Peak Power Over 5 Seconds



Max Phillips

New Member
May 9, 2006
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Hey all, don't have a power tap or anything, yet god willing, but had a question or two on peak powers on a bike. I just finished up being a test subject on a study relating to cyclists at my university, and after the finish I had them run a test on me. Not sure if anyone here is familiar with the Wingate power test...it's 30 seconds of hell more or less that more than likely will make you vomit at the end of it.

Anyways I was wondering if I could get some ballpark figures for a good peak power and relative peak power. I'm not so sure how my numbers stack up so I was hoping to have something to go by. I'm 20 years old and have been riding for a little over a year now (something like 16-18 months I believe).

Many thanks in advance
 
Max Phillips said:
Hey all, don't have a power tap or anything, yet god willing, but had a question or two on peak powers on a bike. I just finished up being a test subject on a study relating to cyclists at my university, and after the finish I had them run a test on me. Not sure if anyone here is familiar with the Wingate power test...it's 30 seconds of hell more or less that more than likely will make you vomit at the end of it.

Anyways I was wondering if I could get some ballpark figures for a good peak power and relative peak power. I'm not so sure how my numbers stack up so I was hoping to have something to go by. I'm 20 years old and have been riding for a little over a year now (something like 16-18 months I believe).

Many thanks in advance

Attaining your best peak power depends not only on your physical ability, but also on your technique. Unless you've worked on refining that technique, chances are that a one-off test where you just go as hard as you can won't tell you much. Most riders will attain best peak power spinning at 110 to 120 rpm, not grinding a bigger gear at a lower rpm. How did you ride the test?

If you want a rough idea of how your power compares, here's a table developed by the folks at CyclingPeaks: http://www.cyclingpeakssoftware.com/images/powerprofile_v4.gif
 
Before the masses were added I was spinning with no resistance at a cadence of 120 and when the mass/resistance my cadence was something like (in 5 second intervals) 14, 14, 13, 10, 9, 8 I believe.
 
Max Phillips said:
Hey all, don't have a power tap or anything, yet god willing, but had a question or two on peak powers on a bike. I just finished up being a test subject on a study relating to cyclists at my university, and after the finish I had them run a test on me. Not sure if anyone here is familiar with the Wingate power test...it's 30 seconds of hell more or less that more than likely will make you vomit at the end of it.

Anyways I was wondering if I could get some ballpark figures for a good peak power and relative peak power. I'm not so sure how my numbers stack up so I was hoping to have something to go by. I'm 20 years old and have been riding for a little over a year now (something like 16-18 months I believe).

Many thanks in advance
No Wingate numbers but this should give you some clues.
http://www.cyclingpeakssoftware.com/power411/profile.asp