You Power Profile



acoggan said:
Yeah, all we need now are about 10,000 more responses - and to verify that all of the #s are right, of course - and we'll be able to put together some power profiling charts! ;)
Hey Andy. Hope I wasn't offending you with this post. I know it isn't perfect, just curious as to what kind of pure power numbers people are putting out. Its difficult to peak over at your competitors power numbers during a race. Yea I have done it.

Also everyone I have a correction for my 5 min power. One of my charts has a 3 min power line right next to the 5 min. That 560 # was for 3 min. My 5 min is 480 actual 525 NP. Wishful thinking I guess, sorry.
 
Age: 41
Category: 3
Weight in pounds: 215
Years training: 12
Avg Weekly Training hours: 10

Best power in
5 sec: 1470
1 min: 708
5 min: 466 AP/504 NP
20 min: 405 AP/421 NP
60 min: 354 AP/367 NP
 
Age: 41
Category: Cat. 4 *
Weight in pounds: 145.5
Years you have been training seriously: 11 months
Avg weekly training hours: 9-12
Best power in:

5 sec: 1058 watts
1 min: 515 watts
5 min: 329 watts
20 min: 290 AP, 292 NP
60 min: 222 AP, 258 NP**


*=upgrading next week to 3 which I was 15 years ago when I quit riding.

**=not done a 60 minute test, but theoretically its 284 and i am sure I can hold it for 40k.
 
Age: 42
Category: 3
Weight in pounds: 198 (ideal is 166!)
Years you have been training seriously: 15 years
Avg weekly training hours: 7
PM: PT Pro

Best power in:

5 sec: 1277 watts
1 min: 585 watts *
5 min: 393 watts
20 min: 322 AP, 358 NP
60 min: 280 AP *, 330 NP

I've never done an all-out 1 min. nor 1 hour test.
 
Age: 36
Category: 3
Weight in pounds: 145
Years you have been training seriously: 2 years
Avg weekly training hours: 12-17
PM: SRM Dura Ace

Best power in:

5 sec: 1010w
1 min: 580w
5 min: 360w
20 min: 307 AP, 340 NP
60 min: 270 AP, 309 NP

I haven't done any all-out testing efforts other than 1m this season - all other numbers are from RR's and crits.
 
Age: 18
Category: 3
Weight: 115 lbs/52 kilos
Years Training: 1.5
Average Weekly Hours: 15


5 Second: 812
1 Minute: 431
5 Minute: 293
20 Minute: 244 AP 264 NP
60 Minutes: 225 AP 244 NP
 
Age: 62
Category: Cat-2 (long ago, now just an angry tourist)
Weight in pounds: 165
Years you have been training seriously: resumed training one year ago after 20+ year lay off
Avg weekly training hours: I train by TSS, somewhere between 700 and 1100 per week, depending. Being retired gives me lots of time to ride.

Best power in
5 sec: 1050
1 min: 525
5 min: 355
20 min: 300, 307
60 min: 275, 283

These numbers are all taken from road rides during the past month or two. Although I don't intend to race again, I still do training rides with the local Cat 2-3 riders and can hang in OK.
 
acslater said:
Hey Andy. Hope I wasn't offending you with this post.

Not in the least - I was just teasingly pointing out how difficult it would be to generate truly accurate standards using such a survey approach.
 
rmur17 said:
it'd be nice for folks to state what PM they are using too. PT vs. SRM will introduce -10W or so. Power-estimators don't count at all .:D
Speaking of this....


Andy, were the power profile charts done up using SRM data or some combination of SRM and PT data? If so, did you attempt to normalize for the differences between the two?
 
whoawhoa said:
Andy, were the power profile charts done up using SRM data or some combination of SRM and PT data? If so, did you attempt to normalize for the differences between the two?

The top anchor points are all based upon SRM data. The bottom anchor points (i.e., middle of the untrained range) are drawn from a variety of sources in the scientific literature, but all would also reflect power at the crank, not at the hub.

I have made no attempt to generate PowerTap-specific tables, or to adjust the data from individual riders, because 1) the difference would be only a couple of percent, and 2) any such adjustment would not significantly impact someone's power profile (since it would apply to all columns).
 
rayhuang said:
Age: 41
Category: Cat. 4 *
Weight in pounds: 145.5
Years you have been training seriously: 11 months
Avg weekly training hours: 9-12
Best power in:

5 sec: 1058 watts
1 min: 515 watts
5 min: 329 watts
20 min: 290 AP, 292 NP
60 min: 222 AP, 258 NP**


*=upgrading next week to 3 which I was 15 years ago when I quit riding.

**=not done a 60 minute test, but theoretically its 284 and i am sure I can hold it for 40k.
All data is actual from my Powertap. One from a 12mile TT (20 minute) and 5s, 5min from a solo late race bridging last Sunday. I left out higher wattage figures from when I was 15 or 20 lbs heavier last winter as my w/kg is actually higher now anyways.
 
How come so many people have HUGE numbers here?!

Im sure a lot of Pros don't have figures > 370/400watts 20MP etc
I know Weight/Aero comes into it, but people with 20 min powers of 350-400 watts should be knocking out some pretty fast times TTing!

Same with the sprints, and 5min powers!

Im feeling a bit inferior here!

Yoinks!
 
tuney said:
How come so many people have HUGE numbers here?!

Im sure a lot of Pros don't have figures > 370/400watts 20MP etc
I know Weight/Aero comes into it, but people with 20 min powers of 350-400 watts should be knocking out some pretty fast times TTing!

Same with the sprints, and 5min powers!

Im feeling a bit inferior here!

Yoinks!
That is sort of the reason I started this thread. After using a power tap for two years and looking at my numbers, it looked to me like I was putting out a lot of power compared to some others that I have seen online. Yea I am a big rider. I figure the reason I don't place well in hilly road races was mainly weight. I just wanted to know holding weight aside how my numbers compared to others.

For me it feels like in these hilly races I am putting out a lot more power than those around me just to keep up on a hill. That take its toal and I am usually pretty cooked by the end of the race and I can't even use my sprint. My #s at least are legit (except that mistake I made for 5 min). I just wanted to know why if I put out such descent power I don't finish higher. Seems to me mostly my weight that holds me back.
 
acslater said:
That is sort of the reason I started this thread. After using a power tap for two years and looking at my numbers, it looked to me like I was putting out a lot of power compared to some others that I have seen online. Yea I am a big rider. I figure the reason I don't place well in hilly road races was mainly weight. I just wanted to know holding weight aside how my numbers compared to others.

For me it feels like in these hilly races I am putting out a lot more power than those around me just to keep up on a hill. That take its toal and I am usually pretty cooked by the end of the race and I can't even use my sprint. My #s at least are legit (except that mistake I made for 5 min). I just wanted to know why if I put out such descent power I don't finish higher. Seems to me mostly my weight that holds me back.
It goes both ways, however. I feel my size is holding me back as well, mainly since most of the hills that I race on are short power climbs (less than 60 seconds, which is my weakness). I don't have the long climbs available to take advantage of my strengths:

Age 37
Weight 66 kg
5s ~900 W
1m ~ 450 W
5m 342 W
20m 292 W, ~300 NP
60m ~285 W avg/NP
cat 4

Despite very good 5-60 minute power (in terms of power/mass ratio), I'm behind the 8 ball due to my smaller size. That whole power/area thing. I don't have the sprint power to even be involved there.
 
tuney said:
How come so many people have HUGE numbers here?!

Im sure a lot of Pros don't have figures > 370/400watts 20MP etc
I know Weight/Aero comes into it, but people with 20 min powers of 350-400 watts should be knocking out some pretty fast times TTing!

Same with the sprints, and 5min powers!

Im feeling a bit inferior here!

Yoinks!
I know a lot of riders that are quite talented in my area who are knocking out 350-400 watts for an hour....really truely. At the Cat 1/2 level there are a ton of riders at that ability level, and in big races you just need to be smart and strong all the time to do well. It's one thing to win a local P/1/2 race....and a totally different one to win an NRC stage race.

There are so many U25 riders who are extremely strong, but they all have the same goal...to win big races and get on a good professional team. With so many riders with the same goal, it takes a lot to make the jump. An FT at or above 5 watts/kilo is just kind of the neccessary starting point to be competetive in hard long road races at that level.

In contrast though, there are a lot of new riders with a lot of talent on this forum it seems. Some cat 4-5's that are putting out very serious 5-20 min powers....it's good for the sport. Those are the up and comming guys. I hope they start getting some big results soon and follow their racing goals as long as they want.
 
tigermilk said:
It goes both ways, however. I feel my size is holding me back as well, mainly since most of the hills that I race on are short power climbs (less than 60 seconds, which is my weakness). I don't have the long climbs available to take advantage of my strengths:

Age 37
Weight 66 kg
5s ~900 W
1m ~ 450 W
5m 342 W
20m 292 W, ~300 NP
60m ~285 W avg/NP
cat 4

Despite very good 5-60 minute power (in terms of power/mass ratio), I'm behind the 8 ball due to my smaller size. That whole power/area thing. I don't have the sprint power to even be involved there.
I feel your pain. For featherweight status, I have pretty good power-to-weight in the 5-60 minute category. But, between those numbers being simply less than others, and coupled with excruciatingly weak anaerobic power, things have proved to be difficult in the 4's so far.

In early July, I'm moving to California, so with more access to climbing races, things might look up.

In regard to some people putting up good numbers, there might be some selection bias involved.
 
Age: 32
Category: 5
Weight: 200 lbs/91 kilos (6'4")
Years Training: 1.5
Average Weekly Hours: 10


5 Second: 1358
1 Minute: 595
5 Minute: 412
20 Minute: 340AP 360NP
60 Minutes: 294AP 338NP

All of these numbers are pulled from rides. I expect they would be marginally higher if they came from actual tests. I need to drop some weight and gain some power in order to be more competitive in races. My first race was last weekend, combined 4/5 field, 2,500' climbing 42 miles, and I was in the bottom 1/3.
 
age 44
cat 2
weight 61kg
train ~15hrs/wk

5sec 15.7 w/kg AP
1min 8.7
5min 5.5
20min 4.7

Not really sure what benefit there is to compare one's numbers vs. anothers or the chart except to identify some POTENTIAL ability. IME the chart is only loosely coupled with race results or one's race category but then maybe I'm all whack :confused:

Example 1: I recently did a race with a 9mi climb avg. 3.5% occuring at mile 75 of 110 . The winner avg. ~4.0w/kg on the climb(which everybody in the field could do) but the deal breaker for most was 4 miles into the climb when attacks took it up to ~5.2w/kg for ~4min. That split the field.

Example 2: My explosive ;) 15.7w/kg 5sec power(barely above Cat5 per chart) is pretty pathetic(actually very pathetic and embarassing when guys refer to you as a speed bump in large field sprints) but luckily I can still generate that power after 4+ hrs of racing when most big sprinters are toast or long gone :) .

IMO(in road events) what really matters is how many watts you can put out when it matters and how many you conserve when it doesn't.
 
tuney said:
How come so many people have HUGE numbers here?!

Im sure a lot of Pros don't have figures > 370/400watts 20MP etc
I know Weight/Aero comes into it, but people with 20 min powers of 350-400 watts should be knocking out some pretty fast times TTing!

Same with the sprints, and 5min powers!

Im feeling a bit inferior here!

Yoinks!

I know 2 professional Belgian Riders whos treshold power is at 410-430 watt so there is still improvement possible :) . Don't feel inferior ... it is there job !! they only train or rest
 
stevevinck said:
I know 2 professional Belgian Riders whos treshold power is at 410-430 watt so there is still improvement possible :) . Don't feel inferior ... it is there job !! they only train or rest

Boo hoo! :) Yeah Ive races In Belgium, 'most' of the >400watt guys are usually pretty big and strong... hopefully they dont like the hills too much ;o)

For what its worth here are my stats:
Non of these values were specifically aimed at hitting max apart from the 5sec and 20 mins.
All the other values are from races/mixed sessions. Some are PBs others are SBs


Age 32
Weight 77 kg (16%bf oops)
5s ~1600 W (~1480 for 10sec)
30sec > 850 W (End of Race)
1m > 650 W
5m >450 W (Race Effort)
20m >370 W
UK cat 1

Should we all go out and do out specific 5,1,20 tests
 

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