I came very close to my max heart rate doing the ramp test. it’s about 184. i hit 183 on ramp.
Can confirm. I can somewhat easily chug along at a high heart rate while running - the same heart rate would be a living hell on the trainer.
Not my case (but more of a runner than a cyclist, so…). I get approx at the same place at the end of a 10k race and at the end of a ramp test - a place where life is not very nice, I’m not sure I’ll survive, my HR won’t get any higher, there isn’t enough oxygen on the planet to feed my body, and my body refuses to go on.
Honestly, the ramp test should do it. My 3 highest recorded HRs in the last year were all on ramp tests…182, 182 and 184. I’ve only ever touched 180 on an outside ride - that was during a race.
Maybe I’m the anomaly?
I’m 58 and I arbitrarily set my max in the mid 180s for the ramp test. My legs and lungs are pretty much maxed out at that point as well, so I think it’s a good mark. Just did a ramp test and quit at 182. My FTP didn’t improve over the previous test, but I think the previous was an over shoot.
I’ve seen my highest HR at the end of the second interval of the 8 minute FTP test. Give that a go 
Best test of max hr I know…cyclocross! Last year was my first cx race. EVery time think I know my max, then next race was new max! Last cx race had max 194bpm and avg 188bpm for the hour race. Age 36. Hard work! 
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In my experience Max HR can’t be replicated day to day. It varies dramatically depending on rest and freshness and maybe a bunch of other factors that are hard to define.
I know that I’ll see 200ish a few times a year and those times don’t always coordinate exactly with the very hardest things I’ve done that year or the most I’ve suffered. I’m a believer in HR data as a sign of freshness. I love to see my HR jumping quickly in warm ups on race days!
All that said - a 2 minute max effort is basically the worse thing I can do on the bike and will always push it way up there. Terrible 2s…man.
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I assume you want to know your max hr to set training zones. So go ride super easy for 1 hour. Your hr at the end will be high endurance. Ride at a moderate pace for 20 minutes. That’s mean threshold hr. Slam it for 10 minutes. That’s your max threshold.All out 3-5 minute- vo2 max hr. Sprint hard for 1 minute after a vo2 max, don’t stop till you puke or pass out- max hr.
I find my max HR is much higher when I’m fresh & as most training I do is when I’m not-fresh it doesn’t work for zones or races.
A maintainable number when moderately fatigued is useful, so if it is higher I am warned it isn’t sustainable & if it is lower I’m being lazy. Numbers are different for running and swimming though. Swimming is quite comically low - hard to get even into a cycling zone 3. I think I’ve achieved 4.
Save yourself the trouble and get a power meter.
My max hr on ramp test matched my max from running at 190. So my guess is that my max is 194-195. Now what you do with that info is the real question. It’s so unreliable to train with HR.
Works for cycling where they can measure a real number, but running power meters suck. They just create magic numbers. I think there’ll be a swimming power meter soon too; bet that also sucks.
My heart rate has never gotten to max on a ramp test. Not even close. The highest maybe during a ramp was 185 or so. My 20 min threshold is 186.
It might be unreliable to train by hr on the bike but ir is generally a good indicator of the stress of the ride. Also depends on what your goals are and how to interpret. Hr readings are a good description but not always a good prescription. I do use hr for my endurance rides, giving myself an upper cap to stay below and actually keep it as an endurance ride instead of a hard ride.
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I presumed you were talking about biking since topic was regarding HR on Ramp test. I wear my HR monitor but I look at it and say “that’s nice”. Even outdoors, cardiac drift, heat and hydration screw up everything. I just ride to power and just look at the HR without it ever dictating the workout.
Having said that, it has never been too far out of the norm. On easy rides, it’s always 120-145 bpm. If I ever see 160, 170 on there for an easy ride, either it’s malfunctioning or I will be feeling like shit and the ride is over a while ago.
There are swimming power meters.
Thanks: Googled it; didn’t realise any had been released yet. All I found look like nonsense.
A friend of mine is a swimming coach, and we chit-chatted about the progress of training electronics - I knew nothing about swimming applications, he filled me in. He does some coached sessions from his home, a few hundred kms from the pool… with a live data stream to himself, and live feedback to the athletes. He can see HR, power (it really is palm pressure sensors, so not exactly power as far as I could understand it), cadence, video feed when needed, split times, the works. Spooky.
Ramp Test max 193
Hill Climb max 196 so pretty close
My concerns is on the health side since I train with a PM and don’t even have HR on my main screens. Is it safe to assume 196 is my max HR and should only touch on it sporadically in the year on really hard efforts, like race finishes or ramp tests?
Usually if you do a max effort test in a lab they will play it safe and cut it out at 85% of the “theoretical max” so you’re not really showing data on a true max. Any advice out there on this topic??
Not sure what the health concern is - are you concerned about a potential health impact of hitting your max for some period of time? If that’s the case, unless you have a specific medical condition, I don’t think anything bad starts happening at that point - there are a lot of other limiters that will bring you out of there in any case.