Originally Posted by
mattcalifornia
OK - I just finished my experiment. I mounted my Favero Assioma Duo power meter pedals on my Peloton bike and ran the zero calibration routine in the app. I did a 60-minute "Power Zone Endurance Ride," which was a long warm-up, followed by four 9-minute Zone 3 intervals, with Zone 2 breaks in between (i.e., it's a very steady, moderate workout).
According to Peloton, I averaged 158 watts, with a total output of 568 kJ.
According to the Faveros (using the Cyclemeter app on my iPhone), I averaged 175 watts with a total output of 632 kJ.
So, in my case, the Peloton was too too low by approximately 10%. I will attempt to use the Peloton calibration kit one of these days and see if I can get the Peloton more in line with my pedals, and then I will have to retake my FTP test.
[By the way, I used my Apple Watch to monitor my HR for Cyclemeter, and a Scoshe Rhythm 24 armband to monitor my HR for Peloton. They were virtually identical the entire ride.]
Call me DC Rainmaker Jr.
very interesting experiment. unfortunately i have a crank based power meter so can't do the same thing. let us know if you do more testing! I also don't know how the normalized power calculation works exactly, but given there is coasting and downhills in the real world, that definitely reduces output relative to the Peloton where you never stop pedaling. Just taking a quick observation, on flats I am pushing at least 240-260 watts on the road bike and going up hills in the 300's at least. hard to keep those kind of watts downhill which is clearly going to impact average.