Watts down / torque up?

[prestonk]

Admittedly I've never fully understood the "torque" read out from my Power Tap, but looking over the stats from a TT I did last year, I noticed that while my power dropped slightly over the duration of the race, the torque reading actually went up significantly. Why would this be? I would think they would go up and down together.

 

[frenchyge]

They are related, but torque is only half of the power equation. The other half is angular (rotational) speed.

So, if you're looking at crank torque, then it will vary as relates to power according to the cadence you're pedalling. If you're looking at hub torque then it'll vary as relates to power with wheel speed.

Hub torque and crank torque will differ by the gear ratio at the time of the reading.

 

[lanierb]

Translation from frenchy to english : the last part of your time trial was probably uphill (or at least less downhill than the start).

 

[daveryanwyoming]

Translation from frenchy to english : the last part of your time trial was probably uphill (or at least less downhill than the start).

Or you shifted up and started plugging away in bigger gears at a lower cadence if you're talking about crank torque...

 

[prestonk]

Thanks for the feedback you guys. Now that I think of it, we were riding with the wind on the way out, and into it on the way back, so that makes sense.

 

[swampy1970]

But that's only half of it...
... you gotta figure out why the power was down. If anything you should have been able to put out more power on the way back into the wind unless you'd blown your wad on the way out.

It's not uncommon to ride at a lower cadence when riding into the wind but don't put it in such a big gear that you can't generate the power you know you can normally put out on the flat.

 

[frenchyge]

Translation from frenchy to english : the last part of your time trial was probably uphill (or at least less downhill than the start).

'zactly.