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Old 03-08-08, 07:01 PM
  #14  
brianappleby
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Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Denver
Posts: 1,977

Bikes: orbea onix, Cervelo SLC, Specialzed Allez, Cervelo P3 Alu

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Lithu, people lie. Just race and train and you'll be fine.

My favorite thing to ask on this board is anything involving cadence. You'll get guys claiming that they like to climb with cadences of 85rpm. Nevermind that in the lowest standard gear of most bicycles, on any substantial grade, that has them going faster than many professionals would.

Also understand that power numbers without weight are pretty useless. People I ride with seem impressed when they ask about my power numbers, but they don't realize that I weigh 20lbs more than they do. I'd better be putting out more power than them, just to keep up.

Also understand that power numbers out of context are quite useless too. "I have a LT of 350W" means different things to different people. Is that your Conconi "elbow"? Is that your 20min max power? 10 min power? 40 min power? Can you sustain that 20min power at the end of a 60 mile road race, how about an 80 miler? Which power meter were you using, how was it calibrated? etc, etc, etc.

There are just way too many factors out there for power to be a reliable comparison between riders.

Race results are a pretty reliable way to compare yourself to other riders.
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