I’ve done some intervals (climbing repeats ~3min each climb) in an hr ride and ended up with a normalised power of 290W. So it would be easy to sit back and say I should be able to do 270W for an hour. But my history is I come from high intensity sports where we did a lot of 3-5min efforts so I’m used to doing that repeatedly, and I did Olympic weightlifting which helps with putting down power in bursts (I can do 1000W sitting down fairly easily, 48yrs old, with no sprint training). When I look at my data my threshold HR (not tested, just going by known maxHR and using percentages) matches threshold power but I think it would drift in a 1hr effort.
Having said all that I think I could do 250W. I know most riders aren’t interested in a 1hr test but it’s actually something I want to do. Now that I have a trainer at home I might do it inside but I’d prefer to do it outside on a crit track or something like that. I started road riding again in Oct, had done a lot of it as a teenager (>300km/wk). I got a HR monitor in Nov and soon realised I was riding around at threshold all the time. So I know I can do a 1hr threshold effort it’s just a question of how much power over that 1hr (didn’t get power meter until mid Jan and have been structuring my training which hasn’t included a 1hr threshold ride yet).
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Again, like I said, it depends on the type of ride. Is it a ride with a lot of surges? Is it a hard steady state ride?
The point is that there’s not one single answer to your question other than “it depends.”
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Impressive. Don’t think I can hit 700 watts even for a moment.
I would absolutely take the lower number.
The definition of FTP is the highest power a rider can maintain in a quasi steady state for approximately one hour without fatigue.
Because ramp tests are quite short and go deep into the anaerobic zone, there is a reasonable contention that their figures don’t reflect a reality of that “quasi steady state” for most riders. It’s why Kolie Moore of Empirical Cycling has suggested an entirely different baseline FTP test (https://www.trainingpeaks.com/blog/the-physiology-of-ftp-and-new-testing-protocols/) that involves starting an interval/lap below the anticipated FTP, rising to the FTP for a period, then slowly progressing beyond it — and using the average of the whole test as a new FTP number. In the Empirical Cycling podcast FTP is described as a slow burn, and your ramp test number doesn’t sound like that for you as much as a painful experience right out of the gates.
Conventional pro wisdom is to test FTP after already doing 2500kj worth of work on a ride; this is way too much effort for 99% of us, but I think there’s validity in examining what we can maintain for roughly an hour as a basis for our training zones.
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My best 1hr power number in Intervals.icu is 219W. That was during a 2h ride (see image). So obviously a full on 1hr effort I will be able to do better than that and remembering how that ride felt, which was the day after 3x 9min @270W climbing repeats in the morning and weights that night, I believe 250W would be achievable. Now I’m curious enough I might do a 1hr test on the trainer tomorrow morning 
I did 110km yesterday with a rest day today so maybe not ideal preparation.
If anyone reading has done a 1hr test and has some tips on pacing I’d love to hear it.
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Good luck @Patrick_Galligan . I imagine this will be very tough.
I am looking forward to seeing the result.
Thanks @Ryan_Nelson. I think your probably right. I have decided to leave my FTP at the higher number but will not be pushing to achieve it etc. If I do any intervals and cant make the numbers then I may take your advice and lower it.
I am quite likely gaining fitness as I am still only a few months into regular riding so hopefully I will catch it up anyway if its a little high.
FTP tests aren’t great. The number you end up with is influenced by so many factors. As suggested, use it as a starting point and adjust up and down a bit based on your assessment of your performance of your structured workouts, after all, the goal isn’t to boast about your massive FTP on the coffee ride, it’s to make sure your workouts are productive! At least that’s what I tell myself when I look at my FTP number … 
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I cant boast about having a massive one. 
I ended up with 241W avg over 30min. The graph says Z3 because my FTP is set at 270W. It was 86% humidity here this morning so after 30min I figured I had enough data. I decided to use the Kolie Moore test, at that 30min mark you are supposed to gradually increase power. So I brought up to ~270W and could feel in my legs what was going to happen. I may have been able to last long enough to bring it up to 250W which is where I was expecting it to be. I was still a little fatigued this morning but no soreness in my legs when I started.
@Kent_Dixon power curves are different for everyone. Dr Seilor says your best 6min power is your VO2Max power. For me that’s 320W, which lines up percentage wise with an FTP of ~270W. But like I said I can’t sustain 270W for an actual FTP effort. However, on hill climbs I can do 9min at 265-270W for 4 climbing repeats which is mostly a threshold effort (HR bumps up into VO2Max territory at the end, but that’s because I see the top and start working harder).
Power meters and indoor trainers are great for helping you train at a particular level, as long as you know what that level is supposed to be. Both of your FTP numbers could be right, depending on what you using them to calculate
That’s a great effort @Patrick_Galligan.
It sounds incredibly tough.
I like your point about both being right and see what your getting at.
I might try a different type of test next time possibly the 20 minute test rather than the Ramp.
I only like to test once a month though so a few weeks away yet.
Just to add to the confusion, I went for a 48km ride this afternoon and averaged 255W (same power meter) for the first hour. This was a hard effort but not all out since I had another ~50min riding to get home. Also got a KOM 4km from home
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Have you done this yet? If so how did you go?
I’ve had an interesting few weeks, other life events changing my riding plans a little bit. I’ve been using both the new indoor trainer and riding outside. But my other life events usually involve running around (eg. gel blaster comps, which are like airsoft, and a paintball comp which was 8hrs at a relentless pace equiv to a hard 100km ride according to my HR monitor) so I get some good cardio but then have to have a rest day. So I just had 2 days rest, still a bit fatigued this morning so went back to sleep and rode this afternoon instead. Managed just under 2hrs @230W and NP of 263W. On Saturday I smashed a 14sec PB up a 2:20 climb which boosted my FTP 10W to 280W on both this platform and Xert (I just have a trial login there out of interest). Felt really strong today.
I would suggest just training for a while and uploading your data here. The eFTP seems to be a pretty good estimate for setting your training zones. The FTP test really needs to be done when you are really fresh. I felt so strong today if I had done an FTP test I’m confident I could have gotten the same as my eFTP here or better. I wasn’t overly motivated, I just felt really good once I started riding.
This is what my HR looked like today, I was working hard but it definitely didn’t feel that hard.
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Adding to the discussion, this might be a good alternative to get a propper figure for the majority of the cases with the advantage of estimating TTE@FTP as well.
No Not done it yet. I probably wont do an indoor test any time soon as I am going out more now and just enjoying riding.
Those are some good numbers your posting seems to be going well for you!
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My goal is to hit 4w/kg which for me is around 320W. So while I’m happy with my progress I don’t see them as ‘good’ numbers, at least not until I hit 300W FTP 
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We are in a snap 3 day lockdown here, can still exercise outside and it’s a great time to be riding since there’s less traffic. I think I would go bonkers if I had to do all my riding indoors
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Its all relative. they are better than my numbers so to me they are good.
I know what you mean though, goals are individual and as long as they are achievable a good thing.
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Absolutely! I follow a bunch of the pros on Strava. Sometimes it’s demoralising I guess but it’s also good to look at their numbers as motivation to improve your own even though you know you’ll never get near theirs.
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