Came back to TR after 2 year hiatus. After 4 + weeks back FTP up by 13 watts. I’m slightly suspect.
Does anyone else here thinking they are biasing FTP upwards for new / reactivated accounts?
Obviously a FTP bump gives and a dopamine hit to continue moving with the plan
In short, no.
It depends on what data you are feeding the machine, by (presumably) feeding in turbo sessions for 4 weeks, as opposed to not, the machine is likely building a better picture of what you are capable of, along with the potential for quick gains coming back to structured training (again, an assumption but you’ve not given enough information).
Enjoy the bump. Makes a change from the no gain threads 
I think one of the worst things about modern cycling is that people are discouraged from taking a real test focused on whatever their current training goals are. It baffles me that people will turn themselves inside out to complete a “normal” workout, but then choose to trust software over testing their actual performance capabilities.
Yup, biggest and best change to my training has been testing my performance. When I say testing; I don’t mean by killing myself for 8 minutes in a ramp test but seeing how hard I can ride after some rest for 35+ minutes.
I actually enjoy those “test” more than any ramp test I’ve ever done.
Although you may not have used TR in the past 2 years, there is still plenty of ride data synced to your TR account for us to reference.
We initially dropped you down 29 watts when you returned on April 21st, and then detected a six-watt increase yesterday after just over four weeks of training. I’d say that’s pretty fair.
For there to be such a big change four weeks ago and still see a reasonable (<10 watts) increase four weeks later tells me that, if anything, our initial FTP detection for you was pretty darn close. 
What!? Well, I totally believe it. C’mon, @DROCH , you know you’re a monster. Stop fishing for compliments. 
The algorithm is definitely not using that data.
I came back recently and the “AI FTP” was grossly exaggerated high. Like 10% high.
I never even took a training break just a break from TR and scaled down my efforts for a while. There is plenty of data to look at. But if you looked at my TR training history, you will see that the algorithm closely matches my FTP from when I was using TR a couple years ago.
I’m guessing TR only looked at my completed workouts from a year or two ago and used that number, which would have been correct back then.
Well I’ve barely been able to budge my estimated FTP over the last 4 months based on the inffered FTP on Garmin and Intervals ICU which both have me at an average 230ish … re-activated TR a month ago which also converged on the 230ish FTP. 1 month later I’ve popped up on TR but Intervals and Garmin haven’t budged.
2 years ago my inferred FTP on Garmin / Intercals ICU / Trainer road seemed move in sync with each other.
Look I’m not dogging TR, I just extended my membership for 1 year (so I guess that FTP boost worked 
) … I guess I’m suspect of my FTP increase and how easy it could be to game the system to increase customer satisfaction. You know just a little hit, but not too much 
I’ll keep on going with TR maybe one day I’ll break 300
Ha … 
yeah a monster
You can’t say that around here. Hell, you can’t even think it. AI knows its smarter than you.
I, for one, welcome our robot overlords.
I can say confidently that we are. 
From what I can see, your FTP of 270 looked accurate based on some of your ride data within the past 30 days of that initial detection on March 2nd.
All of the RPE scores you gave the workouts early on looked solid, and you even gave a high-level VO2 Max workout a “moderate” rating. It looks like the following VO2 workout we prescribed is the one that you struggled with, which prompted you to drop your FTP down 5 watts.
The following week, you rated high-level VO2 and Threshold workouts as moderate, which tells me that those workouts likely weren’t difficult enough for you with that new, lower FTP.
I’d be curious to have seen what would have happened had you rested up before that VO2 workout you struggled with on March 11th, which was only three days after a hard race, or if you would have let TR adjust your future workouts rather than bumping your FTP down right away. 
If your workouts are going well, I would try to be less suspicious. 
We want athletes to have the best success with their training/racing, and giving inaccurate estimations wouldn’t help that at all.
I can’t speak to Garmin or ICU’s tools, but I am confident in ours. Keeping your estimations even between all three platforms seems like a tricky task and somewhat strange goal.
It’s okay to reference other sources, but at some point, you’re going to have to pick one to trust and go with it! 
Pretty sure the “AI” gave me 292 as my FTP, which is what it was the last time I stopped using TR. I quickly declined that.
I did do a ramp test, which conveniently does closely align with my actual FTP on March 2nd, which was the 265.
Unfortunately, I can’t look back on my past self to see how I rated the workouts. I don’t really understand the grading system anyway, so it’s kinda a guess. But it was a level 8.5 VO2 workout, which might be why I rated it as hard. I wouldn’t rate the race as hard, it’s a local low turnout series where I ended up stopping at one point to fix my bottle cage 
I’m not upset about any of it. I just think there is some marketing tossed around in there that isn’t reality. 
Because cycling for many, including me, is about fun rather than flagellation?
I guess the proof will be in the pudding as try to stick to the TR tightly over the next couple months.
I’ve been on TrainerRoad for just over a month now. I have been training reasonably hard for the last year after 3 years of doing zero. Pre Covid i had a coach and got my FTP to 331 via testing.
Ive not done a test since and in my head i think i’m about 305. My main type of rides are Z2 or long sustained rides of up to about 2 hours at about 250watts.
When i joined TR the main attraction for me was the accountability of following a plan and the AI FTP - i dont want to be not training for a few days to do a test (so the test is accutrate.
Anyway - the AI FTP came out at 287 - perhaps a little low, but based on my rides and training data I can understand that as it does not have any “interval” type sessions to go on. All it can do is work on the data it has. The planned sessions have been very manageable and I have pushed harder than required.
What has really impressed me is the way it keeps re-evaluating and has been making my sessions just a bit harder (thats what it seems!). Got the AI to update yesterday and it is now 300. If i was doing a test perhaps I could squeeze a bit more out but i think it is pretty realistic. In general my body more tuned in keep going - so i am better at sustained power of 1hour+
So for me I dont think is marketing - just the way it is and the AI FTP is just a number. It is no different o the argument as to which type of FTP test you do!
What I’m seeing on the backend is a manual entry of 292 and then an FTP detection of 270, less than two minutes later, on March 2nd. Your next FTP change didn’t come until the 11th.
Regardless, I’d recommend familiarizing yourself a bit more with our post-workout surveys if you don’t feel confident in them, since they play a significant role in how we track your performance in workouts.
If you feel like you’re not getting the most out of part of the product we offer, I’m sure we could help get things in order for you! 
Yes, I agree!
Stay in touch along the way and let me know how things go.
