Trainer Road FTP vs …FTP

Yes, going forward no doubt, but my issue is now I don’t know exactly where I stack compared to when I started riding about 2 years ago.

Look at your power curve across seasons?

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Would love if TR offered an FTP detection look back feature.

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True

I think it all comes down to a marketing mistake that TrainerRoad made when introducing predicted FTP

If instead of the way that they announced that they had said hey, we’re gonna come up with a way that you can go ahead and change your training by number of hours, number of sessions, intensity, etc. and you’ll be able to see approximately what that does to your expected FTP in 30 days

I think a statement similar to that would’ve avoided all the drama that they’ve found found themselves in

By the way, I personally am very happy with all the changes that have been made

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My season consists of 2 years and a handful of 5 hour races. I’ve never made an attempt to hit a power PR between 20 mins and 3 hrs… even then, strategy on races does not always depict the highest average power.

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I hear ya @Twowkg. Let me give context.

My buddy shits on TR and his two points are that 1. ramp tests are junk and not a real FTP and that 2. Creating workout programs in TR are completely off the mark as his example is picking a plan for three hours a week with the intent to do Unbound should not be an option (3 hours a week won’t cut it).

So I can only refute the first point, as it is a ramp test to calibrate for training. But additionally, I made a deal with him to ride at the Ramp FTP for 1 hour. So last season I did it 3 times. I achieved it one out of the three. I used a basic endurance ride of 90min in ERG and took the percent up to my FTP for the middle 60 min
I would like to have an FTP workout in the filtered library for this “Power Hour” if for nothing else, just for fun trying it

PS So since I achieved it, the bet was that he had to sign up for TR for a month and use it. He did and the canceled because he did workout creator and set it up for Leadville as his A race and it didn’t give him any rides longer than 3 hours. He doubled down on its inability to project proper volume needed for 8+ hour long events

Dynamic endurance happily goes up to 5hours - but it won’t prescribe that straight away - it meets you where you’re at currently and builds you up.

Doesn’t sound like your friend gave it much of a chance.

Their loss :joy:

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Intentionally so, because few people would ride for more than 2h indoors and TR is all about structure which is best done on a trainer. You can always do a long weekend ride on your own accord, that’s why I love low volume plans. There’s enough room for freestyling. I know that some people love big volume, but I disagree that it’s absolutely necessary to do a long race. Sure, do a long ride or two to get that fuelling and hydration right, but it doesn’t need to be a weekly thing in your schedule. I personally do the longest non-ultra races I can find, as I don’t think all the hassle around a race is worth it if it’s over in less than 3-4 hours. I’ve always used TR’s low volume plans with no more than 4h of structure in a week, spread between 3 intense rides. Never had any issues with race duration.

On another note, nowadays, TR has even made such rides available via the dynamic endurance introduced in the latest update, so go get your friend another month’s worth of TR :wink:

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I’m right there with you. I have always done 3-4 day volume and then longer weekend rides. And I do all the events he does. And about the same results.

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Your buddy is definitely missing out and not knowing TR that well.

I just plugged in a plan for me, and out of the box it’s 5 days a week building to over 10 hours a week. Swap a couple availability settings and workout times to match what I’m doing now (6 days, masters) and it builds to over 12. Match that with Dynamic Endurance, toning down Endurance Progressions for longer but easier Z2 Rides, and longer rides on the weekend - plenty of volume for longer events.

The nuance is there’s no way that TR will give that to a user unless they have the recent training volume and TSS to support it, and it does take a little bit of figuring out the details of how TR works out of the box, vs how it can.

Also - here’s (almost) your hour power workout. Its set at 99% and you can bump it up a percent once you start. - Cahuilla

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yes please. I’m not greedy either. Just give me 1 or 2 per season. I’d love to go back and see how TR would assess past seasons. Moreover, now that the model has changed, I’d just as soon have all my AIFTP run under the same model for consistency’s sake.

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Agree, it would be cool to see my FTP throughout my years on TR using the same FTP methodology.

The ramp test definitely gave me an inflated number. The previous AI seemed pretty close to what I’d consider accurate. The latest is definitely on the high side again. I can ballpark compare where fitness is today to history based on knowing that but as data geek, would be nice to see consistent trending over the years.

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After the estimate, I have only done endurance rides as I had a surgery and I have been avoiding sweating with the wound. However, here is my all-time and 8 weeks prior the estimate Power Curves:

I would say I have a decent sprint and can perform well under 3 minutes, but after that not so much.

My 8 weeks prior to the estimate were pretty much long intervals and long endurance rides, so I guess those short durations shouldn’t really affect the estimate.

I am starting some intervals again this week, so let’s see how the AI calculation will update.

75% of the ramp test is like 95% of 20-minute TT (after a 5-minute blowout as per Hunter Allen’s test protocal), it is the mean of the dataset used to developed the tests, not the absolute. For the ramp test, the range is between 72%-77% as per the test originator, MAP Ramp Test: Can It Accurately Estimate FTP? — CycleCoach | Complete Training Systems for Cyclists - Expert Coaching. As far I know, TR has never disclosed the probability distribution.

Interesting, did the AI predict different FTP based on the two PDC? Is your TTE at FTP around 50 minutes as suggest by the orange curve? Does the AI gives an estimate of the TTE at FTP?

I must admit that I am surprised with that low volume and TSS if you had supplied all your past data to TR to analyze.

What happened if you increased the durations using the dropdown boxes?

I think you might be an interesting case study for the TR team regarding onboarding - did you have your one-to-one onboarding call? I’m surprised that they couldn’t help you get the plan you wanted.

It would be interesting to see what kind of volume @Jonathan ‘s Leadville plan has….

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I agree that TR FTP estimation is realistic compared to say, Zwift.

I did a FTP test at the gym on Zwift. I had a rib injury so couldn’t get a full breath, didn’t have cleats, but still got a Ftp of around 170 .

My TR FTP was 149, now gone down to 144, today apparently is going down to 141 in next week.

I don’t like it, but it’s realistic based on TR consistency.

I also wonder whether my lack of sprint power (having to lower the intensity for anything upper vo2 max.))

I’m super good at threshold and sweet spot, so will be interesting to see if anything changes when I go onto a different plan.

I’m a cyclo x rider, who does endurance and bikepacking in the summer.

They’re all estimates, unless you’re going out to do an hours test (and even then can vary day to day). Comparing it to ramp, 20 minute, 8 minute, KM Protocol - they are all just means of estimating, not your actual FTP.

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Ok - so how about you post your schedule from the last month that supports more training volume? Take a screenshot please, and post it up for everyone to see.

TrainerRoad bases volume recommendation on what you’ve shown you can do and your recent training load. Based on what it’s giving you, you’re probably riding lower offseason volume now and have no basis for more at this point of the year. But guess what, it adjusts.

Have you selected more days?

Have you selected more time per workout?

Have you played around with the progression sliders by zone?

Have you built your endurance through easy Z2 added on to show TR that you can handle the extra volume?

Seems to me a little bit that you’re just interested in throwing stones rather than actually trying or actually knowing the platform very well. TR absolutely WILL give you more volume - and the plan I just put in the calendar is specifically for Leadville, as that’s the A Race on my calendar. Took me all of a minute or two to tweak it to meet my needs. And I will almost guarantee that it adjusts higher as the riding season gets into swing this spring and outdoor volume starts trending back up.

My Leadville Plan that I just Created:

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That doesn’t work - that’s 2024. You need to send now - i.e. TSS and training load for January - February 2026. That’s what will drive the volume TR Recommends.

Edit - example from Careeer → Training Stress

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