Are these times any good for a beginner.

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Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
This is from a ride a friend who has a very nice Pinarello road bike + power meter. His very quick, got a few local KOMs.

You are almost as quick, on a heavier bike, whilst producing alot less power. Something doesn't add up here.

View attachment 579712

Your friend is clearly the problem. Remember 85% of that is air resistance of rider. He might have nice bike but must be sitting rather upright and / or be wearing flappy clothes. Is he a big fella?
 

gzoom

Über Member
Your friend is clearly the problem. Remember 85% of that is air resistance of rider. He might have nice bike but must be sitting rather upright and / or be wearing flappy clothes. Is he a big fella?

Nope his average 6ft and what you expect from someone who has a few KOMs.

You are right your data doesn't match mine, nor people I know, or what online calculators predict, so clearly lots of variation in powermeter reading...Good thing power readings are what so many people base their training on :smile:.
 

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
Nope his average 6ft and what you expect from someone who has a few KOMs.

You are right your data doesn't match mine, nor people I know, or what online calculators predict, so clearly lots of variation in powermeter reading...Good thing power readings are what so many people base their training on :smile:.

But not compare with others.
 
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gzoom

Über Member
But not compare with others.

Its interesting to see all this, I do know the readings on the eBike is consistent across rides, so for the purposes of fitness a repeat run in a few months will tell and be representative of fitness levels rather than using average speeds.
 

cyberknight

As long as I breathe, I attack.
Heres my stats from today , gives me about 2.5 watts per kg if its any help
579728
 
Good afternoon,

Thanks for the feedback @Ming the Merciless on the numbers.

The problem when calculating the numbers for a general statement rather than using live data is that you have to make a very large number of assumptions.

If you allow me to go through the numbers assuming no wind, putting exactly 18.6mph through my calculation comes up 231Watts

Taking the initial value of 215 watts for a hybrid at 18mph and making some changes to the calculation

Change (just the change specified not the total of all changes)New Power Requirement
Altering the rolling resistance of the road from asphalt to concrete166 Watts - Down by 49 Watts
Decrease the rolling resistance of the tyre by 10%207 Watts - Down by 8 Watts
Decrease the rolling resistance of the tyre by 20%199 Watts - Down by 16 Watts
Decrease the aero drag for the body position by 10%201 Watts - Down by 14 Watts
Decrease the aero drag for the body position by 20%188 Watts - Down by 27 Watts
Altering the rolling resistance of the road from asphalt to concrete
Decrease the aero drag by 10%
Decrease the rolling resistance of the tyre by 10%
149 Watts - Down by 67 Watts

The rolling resistance of the tyres is affected quite significantly by the road surface, it is clearly unlikely that a real ride would be on as good as surface as concrete but this does indicate the range of possible variations.

A hybrid bike is a very broad term, so it covers a very wide range of tyres including some pretty cheap, nasty and slow ones.

Again wind resistance is something that is impossible to assume and get right for a specific instance, dropping the drag by 10%-20% show very large savings in the power requirement.

So by making some different reasonable assumptions I have reduced the power required by 67 Watts or nearly 30%.

Remember that for the increased power requirement shown in the wind tables there will also be a similar reduced power consumption table for riding with a tail wind.

So I see no problems with a measured 209 Watts at 18.6mph and it is well within my acceptable tolerance for my generalised tables.

GCN went a bit OTT recently and put one rider on a hybrid and another on a road bike and rode the hybrid faster than the road bike by riding the hybrid in a simulated tribar type position.

Bye

Ian
 
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SkipdiverJohn

Deplorable Brexiteer
Location
London
I doubt that there are more than 10% of the British population who could manage more than ten miles in a day.

That puts you in the top five percent.

Most people seem shocked at the thought of riding over 10 miles in a day. My guvnor had a problem in that he needed a vehicle delivered for maintenance, but officially staff are not supposed to give each other lifts at work in case someone infects someone else with the virus.
So I said I'd take it. He said "that's great, you can get an Uber cab back home and claim it back on expenses". I told him I don't use Uber, but I would deliver it on a decent weather day and ride back so long as he gave me the remainder of the afternoon off. "How far it it?", he says. Shortest route is about 16 miles I replied. "you're seriously going to ride 16 miles on a push bike?" he exclaims. When I pointed out I often ride 25 or 30 miles in one hit at the weekend just for fun, he looked totally confused! :laugh:
 

Ming the Merciless

There is no mercy
Location
Inside my skull
It’s what comes of living in a sedentary society where people won’t think anything of driving 2 miles for something cause it’s too far to walk / cycle etc.
 
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philthecat

New Member
Lots of good comments on here. However, apart from the distance, 'Can I do 42.7km in an hour?' is thinking like a runner. Nothing wrong with that, but as you convert from running to cycling, or add cycling to your repertoire, it is a good idea to get in with the bikey brainset. An hour is a magic timespan for cyclists but the fundamental question is 'How far can I go in an hour?' The question of 'Can I do a particular distance in an hour?' revolves around some set-piece timetrial distances where beating the hour is a milestone acheivement but, as will become apparant when you try it, doing a certain distance in an hour takes a completely different mindset from riding for an hour in order to cover the greatest distance possible. Some heroes to emulate:

Fausto Coppi 1942
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Roger Rivière, 1957
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Eddy Merckx 1972
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Graeme Obree 1993
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Chris Boardman 1996
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…on your bike, and pedal. Have fun.
That’s exactly it “once a wheeler”.
 

rogerzilla

Legendary Member
My old Tacx turbo trainer (a real turbo, fan resistance only) was pretty accurately sized. If I could hold that speed on the turbo, I could do it on a flat road in still summer* conditions.

Trainers with variable resistance need calibrating by the user, really.

*the extra air density between a freezing January morning and a warm July evening knocks 1mph off. And that's ignoring the fact that you'll also be down in power due to cold legs and seasonal drop-off.
 

rivers

How far can I go?
Location
Bristol
Interesting what kind of is that?

18mph average with 1500 meters of climbing seems like it would require alot more out put than 200watts?
I went on a ride Saturday- 16 mph average, 1300ft of climbing over 28 miles- average power 147 watts, normalised power 165 watts. My FTP is only 190 watts (which I can reliably hold for an hour). On my TT bike that will see me hold an average speed of 23-24mph. On my road bike 17-18mph. Maybe 19 on a good day.
 

Twilkes

Guru
I went on a ride Saturday- 16 mph average, 1300ft of climbing over 28 miles- average power 147 watts, normalised power 165 watts. My FTP is only 190 watts (which I can reliably hold for an hour). On my TT bike that will see me hold an average speed of 23-24mph. On my road bike 17-18mph. Maybe 19 on a good day.

1300 feet is very different from 1500 metres, not sure what difference that makes to the calculations but it's significant as it's less than 400 metres climbing.
 

rivers

How far can I go?
Location
Bristol
1300 feet is very different from 1500 metres, not sure what difference that makes to the calculations but it's significant as it's less than 400 metres climbing.
Look at the ride lengths- the 1500m of climbing was over 135km (4200 ft of climbing over 84 miles roughly= 50ft climbing per mile). My 1200 feet of climbing was over 28 miles, roughly 46 feet of climbing per mile- there isn't much in it.

But the point it is- FTP alone doesn't indicate speed. There are a lot more factors to consider: bike choice, rider size and weight, tyre choice, clothing choice, how aero or not someone is, wind speed and direction, wheel choice, terrain etc.
 
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