How long can you hold 600 watts?
12-18-14, 04:37 PM
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How long can you hold 600 watts?
There used to be a rumor going around that Lance could hold 600 watts for 30 min. Don't know if it's true or not but we all know that he once generated the electricity for Sports Center. I know because I saw the commercial.
12-18-14, 04:43 PM
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2:00min +\-
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12-18-14, 04:46 PM
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400 watts for an hour isn't that rare for top flight cyclist. The peak would be above that someplace. 600 watts is half again as much, though the shorter duration might help, so I don't know either way whether to accept or challenge the number as impossible.
OTOH- here on earth for the rest of us, 100-125 watts sustained for any decent length of time is pretty good.
One indicator someone can use to approximate their wattage capabilities is average speed over level ground. There are wind speed to wattage conversion programs out there, and though each of us has a different coefficient of wind drag, they'd at least have you in the right ballpark which should be good enough for most bar bets.
OTOH- here on earth for the rest of us, 100-125 watts sustained for any decent length of time is pretty good.
One indicator someone can use to approximate their wattage capabilities is average speed over level ground. There are wind speed to wattage conversion programs out there, and though each of us has a different coefficient of wind drag, they'd at least have you in the right ballpark which should be good enough for most bar bets.
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12-18-14, 04:47 PM
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Probably in the neighborhood of 0 seconds.
12-18-14, 04:49 PM
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The hour record (one of the recent ones) was like 480w for an hour. Thats pretty insane, I doubt I could hold it for more than 2 minutes.
12-18-14, 04:52 PM
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About 90 seconds is my best since I got a power meter. As of right now, probably about 45-60"
12-18-14, 04:56 PM
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600 watts translates to between 30 and 35mph. I couldn't produce that at all even in an all out sprint. Looking back, I figure my peak output for 10 seconds or more is probably about 500 watts (on a good day), and sustained for a minute would drop to 350 or so. For half an hour, I'm at the high end of average earthlings at about 125 watts. My lifetime best sustained (1 hour+) output was probably nearer to 250 watts, but that was a long time ago, and I was very highly motivated.
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Last edited by FBinNY; 12-18-14 at 05:03 PM.
12-18-14, 05:02 PM
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
600 watts translates to between 45 and 50mph. I couldn't produce that at all even in an all out sprint. Looking back, I figure my peak output for 15 seconds or more is probably nearer to 300 watts (on a good day).
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12-18-14, 05:07 PM
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Originally Posted by lsberrios1
You'd have to be around 60 pounds to peak at 300watts. It's not as hard as it seems. Most likely everybody can put close to 1000 watts for a few sec.
(BTW- I've since edited the post. the 300w figure was based on using kph vs. mph when working back from speed.)
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12-18-14, 05:09 PM
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Originally Posted by lsberrios1
You'd have to be around 60 pounds to peak at 300watts. It's not as hard as it seems. Most likely everybody can put close to 1000 watts for a few sec.
According to my power meter data from my ride today, I held ~600W for about 30 seconds. My peak output during a sprint was 900W. (and I'm a 140lb weakling more suited to climbing)
12-18-14, 05:16 PM
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
400 watts for an hour isn't that rare for top flight cyclist. The peak would be above that someplace. 600 watts is half again as much, though the shorter duration might help, so I don't know either way whether to accept or challenge the number as impossible.
Originally Posted by whitemax
There used to be a rumor going around that Lance could hold 600 watts for 30 min.
Hopefully I'll get a power meter up soon. I can't wait to see how much power I put out just riding to the end of the driveway.
12-18-14, 05:19 PM
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Originally Posted by K.Katso
^this
According to my power meter data from my ride today, I held ~600W for about 30 seconds. My peak output during a sprint was 900W. (and I'm a 140lb weakling more suited to climbing)
According to my power meter data from my ride today, I held ~600W for about 30 seconds. My peak output during a sprint was 900W. (and I'm a 140lb weakling more suited to climbing)
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12-18-14, 05:21 PM
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Strava says my last 2:11:42 ride, I averaged 139w 
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12-18-14, 05:26 PM
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
400 watts for an hour isn't that rare for top flight cyclist. The peak would be above that someplace. 600 watts is half again as much, though the shorter duration might help, so I don't know either way whether to accept or challenge the number as impossible.
OTOH- here on earth for the rest of us, 100-125 watts sustained for any decent length of time is pretty good.
One indicator someone can use to approximate their wattage capabilities is average speed over level ground. There are wind speed to wattage conversion programs out there, and though each of us has a different coefficient of wind drag, they'd at least have you in the right ballpark which should be good enough for most bar bets.
OTOH- here on earth for the rest of us, 100-125 watts sustained for any decent length of time is pretty good.
One indicator someone can use to approximate their wattage capabilities is average speed over level ground. There are wind speed to wattage conversion programs out there, and though each of us has a different coefficient of wind drag, they'd at least have you in the right ballpark which should be good enough for most bar bets.
12-18-14, 05:37 PM
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
OTOH- here on earth for the rest of us, 100-125 watts sustained for any decent length of time is pretty good.
[TABLE="class: distribution-chart unstyled"]
[TR]
[TD="class: shade"]Z1
[/TD]
[TD="class: shade name"] Active Recovery [/TD]
[TD="class: shade range"] 1 - 132 W [/TD]
[TD="class: shade time"] 14:31 [/TD]
[TD="class: shade percent"] 25% [/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: shade"] Z2
[/TD]
[TD="class: shade name"] Endurance [/TD]
[TD="class: shade range"] 133 - 180 W [/TD]
[TD="class: shade time"] 12:01 [/TD]
[TD="class: shade percent"] 20% [/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: shade"] Z3
[/TD]
[TD="class: shade name"] Tempo [/TD]
[TD="class: shade range"] 181 - 216 W [/TD]
[TD="class: shade time"] 11:42 [/TD]
[TD="class: shade percent"] 20% [/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: shade"] Z4
[/TD]
[TD="class: shade name"] Threshold [/TD]
[TD="class: shade range"] 217 - 252 W [/TD]
[TD="class: shade time"] 8:21 [/TD]
[TD="class: shade percent"] 14% [/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: shade"] Z5
[/TD]
[TD="class: shade name"] VO2Max [/TD]
[TD="class: shade range"] 253 - 288 W [/TD]
[TD="class: shade time"] 4:41 [/TD]
[TD="class: shade percent"] 8% [/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: shade"] Z6
[/TD]
[TD="class: shade name"] Anaerobic [/TD]
[TD="class: shade range"] 289 - 360 W [/TD]
[TD="class: shade time"] 4:23 [/TD]
[TD="class: shade percent"] 7% [/TD]
[TD]
[/TD]
[/TR]
[TR]
[TD="class: shade"] Z7
[/TD]
[TD="class: shade name"] Neuromuscular [/TD]
[TD="class: shade range"] 360+ W [/TD]
[TD="class: shade time"] 3:34 [/TD]
[TD="class: shade percent"] 6%[/TD]
[/TR]
[/TABLE]
I basically spent over 75% of that time well above 125W, and that is including riding through small villages and getting stuck behind old people. Don't sell yourself short, you probably put down a lot more power than you think you do. In fact, most people probably do. It was an eye-opener for me when I started training with a power meter.
12-18-14, 05:45 PM
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Originally Posted by K.Katso
Nah, I have to disagree. Most people put out more power than that, they just don't know what they are putting out. I'm a very average amateur IMO,.....
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12-18-14, 05:47 PM
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Originally Posted by K.Katso
Nah, I have to disagree. Most people put out more power than that, they just don't know what they are putting out. I'm a very average amateur IMO, I race Masters 40+ but usually finish mid-pack (meaning I suck for the most part). Here's a breakdown of my 58-min ride this afternoon:
I basically spent over 75% of that time well above 125W, and that is including riding through small villages and getting stuck behind old people. Don't sell yourself short, you probably put down a lot more power than you think you do. In fact, most people probably do. It was an eye-opener for me when I started training with a power meter.
I basically spent over 75% of that time well above 125W, and that is including riding through small villages and getting stuck behind old people. Don't sell yourself short, you probably put down a lot more power than you think you do. In fact, most people probably do. It was an eye-opener for me when I started training with a power meter.
12-18-14, 05:48 PM
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
Yes, but you're an athlete of some sort. Look around you. Most people (not most athletes) have no hope of producing anything close to what you as a mediocre (your description) cyclist can.
12-18-14, 05:54 PM
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It used to be relatively easy to hold 600 Watts, but then they stopped making 100 Watt bulbs. So now instead of holding 6 bulbs, you have to hold 13, which is way harder. You could leave them in the package, but that seems like cheating, and no one in cycling cheats to hold more watts.
12-18-14, 05:57 PM
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Originally Posted by RollCNY
no one in cycling cheats
12-18-14, 06:00 PM
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Originally Posted by FBinNY
600 watts translates to between 30 and 35mph. I couldn't produce that at all even in an all out sprint. Looking back, I figure my peak output for 10 seconds or more is probably about 500 watts (on a good day), and sustained for a minute would drop to 350 or so.
12-18-14, 06:25 PM
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Originally Posted by caloso
400w for an hour is impressive even for a pro. Trek calculated that Jens would average about 370 for the hour record. Hour Record Twitter Q&A | Trek Factory Racing I don't know if they ever published his actuals.
