t think you can compare figures between setups, particularly where Virtual Power is involved, but consistency can be achieved and that’s what matters.

TiRed – Member

I take all my FTPs from races as I’m not really convinced about testing. After all, when are you going to use the data?

I use mine from 10 TTs, as well as tests on the road bike. I swap the Power2Max cranks from bike to bike. TT-bike power is always lower, apparently common and due to body position.

I think I’m similar to you; 317w FTP for the 20 min (on road bike) and a body mass of 80kg. But my VO2 is very poor, around 40% which I think explains why my HR is high for the zones. FTHR is 181bpm. Last tuesday’s 10 TT was 313w with HR av 182bpm.
On a 50m TT with my HR at 92% threshold my power was a very low 224w. I felt comfortable after and it was my first 50 so next one I’m going to take it to 95% FTHR and hope to stay on.
Interestingly (for me) my ave HR for the last 25TT was 182bpm so maybe I’m doing myself a disservice on the consideration there.

well said, yes same bike, same rollers, same tyre pressure, same room temp

Worth being aware that you really need to get the turbo setup properly warmed up too as (at least on mine) the resistance decreases as it warms up. So from a Trainer Road point of view it will get easier for the same reported power over the course of the session. I don’t actually use virtual power but I have to shift down two or three sprockets over the course of session for the same reported power on a PM. The greatest variance seems to be over the first 15 mins or so, does settle down a bit after that.

TT-bike power is always lower, apparently common and due to body position.

Pretty common. Just need to train more in that position. Over the past year I’ve closed that gap considerably.