I didn’t quote the whole first post but how is a newbie supposed to know all that? Newbies probably think this is all very scientific rather than ballpark estimates.
To me it’s the saddest thing when people are getting crushed by sweet spot. SST shouldn’t be that hard especially for say 10 minutes. They start off with too high of an FTP, struggle through SSBv1 but make it, and then eventually flame out when it gets harder.
Hilarious. If want to get away from any complaining get off all social media.
Great stuff. 
You wrote “living in a bunker” wrong.
I’ve recommended and continue to recommend TR to family and friends. And because of that, have mentored my sister and a couple friends.
First hand I’ve seen genuine confusion when workouts are either too easy or too hard. The discussion often starts with “isn’t the point of an app to make it easy and foolproof, why did you recommend this app?” 
What to do next is not obvious. And saying things like “Find a number that works for your workouts, adjust workouts if you need to, and go get faster” is not obvious to them, and in fact can just add to the confusion.
If you are the family all-things-tech-support person 
you know what I mean. For example this happens at least once a month… wife: our Internet is not working again, me: yes it is, what are you trying to do?, wife: I’m on the Ulta website trying to save money!, me: try going to another website, wife: yes I can go to another website, me: its the Ulta website. BUT WAIT, it gets even BETTER when she is on work laptop and all traffic is going thru VPN and the ultra-restrictive work content filter that prevents her from doing job LOL, or someone sends a file without .pdf three-letter extension and File Explorer can’t open the file. Good times in our house.
The ramp test is just a starting point. I adjust my ftp by how I feel after several hard efforts. If I can do more then I do. If it is to hard then I adjust it down. There is no sense in complaining about it. Every test has its faults. some people who have done a lot of time trials might do better with the 20 minute test or the two eight tests. Trainer road is a great training plan. A coach would cost ten times as much and you might not see any more improvement than using trainer road.
I offered a light hearted joke because I found the post amusing.
I offered a practical evaluation of the overall FTP/RAMP discussion in a short summary.
I took an opportunity to share some opinion, along with general info for the sake of covering all the bases.
OT again, but this is the 2nd (or 3rd) time I have been criticized for sharing my opinion on a topic today. I try hard to walk the line between participant and moderator, and fall short sometimes. Perhaps this is one of those days I should have stayed in bed?
I think one of the hardest things to figure out here, is it’s not even just about who you are biologically, it’s who you are in the moment of the workout. I’ve been doing this now for 2 years and have been doing it consistently and thoughtfully. I’ve had ups and downs (mostly ups), but have come to learn that adjustments are part of the plan. What worked for you in March, may not work for you in July. Your fitness is always changing and sometimes you are ahead of your FTP and sometimes you are behind it regardless of where you fall in the spectrum of VO2-blessings. Overall, I will almost never blame TrainerRoad for my failings and I’m not really interested in beating myself up, just looking for the path forward. I think this is nearly impossible to explain to a newbie or even an experienced user.
So bottom line, I agree, there is no obvious direction and no obvious solution. I think just success, failure and learning. I’m not even sure they (TR) can solve this problem because it would take much more data to not only know your physiology, but also how you are feeling relative to yourself enough to be able to tell you what to do next. And don’t even get me started on the disparate equipment or any other external factors involved. This tool provides value, but it’s never going to tell you everything, and as long as it doesn’t, this forum will see the same questions over and over because they are fundamental to this.
Hey I’m not a special snowflake like everyone else.
I’m an individual icicle thank you very much.
Still not sure why a ramp test goes in steps though 
Need an infinitely adjusting power but it could be done. Anyway that’s a topic that could go on forever 
Absolutely.
I like it and have tried all the popular FTP protocols for like a decade now.
While like the TR ramp like everything it has its flaws you gotta just find one that you like for a variety of reasons and stick to it. Testing multiple protocols is only going to confuse you and not give you any consistent benchmark…just a bunch of numbers that just maybe will tell you which test it better for you?
The reason i like it is that is short and quick and figuring out the pacing/hacking of it is pretty easy after your 4th test or so and it still gives a good picture of your FTP and fitness (although i think it sets me with too high a FTP).
The 20 minute, 1 hour and 40 min tests are too much of an effort to where you need to consider fitness going into it and recover from it. the 3 and 8 minute test are not accurate at all except maybe for fast twitch guys. I have not tried the zwift ramp but it looks like it ramps up to quickly for my tastes.
Pick a test and stick to it.
+1
Put it all in one thread so I can ignore that thread.
I think cyclists need to stop defining themselves and their worthiness (or worthlessness!) as human beings by their ftp and their weight. Unfortunately, TR really doesn’t do the greatest job at that. It’s constantly FTP, FTP, FTP as if that is what makes a cyclist fast. (Yeah, I know they try to say it isn’t the most important thing on the podcasts, but then they constantly talk about numbers, and tests, etc…). The vast majority of the time, in a real ride outdoors whether a race, group ride, or event, it is not the highest watts that wins. One of the strongest riders in my club is about 50 lbs overweight. He will break your legs when it gets flat and is indispensable on the pace line. Another guy smokes me on our Sunday hammer fest. We are about the same size (little guys) and he averages a lot less power than I do. In fact, most of the faster smaller guys do. I would miss out on a lot of great rides/races/events if I thought my ftp was all that mattered (as I used to believe.) Your ftp is enough to do a LOT more than you are currently doing with it. I believe that is true for every cyclist.
Unless you’re a trackie or BMXer, FTP is the most important thing.
Because he has a high ftp…
Seriously? You really believe that? My ftp is around 270-280. Why do I attack a guy with a 350 watt ftp up a 17% climb? I can suck his wheel all day long… then smash the climb. Why can Contador beat Sagan on a mountain stage? FTP is not the most important thing unless you only ride on Zwift.
Yes. He has a very high ftp. But my town is a hilly town, and he cannot keep up on our typical group ride. Only on flat time trials, and his ftp is not high enough to drop someone sucking his wheel (me) who has other skills, like the ability to anticipate accelerations, change cadence and body positions, etc…there is a LOT more to being fast than high ftp. Power to weight is more important in my group rides, and skill in the pack also plays a huge role.
Place two guys in a race for instance. A guy with 300 ftp and a guy with 280 ftp. It is NOT a given that the higher ftp will win. There is a lot more in play. FTP is important, but not the most important unless you are so skilled in all other areas of your cycling that ftp is the only gain to be made. Now who can say that?
Yes, seriously. There is nothing more important.
What seems to have confused you is a focus on absolute wattage, rather than W/kg, which is how FTP is best expressed.
Even though 2 riders with the same w/kg can have vastly different performance when the road doesn’t point up…