You keep repeating this as if it matters…it doesn’t. You are assuming two things:
In this case, there wasn’t an outbound segment because we ride a loop.
You can make all the ad hominem attacks you’d like, but you have yet to post any actual data that backs up your claim. I, on the other hand, have done so and that data refutes your claim.
Carry on.
Post the activity so we can see your average speed for the loop. You clearly have nothing to hide. I’ve posted mine…all my data is public.
You have not posted data that shows it takes you +500w to go 32mph. Period.
Your comparison was based on what it takes to ride off the front at 32mph and your rebuttal is a group ride?
Seriously? You think that was my point?
Or maybe you can see points in the data where I am pulling at ~30mph and not anywhere close to 500w.
This isn’t that hard.
There’s a few things being overlooked here.
First of all, “flat” and “no wind” is almost never the case. People tend to not notice a slight downhill or tail wind.
Secondly, as soon as you’re in a group you can’t compare numbers to riding solo. Period. Even the person riding the front gets reduced drag from every single rider drafting them. The more riders there are, the lower the drag for the lead rider. Aerodynamics is funny that way. Notice in the graphic below, the lead rider has only 85% of the drag that he would have is he was riding solo.
The problem is you haven’t provided enough data. There isn’t enough context.
You clearly have never been to Chicago. 
As for your chart, there is a wee difference between a group of 8 guys vs a full peloton as pictured.
In the meantime, if anyone can show me the actual data showing +500w to go 32mph, that would be swell.
Do you mean Chicago, the famously Windy City? That Chicago.
And clearly group aerodynamics only matters once you get 100 riders and don’t apply to smaller groups at all.
You obviously are Mr. Never Wrong. I won’t be wasting more time on you.
Tell me you don’t know why it is called The Windy Coty without telling me you don’t know why it is called the Windy City.
But I was mostly referring to his flat it is here.
And I never said
But if you think the effects proportions are the same for an 8 man rotating pace line as the graphic you posted, i would suggest you don’t understand the point you were trying to make.
To answer the OPs question, I’d say that once you get above 8-10 well cooperating riders, the additional speed by adding more riders starts to diminish pretty fast.
Theoretically, the more riders you add, the faster you can go through vortex shedding and providing additional draft for those not on the front.
Obviously, you need some pretty favorable conditions to average 32mph for more than a short duration, even for pro tour riders, but those are the most fun conditions to ride in for sure!
On a TT bike with just a a so-so position some of my rides on flat courses have been
28.5 mph = 305 watts
25 mph = 221 watts (pancake flat)
23.5 mph = 215 watts
On a road (ok, gravel with 32mm slicks, I always ride solo) on long flat sections that are an out an back:
24 mph = 287 watts
and some short efforts on the same bike for flat sections that I could find (not sure on the exact wind, but they were light wind days):
35.5 mph = 690 watts (was flailing on this one)
30.6 mph = 479 watts (don’t remember how my position was on this)
29 mph = 455 watts (don’t remember how my position was on this)
28 mph = 368 watts (was going steady and holding my arms in an ideal position on the hoods)
26.1 mph = 318 watts (was going steady and holding my arms in an ideal position on the hoods)
Unfortunately I couldn’t find any right at 32 mph. But if I was doing it for a 15-30 second pull on a flat ish portion of road with minimal wind with my road bike and was already going that speed when it I go to take my pull, I feel confident enough that I could do the effort and average under 500 watts. Confident enough I’d place a $500 bet on it
I’m 72 inches and 170 lbs. So not super aero but also not a parachute
Sorry to contribute to the off topic part of this thread, but calculators like this are actually super accurate and worth playing around with.
Example:
And best to remind everyone that 0.25m^2 is a bad TT bike CdA, but a really-really-really good road bike CdA. I shouldn’t have used it as a baseline. Bigham seems to think .27 is more reasonable for a typical rider on an aero bike.
Imagine being the original poster and checking back into the forum happy that your question had a bunch of replies.
I came back and saw the thread had taken on a life of its own!
Was going to chip in on the question of how much power is needed to do solo 32 mph with no wind on a flat. But then I saw that the starting point is someone claiming that 212W gets you 30 mph.
So then I decided it is best not to feed the trolls.
I just know that one day I RIPPED IT on an out and back. I started getting the idea that I had a ripping tailwind, but it didn’t seem to be at the time. I turned around and had that nonexistent tailwind All The Way Back. Wasn’t my worst time getting back, but it wasn’t great, and I was glad I turned around when I did.
Best for a rotating paceline? I was in one that was going great balls to the wall with just three. It seems that the more in a paceline, the more chance for drama and bad feelings. The minute someone pulls too long, or ‘not enough’ the whole line is going towards anarchy/entropy. That could happen with three, or any number. (Unless the person taking too long at the front is the Monster Wind Slayer, and loves to pull at 25mph into the wind all day. I’ll follow that wherever it’s going)
Well since you are apparently referencing me, let’s be clear - I never made that claim.
But thanks for not chipping in…but still chipping in, I guess?
More than 1.
