But I listened to what people said on the thread here, and put it right by the third time! Right next stop will be a cat C race at some point, when I've sufficiently steeled myself for thought of the flat out sprint at the start.
Chrisull, it sounds like we're very similar. From a recent FTP test, I am just on the boundary of Cat C/Cat B but I know I'd get blown off the back of a Cat B race. I don't mind that, but I've only done one race on Zwift, and that was Cat C where I finished pretty much in the middle.
What's the opinion of the various merits of the two types of FTP tests on Zwift? I only ever do the ramp because the more traditional one requires me to be in touch with my FTP at the beginning of the session which seems to me to be too easy to get wrong for a novice.
larkim, in terms of accuracy, I have no idea what is best. But I prefer the ramp test personally, although even that I messed up the first time I did it (I've only done it twice). For whatever reason I didn't get the best out of myself the first time, as I think it was basically a shock how hard it got, in a very short space of time. The second time I was aware of that and did better even though I couldn't really have been any fitter with only a week or so gap between the two tests.
My understanding is that in a lab environment, where hooked up to oxygen and lactic measuring equipment, a ramp test is supposed to be a better scientific measure, because it's much more controllable and less susceptible to physiological elements (i.e. you can see certain features in measured curves, irrespective of where people actually stop).
However, the 75% of final 1min power is considered less reliable an estimate of FTP. It may underestimate FTP if you are pure time trialler and over estimate if you are very strongly anaerobic.
Ultimately though, it's a means to measure progress, and consistency of testing protocol probably matters more. If you were, for example, a crit racer for whom the idea of a twenty minute steady state effort feels incredibly alien, such that you can never get it right, and may be of limited relevance to your racing, a ramp test may be the best bet.
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Jan 2025