First Ramp Test, High FTP, Bad power meter?

Equipment
1

I am new to power based training and I did my first ramp test today.

I want to be thrilled with the outcome but I am skeptical. My pre-test estimate was 160 watts, which proved to be exceptionally low. The ramp test went for a full hour and I came up with an FTP of 414 watts.

Either I need drop everything and become a pro or something is strange. I just bought the Favero Assioma Uno second hand. It seems to be relatively precise as it would hold a specific wattage for a given effort but perhaps it is inaccurate.

I have no other power meter so I cannot verify whether this one is accurate or not. As long as it is precise I can use it for training but I just cannot believe that my FTP is that high. I weigh ~74kg which would give me 5.9 W/kg…

I guess I should just do more FTP tests to see if something was off? Not sure if I should try to return the power meter or just live with it and use it as a training tool and accept that it might be inaccurate.

EDIT: Ok, looks like I did not understand the use case for the “double power” setting in Assioma’s app. I thought you only unchecked that if you converted the Uno to a Duo. Seems like most head units / software know to double the power from a single sided unit without this setting… so it only exists to rectify a situation where your power is not doubled after transmission.

Glad to have figured this out. I am definitely a mere mortal, haha.

EDIT #2:

Ok… things might not be so simple…

It seems that doubling the left side in the assioma app only applies to BLE. I unpaired the pedal with my Edge 530, reset all of the parameters correctly in the assioma app. (no doubling) Then I paired with the 530, set it up correct (with correct crank arm length) and then calibrated.

I was still seeing the same power numbers as before. This makes sense as Favero says the doubling feature is only for BLE, not ANT+.

I used some online power / velocity calculators and things seem to add up. If I go ~25 mph on the flat, the head unit reports ~330 watts from the pedal. (Me + bike = ~85kg)

FINAL EDIT:

Despite being told by TR that the Assioma Uno’s power is not doubled by the TR windows application, my first ramp test was definitely close to double my actual FTP.

I ordered an ANT+ stick and connected the Uno with that this morning to do a 20 minute FTP test instead of the ramp test and I ended up with an FTP of 233 watts. (A bit over double the 207 that would have been predicted by halving the amount for the first ramp test) Not sure about the 25 watt discrepancy… may just have been a calibration issue or perhaps the crank length was incorrect the for the first test.

While this is slightly disappointing am I glad to have a better approximation of my true FTP so that I can begin training. I tried one day of training with an FTP of 414 watts and could not even hit the targets. That whole day must have been in VO2 max or higher… so who knows if that may have affected today’s result. On the bright side, I have plenty of room to grow!

So here is my recommendation to new TR users who have Assioma Unos: Buy an ANT+ stick and connect with that so there is no chance of quadrupling the power reported from the left pedal.

4 Likes
2

Did you calibrate the pedals before the test? As you suspected, that power reading is likely to be waaay off… so far off that even if the pedals appear to read consistently for a given effort, I’m not sure I’d trust them. Do you have another power meter to test against - eg a borrowed smart trainer from a friend?

2 Likes
3

Unfortunately, no. I don’t know anyone with a power meter or trainer.

I contacted the seller and of course he said that he had no issues with it but said to just return it and he would warranty the pedals himself if I can’t figure out what is wrong. Which leads me to believe there was no issue with them when he sent them out.

I did calibrate them before the test and I had been getting similar values on my rides prior to the test. I was able to comfortably hold ~230 watts outside on a normal ride around town. Based on what I saw from the meter before the test I would not have estimated 160 watts but trainer road just had that as the pre-programed estimate.

I still don’t fully believe that my FTP is so high. I’d like to think I am a decently strong cyclist but no way am I pro level. It just doesn’t add up.

Anyway, thanks for the input. I’ll just try another test in a day or two and see what happens.

4

what is your other setup (Smart Trainer, TR App on Windows, Android, Mac)?

what values you get on outside rides?

5

:exploding_head:

A very large part of me wants your pedals to be correct!

3 Likes
6

Have you checked the crank length setting in the assioma app and your cycling computer is correct?

7

Have you set the power to be doubled on the favero app?

Some apps require the power from the left only UNO version to be doubled but TR does this automatically so you can potentially have a situation were it doubles the power twice…

This can be checked by recording power from your pedals on TR and your head unit at the same time.

2 Likes
8

Good to know, kevstraining… I’ll double check that next time. I did set it to be doubled in the app… but I was getting similar values outside with my garmin head unit. Does that double the power as well?

I’ll also double check that the crank length is correct. I set it in the app when I first got them but I suppose it could have been reset for whatever reason.

fl33tStA, outside I have generally been sitting around 200-230 watts at my preferred pace for a medium-low intensity ride. This is after I have calibrated the pedal at the beginning of the ride via my garmin edge 530.

My indoor setup is the assomia uno and a CycleOps fluid trainer.

Thanks, all. I appreciate the suggestions and I’ll make sure to go over them before my next ride.

9

To get an indication you could compare your times on outside segments, e.g. climbs, with other people around your weight and see if the power numbers are somewhat similar?
Pushing 400+ Watts @74kg should give you all the KOM’s :laughing:

10

Ok, looks like the setting for “double power” setting in the assioma app is only for devices / software that does not know to do this to begin with and I mistakenly thought that it was just supposed to be turned on at all times.

This would definitely give me a more reasonable power number. :stuck_out_tongue:

My apologies for the noob mistake. Glad to have figured it out, though.

4 Likes
11

We could start a new thread…" what’s your 59 minute song" :rofl:

Glad the OP got it sorted, I remember when my Virtual Power FTP was 450, I so wanted it to be correct…I would have only just been over 4w/kg :pensive:

12

So, I reached out to support and here is the official response on whether or not trainer road will double the power reported by a favero assioma uno:

*"Hey there,

Thanks for reaching out to TrainerRoad Support!

TrainerRoad does not automatically double the power for the Favero Assioma Uno. Doubling the power via the Assioma app settings should give you the correct readings in TR!

I would also suggest checking for any firmware updates just to make sure everything is working properly. It’s also recommended that you calibrate prior to each workout to ensure the most accurate readings.

Hopefully, this helps, but please don’t hesitate to reach out with any further questions!"*

So I am back at my original predicament… guess I’ll just have to see how it goes out on the road and in subsequent FTP tests. As I mentioned in the edit to my original post, the numbers seem to check out based on my speed out on the road. Still doesn’t seem right to me, though. I’ll report back when I figure this out.

14

Could you not try a turbo ride with virtual power and see how that compares to the Assimoas. I know VP is not perfect but it should give an idea as to the accuracy of the Assimoas.

15

Maybe you could visit your local bikeshop and ask them if you could borrow a PM to verify.

At a 414 FTP you should have no trouble riding at 40kph / 25mph for a few hours on end solo. Is that you, than congrats on your new insane FTP and contact a pro team asap.

My best guess would also be that there’s some doubling going on.

16

I definitely don’t think doubling was the issue but I did my first ride structured around that FTP (outside) and it is too high. However, I am definitely able to hold around 270-290 watts with some effort. I think my FTP might be a bit higher than that but definitely not 414. As far as I can tell, the setting to double the power before transmission only applies to BLE connections, which is not possible for my outdoor setup as I connect to the garmin with ANT+… so my outdoor ride could not have the doubling issue.

My best guess at this point is that the calibration was off when I started the test and perhaps the crank arm length was not set correctly. I don’t think it would yield such a big discrepancy but my FTP is definitely not 207 either. 207 feels very easy. It feels like it is on the low end of zone 2.

I’ve got an easy ride scheduled for today and will probably do a 20 minute FTP test later in the week. Perhaps the ramp test is not the best way for me to measure my FTP. I’ll triple check all of the settings on the pedal and if it still comes out super high I’ll try virtual power next time to see what that gives me.

I’ve never heard of bike shops lending out power meters but I suppose it wouldn’t hurt to ask.

17

How would you be able to tell? If your current setup is doubling the power, then 207 is actually 103, which would likely be a z1 ride.

My guess would be it is doubling the power, your real ftp is somewhere between 210-250W, but you didn’t quite get there due to the insane length of the ftp test. That is an ftp that would make normal group rides feel ok on the flat.

18

Problem is, you don’t know if you’re actually holding that many whatts, because the PM may be reading wrong. You’ll never know untill you check with another PM. I don’t know if this is the case where you live, but in my LBS I’m able to rent a PM for a small fee.

Another thing to consider is you’re using a single sided PM. Maybe, but highly unlikely, you’re very imbalanced and putting out a lot of power with your leg that has the PM attached. Effectively doubling the highest power instead of calculating based on your left and right leg. Again, this will probably not explain the huge difference in power, but may be something worth checking out if you do manage to rent or borrow a PM.

19

First, you have to set the correct crank length in your BIKE COMPUTER or TR App, not the Assioma app. Anything you set in the Assioma app gets overwritten. Also check with the Assioma app that there’s no issues reported.

Check the left / right balance with your Duos. If it is really off (10 second average is worse then 40/60) then you have one defective pedal, which will throw off the total power. If the balance is fairly even (better than 40/60) then you can probably rule out a defect and instead it’s probably configuration.

Another way to check everything is to do a ~5 minute ride on level ground, with low wind, constant Power and constant position (hoods). Put that ride into Best Bike Split (use your Normalized Power) and compare your actual speed to what BBS estimates. Keep playing with the power input until your actual speed matches the prediction. Then you can see if your measured power is close.

20

I have an Uno.

huges84: Also, I am not sure how to set the crank length is TR. I do not see an option for that. I see it on my head unit, though.

TrainerRoad support told me that I need to set up the assiomas to double the power before using the app (through the Favero app) so I would assume that the crank length for TR also needs to be set through the Favero app.

21

splash: As far as I can tell, the assiomas do not double the power before transmission when sending the data via ANT+, regardless of the setting in the Favero Assioma app. The numbers I see on my head unit do not change regardless of what I set in the Favero app.

I have set up the pedal in my head unit to use the correct crank length of 165mm.

So long as my head unit is displaying the correct numbers (which seem to contradict what I saw on TR the other day) then my FTP would be more around 300, not 414 as I am able to hold 210-250 relatively easily outside.

However, the power is quite jumpy. For a given effort it hovers +/-20 watts for what I perceive as a steady effort. Although, I am in a city and it is difficult to come by nicely paved, level roads so small undulations in the road surface do affect the numbers as it is difficult to keep a steady effort when the road surface is not so great.