Erg killed my ramp test

I don’t have a lot of experience with trainers and erg mode. I bought Suito and few days ago I did ramp test and when it started to going harder I found myself at 70ish cadence and just couldn’t get back to my regular cadence (~95) and at the end i just get FTP of 277! My outside ftp is now around 310!

Step 1 is to watch this video and really understand what ERG mode is and is not:

The main thing I tell riders starting in ERG mode is this:

  • CADENCE is KING!

  • Meaning that the only thing you should be focusing on during an ERG workout (including a Ramp Test) is your cadence. You are directly responsible for your cadence, while the app and trainer are responsible for the resistance control.

  • Do your best to ignore power data, and just keep a smooth and steady cadence. You should be prepared to increase your actual “effort” at the start of resistance increases in ERG, and lower that “effort” when the resistance changes". But do what you can to keep your cadence as close to your desire cadence goal as reasonable. That means minimizing fluctuations to something like +/- 5 RPM at most for steady state efforts.

If all else fails, maybe ERG is not for you and you would be better served to use Resistance or Standard modes and control power by shifting instead. Plenty of people prefer non-ERG options, so you can do whatever works best for you.

Just know that ERG mode is not necessarily intuitive, so it can take a bit of time to learn how to get the most from it.

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I kind of thought this was a satire piece related to the Death to ERG thread. Was going to give a 4/10 for the effort but 8.5/10 for the Outdoor FTP Back Door Brag.

:grinning:
Ron

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Getting into the difference between inside and outside FTP is another can of worms. Considering the following comments:

I question the setup and understand of the issues present inside (cooling, motivation, trainer gearing, etc.) that can all affect the results of training and testing inside. Lots to cover depending on where the OP want’s to take it.

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I used same bike with the same powermeter as I use outside. Elite suito trainer and new powermatch in Mac TR app! Big chainring and middle of the cassette

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Good deal. Those sound like decent settings.

Aside from making sure you have really good fans for cooling, the main thing is to just make sure to keep an eye on your cadence and respond as quickly as you can to keep cadence in your preferred range.

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:+1: :laughing:

I mesured it outside with lactate test few months ago and I did a few 20, 30 and 40min tests and races in last few months!

So I am a very tall person with a slower than typical cadence, I cannot spin my legs fast enough on erg (small ring in front and 3rd largest on cassette) to get to the power I am capable of. Can I change the gear settings to be a smaller gear in the back? and leave it there? Does that invalidate the erg setting?
Thanks

What trainer do you have?

What rough power level are you stalling out at right now?

Some trainers need shifting to overcome Wattage Ceilings where they max out. Answering those questions is a start to understanding what to suggest in your case.

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Kickr, I can produce power but I have to have something to push against, and when I spin too fast there is no resistance at the 600+ watt range, last night i got to 668W at 97 rpm but I knew I had more to give

OK, in theory, as long as the trainer is able to add resistance and does not plateau, you can use whatever gear you want.

It is commonly recommended to use the small ring in the front,

  • because the trainer can adjust faster with a slower flywheel
  • to keep noise down
  • some trainers (Kickr is one) that have more power data deviation at higher gearing

If you are ok with loosing a bit on those above, you can use a smaller cog on the rear or the large ring on front. Lots of people like the taller gearing on a trainer in ERG mode.

Just know that if you change to something different now, it may well not be comparable to prior gear settings. Large changes in gearing and flywheel speed are suspected to impact FTP results by some people (me included).

But choose what works for you. Just try to be consistent when possible.

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Excellent advice, Thanks

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