I heard in last podcast ramp test is now displaying FTP estimate live.
My wife gave it a try this morning, thinking it would give a kind of motivation to try to reach a target.
She was very disappointed while FTP displayed was not even at her current FTP while she stopped (205 vs 210) but also very surprised while TR suggested a new FTP of 217 !
What is the point of having a live FTP displayed which does not correlate with the final estimation ? Am I missing something ?
Thanks !
Just guessing, but was there some odd variation in the power in the final 1 or 5 minutes?
We don’t know for sure yet what they are using for the estimate. The one done by a forum member just ran based on the time and the assumption that the rider is matching the Power Target. If the rider was above or below the target, they’d get a different result than the estimate.
Even if the TR one is set to use the live power and a typical 0.75 reduction of the best 1-minute power, it possible that an undesired variation in that time is corrected based on their validation of also looking at the best 5-minute power.
We might be able to dig in more if we had a link to the test to review.
haha, sick roller coaster ride of emotions!
She did not really pay attention How it is being refreshed until the end.
My assumption is that the live estimate is being refreshed after each step. So 205W may be an estimate based on the last completed 1min step, while 217W is calculated including the additional few (10/15) seconds during the following step ?
Is the live estimate desktop only or is it in the mobile app too?
Hey there!
Since it’s release, we have recieved a couple complaints about this issue and we have been able to reproduce the issue in-house. We have Developers taking a look and we hope to have this issue sorted out shortly .
The direct feedback here in the forums is just one of the reasons that I love the whole TrainerRoad experience.
I was interested to hear about this on the podcast. @Nate_Pearson said it was to help those that need that extra push. I know for me I want the opposite, a Feature Request - Blind Ramp Test. It did get a quick mention on the podcast, but just a passing comment.
Just turn your display away from yourself (as long as you’re on ERG mode). Then you have a blind ramp test
I use a towel I just want a button that allows me to see the count down timer. I am so looking forward to your group ride ramp test tomorrow. I am interested to see when talking stops
Full sentences stop at 17:00 and everything after 19:00 are grunts, moans and the sound of one’s soul being removed.
I’m not talking after 5 minutes
I noticed in the ramp test video on YouTube that you all appeared to not be testing in ERG mode, given the variance between target and actual watts. Is this correct?
I test in resistance mode despite having a KICKR, but found the below online. Does it come down to personal preference?
1. FTP testing intervals
Test intervals inside of one of an 8 minute or 20 minute FTP test will need to be done in either Standard or Resistance mode. Since these intervals should be done as hard as you can, we don’t want ERG mode limiting your power output. Don’t worry though, TrainerRoad will automatically switch your trainer out of ERG mode during test intervals.
Note: The Ramp Test used to calculate FTP can be completed in any mode, but ERG mode is recommended.
- Yes. Ride in either mode, which ever you prefer for any reason.
I had the same issue on my recent ramp test. Current FTP was 280, live display was 271 when I stopped. However I had gone over the 19:30 time mark by about 30 seconds which is where I thought you needed to get to to stay roughly the same. Suggested FTP was then 288. I checked my ride in analytics to see which number was correct (based on highest 1 minute power), and I’m pretty sure it was the 288. Glad to hear I am not the only one who experienced this. I think the feature is good but only if it is truely live and accurate.
I test in ERG mode, but my trainer doesn’t do any power smoothing before it sends its data to TR, so there’s a bunch of variance between target and actual watts. That’s likely what you saw in the video.
Clipped from my last ramp test, in ERG mode:
This is the first I’ve heard of this topic.
So if I’m understanding correctly, this new feature displays your ramp test result on the fly, as in, ‘if you bail out now here is your exact result’?
That sounds like a great motivation tool - if it’s working as it’s supposed to!
For 8 or 20 min tests, it does not come down to preference - the whole purpose of these tests being to see how much power you can maintain over a period of time.
For ramp testing, although you can do the test in resistance mode, erg is recommended to ensure compliance with the protocol.
I guess this hasn’t been included in the mobile apps yet. I did a ramp test 2 days ago on my android phone, and it was business as usual almost. Got a slight bump in FTP which was gratifying.
That’s correct; I should have specificed that this is desktop-only at the moment. Mobile support will come when we release the updated mobile app that we’ve been working on .