Originally Posted by mpearson76

The guy's not asking if he can win now; he just wants to know where he stacks up with those numbers. That question is answerable without implying that he doesn't need to learn bike handling skills, etc. I don't think there's any harm in assessing raw potential as long as the information is qualified, which I think the commenters above me have done. All of this is good advice, maybe even better than what he's actually asking for, but I think his question is whether those power numbers indicate some aptitude that he might expect to produce success provided that all of the other things (particularly training) fall into place. And I would say yes, provided that you heed the advice already mentioned and train your butt off, those numbers are indicative of some potential (assuming you're a relatively normal-sized adult male)--they're quite high for a beginner, especially considering you're just starting out and haven't actually done any real riding. Nobody will give you anything though--nothing is guaranteed, and if you think you can go out and win races without training hard, you're almost certainly mistaken (there are some freaks of nature out there for sure).

So yes, if you can push 270 watts for an hour without ever getting on an actual bicycle and you're an average-sized guy, you've come to the sport at a very good starting point relative to most. But as others have said, that may not mean a thing. I ride with one guy who is a freak of nature; he can show up to a ride hung over with cobwebs between his spokes and keep up with anyone in our group. But his bike handling skills suck, he has zero discipline when it comes to training, and other than saying he wants to get fast, he does not really demonstrate that desire. Another guy with far less potential busts his tail all winter and routinely beats the freak by a minute or so on a 36k time trial.