My Entire Power Curve is Indoor - Unable to Produce same watts outdoor

TrainerRoad Software
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Hi everyone,

Across various Ramp Tests throughout my growth as a rider I’ve managed to score 218-220 and my personal best 224 FTP. I’m a 33-year old woman who started cycling 18 months ago. The numbers excite me but I’ve noticed something odd.

When I do an all-out outdoor effort my absolute best 20-minute effort is 180 watts. I’ve done this various different times but I’m always in the 170-180 range for a 20-minute effort but my Ramp Test suggests that I should be able to handle more.

Also, on my power curve, every single one of my power records was set on the indoor trainer while all my boyfriend’s power records are outdoors. He outperforms his ramp test numbers outside while I heavily underperform comparatively. Yes, I calibrate it my Wahoo Kickr, and I make sure it’s synced properly.

I’ve done various TrainerRoad programs and I find the workouts tough but I’m able to complete them most of the time. I don’t really have a specific question but I just don’t know how to interpret this data and how I can work on bringing my outdoor power performance to the next level. I’ve done SSB and Power Build and I enjoy both.

Thanks

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A couple quick questions/confirmations:

  • are you using the same bike inside and outside?
  • does your outside bike have a power meter?
  • in the TrainerRoad app, have you paired both the Kickr and your bike’s power meter?
  • have you heard of PowerMatch?

Some information about PowerMatch:

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Hi - I am using the same bike indoor and outdoor (both my outdoor bikes have the 4iiii power meters) but I use the Wahoo power indoor. I only pair the Kickr to trainerroad and I’ve not used power match. I will try Power Match, thanks!

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You mention the Kickr, but you don’t mention what power meter you are using outdoors.

You may want to enable the Powermatch setting in TrainerRoad, which will use your power meter as the source of power data, rather than the Kickr, making indoor and outdoor power more comparable.

Edit: @bbarrera beat me to it.

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