TSS looks significantly higher in Speciality 
Well, I guess I have to go with the lower FTP then. 
Lets hope to see some gains in the test in the future. 
In your opinion, you need a 20+ min test. Not everyone does. You make a bunch of broad, general statements here… but frankly, the ramp test doesn’t make me feel good about my results. I’ve been training above my ramp-tested FTP without workout failures for going on three months now - including anaerobic, long VO2max, threshold and sub-threshold work.
If you want great knowledge of MLSS, I think a longer test is probably best. If you’re setting training zones, the ramp test will get you a pretty good number, and in many cases, a really good number. Whether you’re doing a ramp, 8-, or 20-minute test, one key is when you reach the level that you know yourself, and you can objectively set and train at accurate training zones for your current fitness informed by a testing protocol.
If there’s anything I’ve learned from the debates about different testing protocols, it’s that one size doesn’t fit all, and in many cases, the judgment of the athlete and/or their coach should be employed regardless of what the test says.
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You seem to be taking this a little too personally with your verbiage; “Failing”, “Facing it”.
You reassessed your capabilities and now you are at a FTP of 232. If you’re going to follow the plan then adjust your FTP down to 232 and get to work since you have completed an assessment and you no longer have an FTP of 246.
As you do another base → build training cycle you should get back to, and then exceed your old FTP of 246 anyway.
Saying the ramp test makes people feel good is downright ignorant. I have a buddy who has a 20 minute power of 370+ because hes a TT guy and favors the steady efforts, he told me he bets his FTP would be 20-40w lower on a ramp test because he cannot sustain the higher intensities he would need to hit the same FTP he does with a flatter 20 minute test
Sure, it CAN, but it doesn’t mean that it DOES, so I don’t understand your point. For some riders, a 20 minute test compared to a ramp test is higher (like my friend). If TR is based around a ramp test, I’m going to use the FTP I get from the ramp test. If the TR plans started with a 20 minute test, I would use the 20 minute test.
I tested via 20 minute in 10/2018 of last year and got 263w. I tested on ramp test on 1/1/19 after finishing up the year riding with groups and got 268.
My ramp FTP according to the last test I did for TR was 290, my best 20 minute average power this year has been 303w, which is equivalent of a 287w FTP. For me, they’re not that far apart, so while your initial feel good statement was true for some, it was pretty generalized
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It seems like the Ramp Test has a lot to do with FRC (power available over FTP) which is different than FTP. Some can go over FTP longer than others, some can hold FTP longer. So it may work well for some, and not so well for others.
I’ve tested with both the 20-minute and the ramp test in the last 12 months after testing exclusive with 20-min tests in prior seasons, and both protocols gave me similar results early in my season before my gains. As the “low-hanging fruit” gains have dried up for me, I’m fine with trusting my intuition about my fitness based on a decade and a half of cycling experience coupled with tests results to set my training zones. I’ve even toyed around with the thought of just not testing at all after the first couple of rounds each season, but continue to do so in the event that I have some kind of +5% breakthrough. 
Maybe next season I’ll try the 8-minute test. They’re all estimates.
I like to think that your test should match what type of training you’re doing. If you’re doing a plan that requires a lot of work above threshold like short power build and crit/cx specialty plans then you should use the ramp test because it is more accurately testing your anaerobic capacity. If you are going for sustained build and longer specialty plans then it’s probably better to use 8 minute or 20 minute tests as it is more accurately assessing your FTP and those plans have a higher amount of work around FTP power.
It would not be a good idea for someone who knows they have a huge FRC and low FTP to take the ramp test then jump into a sustained power build program, or for someone who has a crazy high threshold but can’t handle anything above that to take the 20 minute test and jump into a short power build program. Either would be a recipe for failed workouts.
BUT the fact of the matter is most people have a somewhat reasonable balance between FRC and FTP so either test type will work most of the time.
I’ve got an interesting result riding Alpe du Zwift the other day as part of a group ride, upon completion it suggested me I have an FTP higher than the ramp test, by 7W. Would this sort of climb be a closer estimation of FTP, because it is not far from being an hour effort, bottom to top…
Maybe, maybe not.
First, understand how Zwift estimates your FTP in any “free ride” or event:
- It simply watches for a 20-minute segment where you average power multiplied by 0.95 is greater than your current FTP.
- That happens to be the same calculation as a regular 20-minute FTP test. However, since the pure ride aspect of events doesn’t follow the protocol and anaerobic burn-off efforts in a proper 20-m FTP test, I question the results.
- If anything, I predict it to be a bit high from the potential anaerobic contribution that may remain. That is all very subject to you and your effort, but I find the fact that Zwift does that a little annoying at best and potentially problematic at worst.
If you analyze the ride later and look at the full AdZ effort in particular, it will be around 1 hour long and can be a steady effort (assuming you aren’t following jumps or riding with largely varied efforts). From that steady effort, you can do a better job of guessing your FTP than what we see from Zwift.
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As far as I know Zwift only looks at you best 20minute effort and gives a FTP result on that. It never looks at any other duration period. That saying if you look at your average power data over an hours period, that to me is as close to an hours FTP test as you are going to get. Would be interesting to know what the result is…
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Training Peaks does the same, but asks you if you want to update your threshold rather than doing it automatically. I much prefer this approach.
I agree the auto update isn’t good practice. You should at least take a look at the whole ride to see if it’s a suitable effort.
AdZ is probably a good estimate for most folks, given the length of the effort. Pretty close to an hour of power for many I’d imagine.
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Thanks guys, not sure how it estimates it. It did not update automatically, but asked me if I want to accept the new figure, which I did, because I find zwift workouts a little easy, mostly because of their recovery intervals being lightyears long. As for TR, I keep the old ftp figure as workouts are hard enough already, I feel they are spot on as it is.