Do my watts look normal?
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2014-01-13 7:15 PM |
Expert 1130 Fernandina Beach, FL | Subject: Do my watts look normal? Before I'm told to read a book: I bought a power meter because when I asked how to become a better cyclist the majority of what I heard was either "ride more" or "get a power meter". I've been riding more so now I got the meter. Bought a used Saturn CinQo Quarq. Installed it and had quite a time getting the magnets to register. After changing the battery and still having troubles, I got a rare earth magnet and am using it. Well I finally found how to mount it and was only able to test it on a short mile test ride. http://connect.garmin.com/activity/429548671 Other than the 2 spikes (once when I started and once when I turned around) does that look normal to those of you who know? FWIW I'm 230 lbs (about 105 kg- avg about 2.45W/Kg) and have a coach who will tell me what I'm doing wrong just wanting some of your opinions. Thanks for the input Edited by rjrankin83 2014-01-13 7:24 PM |
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2014-01-13 7:27 PM in reply to: rjrankin83 |
Veteran 2297 Great White North | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Average cadence is very low. Do you always pedal that slow? |
2014-01-13 7:28 PM in reply to: rjrankin83 |
Expert 2192 Greenville, SC | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Looks fine to me. wattage drops seems to follow cadence which makes sense. |
2014-01-13 7:32 PM in reply to: 0 |
Expert 1130 Fernandina Beach, FL | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Never paid attention before. I anticipated a cadence roughly around 80 and didn't think much about 65 due to it being such a small sample size. I have noticed a slower cadence than those I ride with, when I ride with company. Not 65 low but I was playing with my watch and spent time turning around which registered 0 for those periods. I assumed that hurt my avg cadence Edited by rjrankin83 2014-01-13 7:34 PM |
2014-01-13 7:45 PM in reply to: 0 |
Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Looks like your PM is working. The spikes are normal as well. Now go read the book. Edited by Jason N 2014-01-13 7:49 PM |
2014-01-13 7:52 PM in reply to: 0 |
Expert 1130 Fernandina Beach, FL | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Thanks for the reassurance. Had someone attempt to tell me I did something wrong because my wattage was so high (not a brag I didn't think it was high for someone my size). However he's about 90 lbs lighter than me. Now where did I put that book..... Edited by rjrankin83 2014-01-13 8:06 PM |
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2014-01-13 8:19 PM in reply to: rjrankin83 |
Expert 2192 Greenville, SC | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? the book is a great tool. read up. study. get really fast. |
2014-01-13 8:25 PM in reply to: rjrankin83 |
over a barrier | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? The ride was a mile long, no way to know if watts were "high" Looks like you are using a defaulted ftp now. Just fyi. |
2014-01-13 8:37 PM in reply to: running2far |
Expert 1130 Fernandina Beach, FL | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Understood that it was a very small sample size and I should have a better idea after a longer ride but this was all I could get in before work. Also based on my coach going to go a week or 2 getting used to reading the numbers then going to do a FTP test, for now it hasn't been adjusted and Garmin must put in 200 for everyone automatically. |
2014-01-13 8:54 PM in reply to: rjrankin83 |
Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? In general, 260-280 watts to go 19 mph and 300-330 watts to go 22 mph is pretty high considering the flat profile. But impossible to pinpoint unless we know your frontal profile, wind conditions, road surface, and even choice of tires. You should get used to doing the manual zero offset as well as the auto zero by pedaling backwards. |
2014-01-13 10:46 PM in reply to: Jason N |
1055 | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? My initial reaction is that you don't need that many watts to do 19-20mph, but with wind, weight differences, clothes, bike. . . its within reason. My only suggestion is to make sure you have smoothing set on the Garmin if it doesn't have it already. 3 seconds should be sufficient. It will get rid of some of the spikes. Enjoy the new PM. |
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2014-01-14 6:19 AM in reply to: rjrankin83 |
Extreme Veteran 5722 | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Your watts are very normal It even looks like you had a small headwind on the way out and a small tailwind on the way back. It looks like you were on the hoods. |
2014-01-14 7:49 AM in reply to: rjrankin83 |
Master 10208 Northern IL | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? I don't see anything to get excited about. Go get at least a few decent rides in before you start thinking about changing things. |
2014-01-14 9:17 AM in reply to: ziggie204 |
Expert 1130 Fernandina Beach, FL | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? How do I make sure I have smoothing on? I'm using my 910xt for now. |
2014-01-14 9:27 AM in reply to: 0 |
Expert 2192 Greenville, SC | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Originally posted by rjrankin83 How do I make sure I have smoothing on? I'm using my 910xt for now. the 910 automatically uses 1s recording. do not change this. there is a display field that allows you to view the 3s average power, which is what most people use. "smoothing" the data is done after the data is uploaded and just gets rid of any spikes to make the profile easier to read and see trends. not sure if garmin connect does this, but there is other software out there that will. i'd recommend getting golden cheetah and learning how to use it with your power data. for now though don't worry about any of the data. get a solid month of data before trying to base your training off of it. Edited by Clempson 2014-01-14 9:28 AM |
2014-01-15 12:04 PM in reply to: Clempson |
Expert 1130 Fernandina Beach, FL | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? http://connect.garmin.com/activity/430426727 A little longer ride to test. Ride done mostly out of aero in cycling bib and jersey. Weight at start 230 lbs. Tires are Conti Grand Prix with 115-120psi. Bottle on downtube and one repair kit in bottle behind seat in an xlab 2 cage rear carrier. Felt B16 bike. The reason I'm even asking is a friend has Garmin Vector pedals and rides a Shiv. He weighs a little less (roughly 210) and did a 40 mile ride at 20mph on the same roads at 144 watt avg. So I'm assuming one of us is wrong? |
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2014-01-15 12:23 PM in reply to: rjrankin83 |
Master 10208 Northern IL | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Yours makes more sense to me. I'd expect a little more speed for that power for me as we're similar height, but I'm noticeably lighter and even riding upright (as you were) I'm still fairly far over. Is your friend really short or drafting a lot somehow? That seems really low for the speed. |
2014-01-15 12:26 PM in reply to: rjrankin83 |
Expert 2192 Greenville, SC | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? its kind of high, but still doesn't seem like something is wrong to me. i group ride with a guy that weighs 20-30 more pounds that me and will put out 30-50 more watts... and he never pulls. are you calibrating(zero'ing) your power meter before you start riding? |
2014-01-15 12:32 PM in reply to: rjrankin83 |
over a barrier | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Originally posted by rjrankin83 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/430426727 A little longer ride to test. Ride done mostly out of aero in cycling bib and jersey. Weight at start 230 lbs. Tires are Conti Grand Prix with 115-120psi. Bottle on downtube and one repair kit in bottle behind seat in an xlab 2 cage rear carrier. Felt B16 bike. The reason I'm even asking is a friend has Garmin Vector pedals and rides a Shiv. He weighs a little less (roughly 210) and did a 40 mile ride at 20mph on the same roads at 144 watt avg. So I'm assuming one of us is wrong? Different power meters, different people, and different equipment, and different rode. You can't make any comparisons here to be honest. |
2014-01-15 12:35 PM in reply to: running2far |
Sensei Sin City | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? About the average cadence thing... I found my garmin just averages it over the entire ride so when you freewheel, it will lower your average. I found "average" cadence to be worthless unless doing a TT or something. Cadence is only helpful on it's own as a real time number. |
2014-01-15 12:36 PM in reply to: running2far |
Expert 1130 Fernandina Beach, FL | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Originally posted by running2far Originally posted by rjrankin83 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/430426727 A little longer ride to test. Ride done mostly out of aero in cycling bib and jersey. Weight at start 230 lbs. Tires are Conti Grand Prix with 115-120psi. Bottle on downtube and one repair kit in bottle behind seat in an xlab 2 cage rear carrier. Felt B16 bike. The reason I'm even asking is a friend has Garmin Vector pedals and rides a Shiv. He weighs a little less (roughly 210) and did a 40 mile ride at 20mph on the same roads at 144 watt avg. So I'm assuming one of us is wrong? Different power meters, different people, and different equipment, and different rode. You can't make any comparisons here to be honest. I understand all of that but 100 watts difference seemed a bit odd. I did calibrate (zero) before and after ride and the difference was +/- 5 (it's my understanding that it shouldn't drift more than +/- 50 throughout the ride) |
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2014-01-15 12:39 PM in reply to: brigby1 |
Expert 1130 Fernandina Beach, FL | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Originally posted by brigby1 Yours makes more sense to me. I'd expect a little more speed for that power for me as we're similar height, but I'm noticeably lighter and even riding upright (as you were) I'm still fairly far over. Is your friend really short or drafting a lot somehow? That seems really low for the speed. I'd expect more speed as well. FWIW when aero my watts dropped 20+ depending on conditions. I just swapped stems and am playing with my position now which is why I wasn't in aero the entire time (or even the majority for that matter) |
2014-01-15 1:15 PM in reply to: 0 |
Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? You can use analytic cycling to play around with some numbers. http://www.analyticcycling.com/ForcesSpeed_Page.html Of course this assumes that you are riding constant, without any stop signs, turns, or anything to slow down for. If I make some rough estimates for you. 0.75 frontal area (you're a big guy and were riding up on the horns) You get 9.41 m/s (multiply by 2.23694 to convert) or 21 mph. But take into consideration all the braking you had to do for the turns, and you're in the ball park. Maybe the watts are a little low. Now take your friend's data 0.5 frontal area (he's still a big guy but probably riding his aero bars) You get 8.69 m/s or 19.4 mph. As running2far mentioned, it's impossible to know who's power number is right. Maybe they are both right...or both wrong and need servicing. But just thought that I'd throw the calculator out there so you can play around with it yourself. Power is fun. Edit: this calculator doesn't factor in wind or possible drafting opportunities that may or may not have existed in either ride...adding to the complication...but the calculator is still fun to play with and gives you an idea of how crr, frontal area, and power make a difference...and some make more differences than others...especially when comparing flat to uphill efforts.
Edited by Jason N 2014-01-15 1:17 PM |
2014-01-15 4:13 PM in reply to: rjrankin83 |
Extreme Veteran 492 Austin, TX | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Originally posted by rjrankin83 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/430426727 A little longer ride to test. Ride done mostly out of aero in cycling bib and jersey. Weight at start 230 lbs. Tires are Conti Grand Prix with 115-120psi. Bottle on downtube and one repair kit in bottle behind seat in an xlab 2 cage rear carrier. Felt B16 bike. The reason I'm even asking is a friend has Garmin Vector pedals and rides a Shiv. He weighs a little less (roughly 210) and did a 40 mile ride at 20mph on the same roads at 144 watt avg. So I'm assuming one of us is wrong? FWIW, I just got Vectors and ridden with them 3 times. I'm already ready to get rid of them because the power readings are always low. If the pedals are not torqued correctly or the wrong crank length is selected...., Vectors can be inaccurate. I've had my bike shop install and reinstall, talked to Garmin support and still not right. |
2014-01-15 4:21 PM in reply to: rbalazs |
Expert 1130 Fernandina Beach, FL | Subject: RE: Do my watts look normal? Originally posted by rbalazs Originally posted by rjrankin83 http://connect.garmin.com/activity/430426727 A little longer ride to test. Ride done mostly out of aero in cycling bib and jersey. Weight at start 230 lbs. Tires are Conti Grand Prix with 115-120psi. Bottle on downtube and one repair kit in bottle behind seat in an xlab 2 cage rear carrier. Felt B16 bike. The reason I'm even asking is a friend has Garmin Vector pedals and rides a Shiv. He weighs a little less (roughly 210) and did a 40 mile ride at 20mph on the same roads at 144 watt avg. So I'm assuming one of us is wrong? FWIW, I just got Vectors and ridden with them 3 times. I'm already ready to get rid of them because the power readings are always low. If the pedals are not torqued correctly or the wrong crank length is selected...., Vectors can be inaccurate. I've had my bike shop install and reinstall, talked to Garmin support and still not right. Thanks for that. Researching (WAYYYY too much) I thought mine might be a tad high, but so far look to be consistent which is the important part. I thought his were crazy low. Jason, as a geek, thank you for that site! Going to play on that a lot. |
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