Don’t suppose it matters as long as we all use the same one we have been using previously and we don’t go from ramp test to CP20 to 2x8 etc etc? I suppose in absolute terms we should all be doing 60 minute all out efforts; the best predictor of performance is performance itself after all 
CP20 or 25 mile TT when it gets warmer!
None of this ramp rubbish!
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Currently 3.5. 272W and 78Kg. Only 5ft9.so could do with shedding a few kilos, have a fondness for beer/wine/cheese though.
272 is from CP20, the one ramp test I tried had me about 5% higher.
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I’m only 42! It’s not like I am comparing myself to a spring chicken 25year old.
Maybe I do have unrealistic expectations of (not) ageing. I really didn’t think I would slow down until my 50s. One of my training partners, who’s bloody quick in the first place (various IM wins and KQs) set her PB last year at 48 (may have been 47, can’t remember exactly)
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Was discussing the merits (or not) of the ramp with our club swim coach this morning. He’s a very good crit rider, and isn’t particularly fond of a ramp test with his coached athletes. He says he can do one, untrained, and hit numbers he could never hope to hold for any prolonged duration. I can see that being true for someone who can happily bust out big numbers for short intervals, as necessary in crits.
I’m the complete opposite however. I’m so one dimensional now that I hate joining even club rides. I can ride a 2:30 HIM bike split, but ask me to push 110% FTP for even a minute up a hill, and I’m spent for ages. Ask me to hold 80% FTP, and I’ll happily churn that out for 2+ hours and run well after.
For that reason, I don’t think the ramp overestimates for me. Once I get to the segments above what my FTP is going to end up being, I really begin to struggle early as I just have limited top end, due to the fact I rarely train it.
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We exist in the same world. I hate riding anything other than steady up to about HIM pace.
Obviously I do in training but I’m no good at it. And don’t get me started on club/mates rides which are supposed to be ‘steady’ but frequently have hill pushes, random sprints, thru and off etc
This. Our club has group numbers with guide paces. Group 2 is 26-28kph average. I can easily do that. I rode 27+kph by myself for 3hrs on Sunday, after a 24hr flight and no cycling in months (ok, it was a flat route, but still).
Yet try and join a group 2 club ride, and I’m dropped inside the first hour. Yet Group 3 tends to ride to pace, and so I often just can’t be bothered anymore.
Everyone is different of course, ageing wise. 44 felt like a watershed for me; small but perceptible. Of course, the later adopters will find they keep improving later in life; but trying to match what you did in your early/mid 30s is hard for those in it for the long-term.
You will always have those outliers too, who are genetically gifted for their age; and of course a small few who use other methods to defy ageing.
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Same target here. I’m at 3.1 something.
I think I can see my FTP increasing through consistent training but I don’t seem to be able to commit to a nutritional regime that reduces my BF% these last three or four years. I’m hoping marathon training and lower alcohol consumption will help.
I’m pretty flat on 250W with or without much bike training, usually 80kg but currently 82.
I don’t want to detail this thread but what’s everyone’s thoughts on the “W/kg matter little unless your constantly going up a 10% gradient” and its absolute power the matters, irrespective of your weight ( within reason ). It’s similar to the bike weight verses aero argument. Aero wins unless your only climbing.
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You mean the chocolate rolls aren’t working for you?
Very true. For my A ironman, Vitoria is likely to be more about W/cda. But I think there’s an element of reduced weight giving some cda benefit. I think W/kg is just a fairly standard metric that allows different riders to loosely draw comparisons.
For sure, two 4w/kg riders on the same flat course are not going to ride the same if one is much bigger, and therefore has more raw power. But then in reality, that bigger rider probably won’t run as well after 
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I’m probably very similar to TRO in numbers, maybe only need to lose 5-6kg though.
But his CDA is excellent, I’m more like Quasimodo 
Reckon I could break 300w for a 10 with a half decent block, but it’s winter and I really can’t be arsed!
Getting weight off isn’t going to happen without amputation either, currently sat in Starbucks in the smoke demolishing a large hot chocolate ( no cream though) and a cookie 
I might come back in summer!
Jeff
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Chocolate log, with cream.
Maybe liposuction, and a cork.
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For bragging rights you are a better athlete if your w/kg is higher.
Of course generally you will be faster with higher W/Cda 
Whilst there are elements of truth in that, excess BF is revealed in w/kg and I’m not going to KQ at 3.1 w/kg. Plus as triathletes absolute Watts is less reflective of the overall physique you need to transport through the three legs.
In short, it’s not the most important stat, but it’s a fair enough measure.
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Seems possible for some on here, and certainly a good target for all replying with it in mind.
Jan 2019 I was 3.5W/kg
May/June 2019 was around 4.1W.
December 2019 - 4.3W/kg.
Granted I’m previously fairly untrained on the bike, and have spent the last 12 months only trying to improve bike whilst maintaining swim-run, so that’s probably upper limit of gains (unless lots of easy weight to lose).
My W/cda is likely very very average though.
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When I was my lightest and most powerful i was only 3.2. 4 seemed such a stretch then. 3 years later looking down the barrel of my 40s I dont think it’s possible for me. I suspect currently I’m only about 2.
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That’s me too!.. 2:34 HIM bike, but screwed if I have to push a big effort for 30 secs…
My Training Peaks power profile for 20min and 60min targets always looks good when I’m training hard, but the short duration ones are always embarassingly low, and don’t seem to progress…but like you, I don’t really train them, so its not a surprise.
Snap.
2:33 70.3 split
Power figures are far too embarrassing for this site…
Especially over the shorter duration tests.
I did the ten second one four times…
The guy thought the bike was broke…!
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