Originally Posted by
burnthesheep
This topic is totally unnecessary, but got into a back and forth about this with some folks and wanted some more perspective. Your perception is often colored by the folks you hang around with. So, this may be the case and I may be 100% incorrect.
The disagreement was basically about how many people, thin or heavy, are tossing out 300+w as B racers in Zwift for anywhere from 20min to over 30min. 300w isn't very remarkable, at all. But I do feel it's less common than I'm being told to think it is.
I follow about 120 people on Strava. In the last few years I know of at least 40 of those who have done some kind of race. Be it a crit, TT, Ironman, road, endurance MTB, etc......Out of all of that entire list, only 5 or so have ever tossed 300w for even 20min. Not an hour. I know of 3 of those who've done it an hour. One an elite collegiate racer, one an out of contract domestic pro, one a Cat 1.
These folks were telling me that most every Cat 4 racer they know can do 300w for ftp. FTP would be 45 to 70min or so. I know exactly zero Cat 4 racers who can do 300w for 45min.
Am I totally in left field here? I thought the other day Rubik said he thought most 4/5's would struggle to do 210w for 3 hours for a Zone 2 ride? I tend to believe that.
If you could do 300w for 45min, you could ride away from a Cat 4/5 road race field around here on the 2nd lap and never look back.
Oooo...loooks like a fun thread but I'm late and not going to catch up.
Having had a Computrainer multirider studio for around 10 years and running one of the largest teams in the Chicagoland area...it's not uncommon for us to have cat 4/5 racers whose ftp is over 300. Super depressing for me but not uncommon.
That said most of them do end up moving up to 3's shortly.
All of this in a vacuum without weight is interesting but kind of pointless imho but I am sure that's covered extensively in other comments.
I have also known pros that will win races with average power outputs for over an hour that is more in the 240-260 range. Good thing racing isn't just about power.
IIRC - "the guy" I got into racing whose brother was on Garmin and who raced in the olympics, etc. his off the shelf ftp from my first test with him was like 340. I have had many in the 320-350 range. Like I said though most upgrade. They also don't win everything. I have one guy in the 350ish range and I can't tell you any race he has won.
As for zwift -
- I honestly think the best approach is just to suspend your disbelief and enjoy it as a game without ever really trying to compare anything from there to reality. Sure there's elements of truth to it but that's like saying car racing games have some things in them that are similar to real life car racing. Sure but they don't translate the same completely and really shouldn't be used to measure performance on. Especially without outside standards and certification of those standards.