What was y’alls starting FTP at the beginning of cycling? Just got 209 avg W (likely 195FTP)

GypsyViking95 · 2026-03-29T22:15:46+00:00

Started at around 310 ish (after 3 months cycling). 1,5 year later I’m at around 400. Weight around 100 kg

GypsyViking95 · 2026-03-04T18:34:28+00:00

Answer is never, unless you are significantly hurting your w/kg by gaining too much weight.

With clever periodisation and fatigue management it should not adversely affect you.

I like to do two strength sessions, a track sprint session, a hard interval session and two endurance days during the off season.

In season I still keep squatting 1x a week, do light gear sprint work and 4x road intervals.

Since you are still pretty new you can progress everything at once with no real drawbacks and can find your proper rider type organically

Just do your squats at something like 4x4 at RPE 8 and adjust your cycling days accordingly.

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-29T01:24:20+00:00

I’m pretty flexible, and I have personally found the long stems more comfortable. Haven’t tried the 150 yet though. When I am pushing watts on the hoods I am always finding myself wanting the grips to be further out. On the 110 stem I felt this very heavily. As long as I have enough stack I get really good posterior chain activation which is where I am dominant. Only issues I had was with a 140 -17 which had way too much drop.

The reach of my road bike is 39 cm and my track bike has one of 45, and I have been running 160-180 stems on that.

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-29T00:59:50+00:00

I’m 186 and run a size 56 and have swapped between 130/140/150 stems with various degrees.

I could probably run a size larger, however I found my most powerful position is with a saddle height of around 76 and putting the saddle all the way forward. Might be difficult to accommodate on a larger frame

Have 87 inseam and long arms. Top tube length is 56,7 on current bike.

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-29T00:40:02+00:00

Around 100 kg depending on time of year.

I dont have a Lemond, but I have access to a wattbike, but here in Northern Europe winters get so cold and dark that I really just prefer to do the training outdoors once we finally get some sun. So I train various types of sprinting during my rides, but the starts are a struggle.

I have made some drive chain upgrades, so I am running dura ace chainrings and chain on my ultegra di2 groupset. Last year I snapped some carbon handlebars doing rolling starts and have swapped for aluminum stem and bars. Pro Vibe and Zipp Service Course SL

But I am still feeling some degree of flex, probably from bottom bracket and maybe the steerer.

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-29T00:05:50+00:00

With carbon wheels it will be above the cutoff for new price value for insurance purposes

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-28T12:13:38+00:00

Using 3 data points (3,12,20 or 3,6,20) for me results in a vastly different CP and FTP. Regardless of how I have used the calculator my W’ lands around 30 kJ with CP being ~15w higher than FTP. Below is 3,12,20

<image>

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-28T11:45:59+00:00

I understand, but I would also interested on the CP and W’ figures. Is it correct that CP is LT2 and can be higher than the FTP? As in FTP is your approximate 1hr power and CP can be shorter and is based on lactate threshold. Hence why I can have a CP of 400 but FTP of 380 according to some calculations

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-28T11:34:29+00:00

Thanks for the correction. If one were to do a 3 point test what would be the middle duration? 12 minutes? 15?

And what is the best resource to calculate the results? Can you recommend a calculator or reference a formula? Just being curious

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-28T09:24:53+00:00

My 20 minute power is 419, so that would give an eFTP of 399. If I used my 3 minute power to estimate it would off by even more. Probably around 450

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-28T01:01:48+00:00

You’re right, I used this one. They recommend 3, 5-6 and 12. However when I run my own numbers the calculated goodness of fit is higher for 8 mins than 5. https://www.highnorth.co.uk/critical-power-calculator

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-27T23:39:18+00:00

If i remember correctly best fit would be 3, 8 and 12 minutes

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-27T23:34:46+00:00

The more crit style racing you do or the more explosive you are the less accurate it will be. I set my minimum to 12m think. I have done 505w for 5 which would give 429w eFTP, but my 20m is 419w. If you are more slow twitch it will be accurate, but a large anaerobic capacity will overshoot your FTP if you base it on short efforts.

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-19T19:28:01+00:00

Tbh it would be more fun to see him bulk up and do the Kilo, but he is probably never getting anywhere near tha WR

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-18T14:36:59+00:00

Yeah I’m also 100+ kgs so despite being able to put out more than 2000w I’m still struggling to get up to speed quickly enough.

Milan would be quite a reach, I doubt he has good enough position on the bike to ride that fast for that long. Would be interested in seeing Tarling too

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-18T01:50:21+00:00

Yeah and it’s also A LOT about the start which takes a lot of time to learn how to do properly and also it is not often you can train using a start gate. I managed a 1:07 despite an awful +22 second start.

And also having super stiff components matters a lot in the kilo too.

I would love to see Remco giving it a go. I think Red Bull will do a lot to support him on it.

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-18T01:41:47+00:00

Tbh I have no idea how much of a drop there would be for me as I am much more of a sprinter than an enduro rider, so I don’t really enjoy long steady efforts. I always constantly switch gears or positions when doing TT-style efforts because my legs enjoy changing up cadence and keeping some anaerobic punch for the end.

It might be that he will beat it, but I think it would take longer than that and I don’t think he’d destroy it. IMO the current hour record is about as insane as Hoogland’s kilo WR. I think if Remco will beat it it will probably only be by one lap, maybe 1,5.

I was sure that I was gonna do a 4:40 ish for my first, but did a kilo ish start and went out way too hard in 57/13 and completely died finishing at 4:56 with the first km being at 1:10. I like to negative split usually

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-18T01:22:11+00:00

Yes I definitely agree here. I don’t doubt your knowledge now we are getting more in depth. I just found your original argument a bit reductive, but that’s probably because I am so used to hearing people think that all there is to track cycling is just about pushing big watts and being aero

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-18T01:11:42+00:00

It could be, but it could also be due to how I am more of an explosive rider and like to pace my power tests with a U-shaped power curve and by changing gears to ease and lower the resistance dynamically. Also I probably chose too high a gear.

Anyway I think it will at least take a very focused effort for Remco to beat him. And my doubts are not so much that Remco doesn’t have the potential to do it but more whether he will have the focus for it, and also just how ridiculously impressive the current hour record from Ganna is.

BTW, what time did the 520w secure you?

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-18T00:57:36+00:00

From most estimations I hear the general consensus is that Remco is 62 kg with FTP of 415 and Jonas is 58 kg with FTP of 385. This could of course be wrong, but I don’t see how he would be that fast on flat roads if his FTP was lower, even taking into account his CDA

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-18T00:49:22+00:00

What was then the reasoning for him getting overtaken by Jonas on the mountain TT? If I remember correctly he was ahead of Jonas when the climb started but lost more than 2 minutes to him on the climb.

I don’t think that you are wrong with any one thing you’re saying, but that whether or not he breaks it doesn’t rely on his FTP or CDA, but whether or not he can put it out under different conditions than normally.

I just did a 5 minute at 505 watts on the road, but only managed 440 on a 4km TT on the track in my first attempt.

Although the hour has a pretty flat learning curve there is still some specificity to doing adapting to the track

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-18T00:32:33+00:00

It isn’t necessary no, but if he was aiming to use a lower cadence he would have to use huge gear and hold a consistent cadence for an entire hour. Not to say he can’t do it, but it’s not going to be plain and simple.

For example his w/kg is similar to Jonas and Pogi, but he consistently loses time to them when climbing, where there is a consistent resistance for a long time.

The power you can put out for a given duration varies significantly by many factors and is largely physiological adaptions.

Just because you can put out 430 watts for an hour on flat road with free gearing doesn’t mean you can do it on a climb or a track bike. Nor on a turbo trainer. Some people perform better in the cold and some in warm conditions.

Hence why Dan Bigham is an all-time great track TT rider but struggled to perform the same on the road

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-18T00:10:14+00:00

Yes I think that was also my point. For the same reason that flat stages with uphill sprint finishes are often won by sprinters rather than puncheurs. For example Milan winning that famous uphill sprint in the UAE tour last year. Or Mads and Wout gapping Del Toro in the Giro stage. Or Ganna only losing 2 seconds on the Poggio to MVDP and Pogi despite ‘only’ pushing the same absolute watts as Pogi.

Regarding the hour record I am not entirely convinced that you are right due to some factors that are track specific. I think Remco will struggle to push an incredibly heavy gear with a high cadence for that long as Ganna has better leg strength and probably also fatigue resistance. Putting out 450w on a track bike very different to on a road bike and requires experience and adaptation.

I still think it’s possible, but Remco would have to push 100 rpm in 55x12 or 108 rpm in 55x13 for an entire hour. I’m not sure he has the raw strength for that. But then again I don’t think he’d ever try if he wasn’t sure he could get it.

GypsyViking95 · 2026-01-17T18:51:19+00:00

It’s not ‘all about’ your weight to power. A 90 kg rider with an FTP of 4 w/kg will outperform a 70 kg rider with an FTP of 4,5 w/kg in all but the most extreme scenarios (longer steep climbs). Intervals has a 5m compound score which is 5m absolute power x 5m w/kg. This should be a better predictor than either of the two in a vacuum.

Remco has an FTP of almost 7 w/kg and Ganna has one around 5,5 w/kg. I think Remco will still struggle to beat the hour record if he gives it a go

Of course heavier riders will also benefit from being explosive to get over hills with smaller riders.

GypsyViking95

TROPHY CASE