Wahoo Half Monty Ramp test – ERG vs Level mode

Hello all,

Having jumped on the Pinnacle trainer PSA I found myself doing the Half Monty Ramp test a couple of nights ago after a few quick sessions, having briefly read the advice to do the first half (i.e the ramp) in ERG mode I did so, however I found it quite hard to hit the power levels on account of how fast I was having to spin to do so – at around level 5/6 the target was about 200W which my legs and HR felt like I could achieve but the required cadence was not achievable for me, Connect says my max RPM was 135, the bike was shaking around under me like mad at this rate, the cadence data also seems to drop out around this point:

I’m wondering if I should repeat the test in level mode and see if there’s much difference in me controlling the cadence??

Have you done the Half Ramp test and if so did you use ERG or level mode?

Cheers!

If you are new to ERG mode; it can be confusing to work out “how to do it properly” – you should aim for a comfortable cadence – the trainer will adjust the resistance to match and allow you to output the correct watts.

I’ve seen other people new to ERG’s/trainers do the same thing – you spin to try and “make the power” – and the trainer keeps the resistance low. You need to give it time to adjust to your cadence not force the issue …

If you’re on Wahoo SYSTM and new to it, i would try and to the full 4DP test as that gives far clearer pictures of different areas of fitness, FTP, VO2 max etc and that is done in Level Mode (with you setting gears/ cadence) the Half Monty ramp test is designed as a check half-way through a program 

If you’re on Wahoo SYSTM and new to it, i would try and to the full 4DP test

This is true, but doing Half Monty first can be useful to give you ballpark figures which can help you to pace the longer efforts in the 4DP test.

you should aim for a comfortable cadence – the trainer will adjust the resistance to match and allow you to output the correct watts.

Ah, that makes more sense, I probably wasn’t giving it long enough to adjust the resistance. I’m also not really used to maintaining a steady cadence (long time MTB, fairly new to road and trainers) which probably doesn’t help.

And thanks scud, I’ll give the Full Monty test a try this afternoon I think.

Full Monty is done in level mode, so you may not learn anything apart from how painful that test is… I’d also give it a couple days between tests to fully recover.

Try one of the other workouts on SYSTM in erg mode and just focus on keeping cadence at the targets. The Mike Cotty Girona ride is a good one as it’s subtle power changes and a few high cadence spins.

do the step in ERG mode and the rest in level mode.  You shouldn’t have to pedal fast to get it.  Sometimes there can be an issue between the trainer and the software so make sure you are actually hitting the correct wattage.

They advice you not to do either of the fitness tests straight away.  Do a couple of RGT routes first while it is still there.  The dunoon lap should give you a lot of info for setting up a possible http://FTP.  once you do the dunoon ride upload the data to https://intervals.icu/ and it will give you a eFTP that you can base your fitness test on.  If you are using a garmin head unit it should give you a FTP number based on your ride.  If you use garmin then upload to garmin connect to see your power curve.

With cheaper, lower end trainers (like mine) you may need to adjust the gears, even in erg mode, to hit the power target without spinning out. Eventually you find a sweet spot in the gears and you won’t have to change so frequently unless there are big jumps in output.

I just re-did the Half Monty test in ERG mode for the ramp and focused on keeping a steady cadence – started at 90 and finished the ramp at around 80 rpm. Was much less sweaty this time around and felt almost normal after it but new FTP is 193 vs 153 the first time around.

Awesome; that sounds much more like it !