Originally Posted by
himespau
Yeah, I think the whole reason I popped into this thread was to say that weight plays a big role in whether or not 300 W means much (in my case, it just means 3 W/kg). Momentum (and downhills) is really the only nice thing about being as big as I am. Gotta get my back and knee back into shape and then lose this weight to get back to race weight again (hopefully without losing too much power).
In real life performance it makes a huge difference if you’re 100kg and lean vs. 100kg w/ 20kg of excess fat.
That said…. To me, 300w for an hour at 100kg w/ 20kg of fat is much better than the same power for the lean 100kg guy. Internally I always think of my w/kg in terms of race weight. If I gain 5-10 lbs in the winter and I’m putting out good raw watts I don’t care that the w/kg number of lower than it could/should be. I know by the POWER that my fitness is good. The w/kg number is more important when it comes to going uphill of course, but if I’ve got the power in my legs I can lose a few lbs. and then go uphill fast.