stats from my group ride today dont know if this helps
23.6 miles
avg. cadence 56
avg. torque 6.58
avg watts 198
avg watts/kg 2.03
avg speed 20.86
823 feet gained
826 feet lost
work, kj 806


pedaling avg
avg cadence 91
torque 6.59
watts 267
watts/kg 267

Best answer yet.

OP - where in Indiana? Indy or North and you could easily ride along great with an 11-23 and never really have an issue as long as you are in fairly good form. South of Indy and you start getting into the hills of southern Indiana and you will want that 25.....in Brown County and well....you know.

In the flat lands of Illinois - Chicago - very similar to north central and northwest Indiana. I cruise around in training with a 11-25 for the most part and use an 11-23 for 90% of the races we have.

Hmmmm.....draft much?

Indianapolis

i did my pulls......how does that show i draft? difference in the cadences?


and to think I pointed a guy this week in your direction on some custom wheels....geesh

HAHAHA....no...just a jump to a conclusion based on some of the numbers and my knowledge of the terrain. Not trying to bust your....uh...ball bearings....

i take no offense....i am new to the powertap....what numbers would indicate that the I served more draft than Moe's Pub?..I did some pulls and sucked some wheels...sucked some wheels and did some pulls.....

mainly I just sucked though

I think the question on drafting relates to the average cadence. Even coasting on every downhill you'd be hard-pressed to have an average cadence as low as 56. Must be something funny about the way this average is calculated?

Well according to this my max cadence was 182.....I doubt that very much as well...

I was bogged down at times. Especially for the first half of the ride.....Second half I broke with the first group.....

Okay, I held on to the team car a time or two or 15....I am busted

Well...because according to the numbers you are 215lbs and put out an average of 198w but finished a group ride over 20 mph on terrain I am familiar with. Not accomplished solo.

I'd still like to know if you use the 16T gear often enough to justify giving up the 25T. But that's just me.

Shovelhd I will pay more attention tonight and report back to you.

Psimet2001 i am riding the same route tonight solo. I will post those numbers as well.

- no need to at all. Like I said i just jumped to a conclusion based on what I "felt" in the numbers after a cursory glance.

No i am truly interested in the numbers. Thats why I bought the powertap a few weeks ago. I have several time trials that I have done above 20mph avg. I think the group last night hurt me the first half and helped me the second half when We broke away from the other riders. I have only been cycling since last june. I have only been seruous about since this calendar year. My goal is to join some type of organized low level local team next year but I understand my weight needs to dramatically come down. I am a ex rugby player and still have some musclefat to lose....musclefat should be a real word btw

indy, keep up the good work. No need to do anything special just for me. I just can't imagine not knowing what gear I was in at any given moment.

Yeah..going to have to throw out the beginner card but I tend to watch overall speed and cadence and shift from there. I do look down quite a bit and I am very rarely down on the small gear or 16t.

I learn alot from these boards on a weekly basis. I learn a lot on the bike as well.


I learned alot from the dairyland dare this year. I learned what real hills look like which psychologically has improved my riding around here. I go into these hills with a different mindset now. My fitness being no different i have improved my ride times.

Actually, here's the best answer. Ride what you got for now, and reconsider when you replace your cassette. Or, if you buy another set of wheels, get the 11-23 then.

You probably don't see it on the 16 much because we already established you don't have a 16T cog. ;-)

Dammit...

This.

Okay....Couldnt ride the exact same route because I left the powertap at home. Rode solo with a 12 mph nw wind.....of the 20 miles 60% of the miles were into the wind. I had to stop at a few lights in the city to get to the country....The group ride we very rarely have to stop....We are already out in the country for it.

My total ride was 25.6 but I recorded the first 20 because I had to take a call and for a couple miles slow pedaled.

19.85 miles
avg. cadence 85
avg. torque 8.04
avg watts 238
avg watts/kg 2.44
avg speed 20.86
554 feet gained
443 feet lost
work, kj 851


pedaling avg
avg cadence 87
torque 8.05
watts 257
watts/kg 2.63

My stress score yesterday was 112.3 and the intensity factor was .988

Today it was 105.2 and .990

I figured those would be much higher since I was out there by myself. I am a numbers guy. I am still learning the powertap. I like how this drills down the ride data to the nth degree......

Is this good enough to get me a tryout on Team PSIMET? lol

The tryout involves some drinking and some mild hazing.

Look at the difference in your avg w/kg.

FWIW - a few of our cat 4's are doing 4-4.3 w/kg during races. I am more in the 3-3.5 w/kg range. When you initially posted the avg speed for the something like 2 w/kg ....knowing the area I basically thought to myself "group ride. lot of drafting"

Again....all of these numbers are out of true context. Don't think about them too much.

I played rugby.....i excel at both.....

if my weight were to drop and my fitness stayed the same the w/kg would increase.but i wouldnt be much faster.....correct

This also leads me to think that you might be really spiking to bridge or catch wheels and then drafting/coasting much more than you think you may be. So your "on" power may be a lot higher than you think and you may be doing a ton of recovery during the ride. That explains lower than expected power numbers - especially with weight considerations - but the ability to hang in a fairly fast group ride.

We have more than a few ex-rugby and football players. You'd fit right in.