Are you able to produce more power when your ride on the road, or when you are on the trainer?
If you have a power meter, trainer, and heart rate monitor, consider trying to do what I did and share your results on this thread. Here's what I did, and my results.
I compared peak power while performing the H.A. & A.C. Power Profile Test (as published by TrainerRoad.com, protocol and described in detail below) once with my V20 locked in a trainer (Wahoo Kickr smart trainer) where the front triangle (boom, chainstay, and bottom bracket) cannot rotate. In this position, the V20 operates like any fixed-boom (RWD) recumbent bicycle, with no ability of tugging on the handlebars to move the BB side-to-side. Next, I performed the same test on the road, where I intentionally engaged my upper body during the test segments.
Effort level during the tests was a maximum effort for the duration of each test interval, which were 5 minutes, 1 minute, and 15 seconds. Active recovery (several minutes of easy pedaling) were interspersed between the test segments. Power and heart rate data were collected and uploaded to the TrainingPeaks.com application for analysis. Peak power at each interval was automatically calculated by the TrainingPeaks application based on data collected from a Garmin heart rate monitor, and power meters 1) in the Wahoo Kickr trainer, and 2) a PowerTap hub-based power meter in the front wheel of the V20. Power meters were calibrated prior to each test.
Results:
Peak Power at every tested interval was significantly higher with the dynamic-boom when compared to the fixed-boom. Peak heart rate was not significantly different.
Table 1. Peak Power and Peak Heart Rate (W = Watts, HR = heart rate)
Figure 1. Graph generated by TrainingPeaks.com application
Discussion:
I recently published a report showing that, on a Cruzbike V20 bicycle, when a forward force is applied to the left pedal when the left crank is in the upright (or near-upright) position, a tug on the left-end of the handlebar will significantly increase the torque in the left crank. The torque increased from 13 Newton-meters by about 30%. This increase in torque in the left crank occurred when the force on the pedal was applied by the human-leg, a 25 lbs. dumbbell, or a bungee cord. It follows, therefore, that more power may be generated during actual cycling when the upper body is able to rotate the bottom-bracket (BB). This pilot study tends to support that theory.
Power Profile Tests, such as the one used in this experiment, have been shown to correlate with actual cycling performance in time trial events. The Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan Power Profile test requires a warm-up phase, and then contains three 1-minute tests, a single 5-minutes effort, and two 15-second efforts.
Limitations of the experiment:
1) Efforts longer than 5-minutes were not tested.
2) Only one subject was tested, and that subject (me, the author) is also an owner of Cruzbike, Inc., and therefore may have consciously or unconsciously biased the intensity of his efforts. The fact that heart rate monitoring showed no significant difference between the trials would tend to support the claim that an equal effort was made. I gave both trials my best effort. I am in a hard-training phase right now and both trials were done without any taper.
3) The power meters were different. Even though they were both calibrated immediately before the trials. An error range of 1-3% is common with power meters, so this is unlikely to be the cause of the large differences recorded.
4) Heat build-up has been described as a limitation of peak performance on an indoor trainer. The air temperature was in the 40-50 degree F range in the garage, and fans were running. I did not feel any limitation from heat during the testing, especially considering how short the efforts were.
5) I had a flat tire during my warm-up for the road trial and had to cut my rest time between test sets so that I wouldn't be late for work. I think I could have done a little better with more rest.
These results help explain why racing on a Cruzbike makes us better climbers and sprinters. Please add your test results and see if they compare to mine. I believe most (but not all) cyclists can get more useful power by engaging their upper body on traditional bikes and Cruzbikes. But the technique takes some practice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the protocol for the H.A. & A.C. Power Profile Test
Duration: 1:25:00
Hunter Allen & Andy Coggan
Calibrate Power meter!
Warm-up
15 minutes building gradually from 65% to 75% of FTP
1 min at 90% FTP, then recover 1 min at 65% X 3 sets total
5 min at 100% FTP, then recover 5 minutes at 65%
Test begins
1 minute all-out sprint, 10 minutes of recovery at 65%
5 minutes all-out effort, 10 minutes of recovery at 65%
1 minute all-out sprint, 5 minutes of recovery at 65%
1 minute all-out sprint, 5 minutes of recovery at 65%
15 seconds all-out sprint, 2 minutes of recovery at 65%
15 seconds all-out sprint, 2 minutes of recovery at 65%
Warm-down
15 minutes gradually decreasing from 75% to 50%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reference:
Quod MJ, Martin DT, Laursen PB. The Power Profile Predicts Road Cycling MMP. Int J Sports Med, Published online: 2010, ISSN 0172-4622.
If you have a power meter, trainer, and heart rate monitor, consider trying to do what I did and share your results on this thread. Here's what I did, and my results.
I compared peak power while performing the H.A. & A.C. Power Profile Test (as published by TrainerRoad.com, protocol and described in detail below) once with my V20 locked in a trainer (Wahoo Kickr smart trainer) where the front triangle (boom, chainstay, and bottom bracket) cannot rotate. In this position, the V20 operates like any fixed-boom (RWD) recumbent bicycle, with no ability of tugging on the handlebars to move the BB side-to-side. Next, I performed the same test on the road, where I intentionally engaged my upper body during the test segments.
Effort level during the tests was a maximum effort for the duration of each test interval, which were 5 minutes, 1 minute, and 15 seconds. Active recovery (several minutes of easy pedaling) were interspersed between the test segments. Power and heart rate data were collected and uploaded to the TrainingPeaks.com application for analysis. Peak power at each interval was automatically calculated by the TrainingPeaks application based on data collected from a Garmin heart rate monitor, and power meters 1) in the Wahoo Kickr trainer, and 2) a PowerTap hub-based power meter in the front wheel of the V20. Power meters were calibrated prior to each test.
Results:
Peak Power at every tested interval was significantly higher with the dynamic-boom when compared to the fixed-boom. Peak heart rate was not significantly different.
Table 1. Peak Power and Peak Heart Rate (W = Watts, HR = heart rate)
Figure 1. Graph generated by TrainingPeaks.com application
Discussion:
I recently published a report showing that, on a Cruzbike V20 bicycle, when a forward force is applied to the left pedal when the left crank is in the upright (or near-upright) position, a tug on the left-end of the handlebar will significantly increase the torque in the left crank. The torque increased from 13 Newton-meters by about 30%. This increase in torque in the left crank occurred when the force on the pedal was applied by the human-leg, a 25 lbs. dumbbell, or a bungee cord. It follows, therefore, that more power may be generated during actual cycling when the upper body is able to rotate the bottom-bracket (BB). This pilot study tends to support that theory.
Power Profile Tests, such as the one used in this experiment, have been shown to correlate with actual cycling performance in time trial events. The Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan Power Profile test requires a warm-up phase, and then contains three 1-minute tests, a single 5-minutes effort, and two 15-second efforts.
Limitations of the experiment:
1) Efforts longer than 5-minutes were not tested.
2) Only one subject was tested, and that subject (me, the author) is also an owner of Cruzbike, Inc., and therefore may have consciously or unconsciously biased the intensity of his efforts. The fact that heart rate monitoring showed no significant difference between the trials would tend to support the claim that an equal effort was made. I gave both trials my best effort. I am in a hard-training phase right now and both trials were done without any taper.
3) The power meters were different. Even though they were both calibrated immediately before the trials. An error range of 1-3% is common with power meters, so this is unlikely to be the cause of the large differences recorded.
4) Heat build-up has been described as a limitation of peak performance on an indoor trainer. The air temperature was in the 40-50 degree F range in the garage, and fans were running. I did not feel any limitation from heat during the testing, especially considering how short the efforts were.
5) I had a flat tire during my warm-up for the road trial and had to cut my rest time between test sets so that I wouldn't be late for work. I think I could have done a little better with more rest.
These results help explain why racing on a Cruzbike makes us better climbers and sprinters. Please add your test results and see if they compare to mine. I believe most (but not all) cyclists can get more useful power by engaging their upper body on traditional bikes and Cruzbikes. But the technique takes some practice.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Here is the protocol for the H.A. & A.C. Power Profile Test
Duration: 1:25:00
Hunter Allen & Andy Coggan
Calibrate Power meter!
Warm-up
15 minutes building gradually from 65% to 75% of FTP
1 min at 90% FTP, then recover 1 min at 65% X 3 sets total
5 min at 100% FTP, then recover 5 minutes at 65%
Test begins
1 minute all-out sprint, 10 minutes of recovery at 65%
5 minutes all-out effort, 10 minutes of recovery at 65%
1 minute all-out sprint, 5 minutes of recovery at 65%
1 minute all-out sprint, 5 minutes of recovery at 65%
15 seconds all-out sprint, 2 minutes of recovery at 65%
15 seconds all-out sprint, 2 minutes of recovery at 65%
Warm-down
15 minutes gradually decreasing from 75% to 50%
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Reference:
Quod MJ, Martin DT, Laursen PB. The Power Profile Predicts Road Cycling MMP. Int J Sports Med, Published online: 2010, ISSN 0172-4622.