PT wheel vs Lemond Revolution

hollow_r

New to power.

Bought the PT wheel and joule special package.  Have a Lemond Revolution for most of my winter training.

FTP  Test (20/2/20) on the Lemond NP = 209.

First ride on the PT  was an 1:15 on a typical hilly ride in my area (no flats longer than 1/4 mile) NP = 245. Not a test ,just a ride with some really hard efforts and and a lot of moderate efforts.

My question:  should I stick with the Lemond number, do the 20/2/20 out on the typical hilly terrain, put my PT on a trainer and compare, or ?

I have a suspicion that my typical ride outside done in the 20/2/20 FTP Test format would yield a very different result than my Lemond.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Scott Alexander

Most people have several FTPs that they have to contend with, due to various reasons (wind, terrain, group dynamics, etc), up to and including:
-inside/trainer, road bike
-inside/trainer, tri bike
-outside, tri bike
-outside, road bike

You add in various flavors of trainers, like Computrainers, CycleOps powerbeams, etc, it all creates just additional 'tracking' that you have to maintain.

I don't know if that helps you track down the discrepancy/difference, but it can explain it.

Keith Wick

You just have to pick one. If you try to compare them, you're basically trying to compare and apple to an orange to a banana....they are all fruit, but all different at the same time. My suggestion is to use your PT as your primary tool as that is what you'll be racing on. With that in mind, you'll have 2 different numbers---one outside and one inside. Most people see about a 10-20 watt difference in power from outside to inside (with outside being higher). As far as where to test, I'd suggest testing where you will do the majority of your riding in the winter. You can then swag the wattage difference based on RPE if you decide to have an opposite ride (ex. you tested inside, but are riding outside--guestimate +10 watts for your intervals and compare this to RPE).

Paul Hough

I have the Cyclops Powerbeam, but if you use a bike with a PowerTap, Quarq, SRM or what have you, you have the option of calibrating the Powerbeam to the other measurement device...thus, no difference.

Matt Samojeden

Rick, If you are going to do most of the OS on the Lemond then go with it. Check that you are doing any calibration procedures that it needs. That can impact your watts. I the spring do a FTP test on your bike of choice and go with those numbers for outside riding. Don’t get hung up in the absolute numbers. I was out with a bud the other week on a ride and we had different power meters and we were showing > 20 watts diff rolling at a steady 20 mph. It is progress to higher numbers you want to see.

hollow_r

Thanks guys, excellent help.
Wicked smart is good.

Follow up question: If I plan an outside FTP test value to use for outside training, how important is it to do flat? Rolling hills with an occasional 15+% grade dominate the landscape. Should I just pick a representative area, test, and set my zones according to that for the average ride? I guess I'm a little hung up on the "flat" suggested for the FTP test. Would make sense to just do it and go for it in training but don't want to find myself in a rabbit hole and have to back up.

Keith Wick

Most of us can push more watts on a hill than on a flat. The hill forces you to keep pushing (or you'll stop and fall over), where as it takes more concentrated effort to do the same on the flats. You live where you live, so make due with what you have. If the hills really dominate, you may want to see how it plays out and only take about 95% as the FTP you work off. If your race venue is similar to where you train, then see how you hold those paces in training and go from there. Once you get to race season, there are the 2 race rehearsals that will help clarify those values for race day.

hollow_r

Great.
Thanks for the advice.