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Power Output. Rollers vs Road

by Cervelocyclist
Mon, Oct 26, 2015 20:12
6

evening all,

I have some Elite rollers with built in resistance. Have carried out a CP20 test with warm up drills and 5 min max output effort in build in.

I have also done the same drill/sets and carried out the test on the road, both server all times with being general rested the same for rollers/road.

My roller results are 10-15% less than road. Any reasons for this?

If I train on the rollers this winter at a reduced FT rate, which is a chuck lower than road, will my road power output reduce, as I'm not pushing the higher power watts?

Hope I've been clear in above and appearcite any advise/help on this.

ta

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6 comments

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CXR94Di2 | 9 years ago
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My bikes power meter reads less on the turbo than the turbo figure. But on road the results come back similar in effort. I ignore the difference and just look to improve my ftp on the turbo and see if it translates well to the road

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peted76 | 9 years ago
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I love rollers in winter, but have noticed that my out of the saddle efforts suffer come springtime.

I can't see how you can have a reduced FT rate in reality. By which I mean that your heart beats the same. However there are a million external factors which could affect the different readings between in and outdoors. 

I agree with DaSy... "Ultimately as long as you are going full bore on the rollers and your workouts move forward on FTP power over time, then all is good"

 

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DaSy | 9 years ago
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I do a lot of my training on rollers (Cyclops Alu rollers with resistance unit), and can hit very similar figures on them to on the road.

One of the causes of reduced power can be cooling, as you quickly overheat indoors, compared to a 20+mph wind cooling you outside. Little domestic fans do little to help, and I ended up with a large commercial fan that even riding 2x20 at FTP I get very little sweat on.

 

The other factor that makes a difference is that on rollers you sustain a very even tempo, which is a contrast to even a flat road with no junctions (it's very hard to find 7 or 8 miles of pan flat straight road with no obstructions!), which requires you to go above and below FTP with undulations etc. Some people cope better with the power and rest scenario than the continuous steady unchanging output of the santised roller workout.

 

Ultimately as long as you are going full bore on the rollers and your workouts move forward on FTP power over time, then all is good.

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Iamnot Wiggins | 9 years ago
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There's very little resistance to rollers at the best of times.  Do your tests outside.

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vadido | 9 years ago
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BTW which Elite rollers do you have?

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vadido | 9 years ago
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Using the same power meter in both cases?

Some (most?) people have trouble setting the same FTP on the flat on a still day compared to say riding into the wind or up hill. So maybe retry with a higher resistance setting if you can adjust it? Maybe you are not able to cool down enough on rollers?

Here is quite a lot of discussion on the subject, which is widely known

http://alex-cycle.blogspot.fr/2009/01/turbocharged-training.html

Maybe an indoor/outdoor ftp would work for you.

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