Just wondering how may people in here can put out a 450+ FTP, regardless of what weight they are?
may be a pro rider for 20 mins,
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maybe pro, maybe ebike, maybe dodgy trainer.
usually if they are that good and likely near pro you find they have strava with comparable rides and possibly duel recording.
If you see they donāt that strava, ride without hrm etc then i start getting suspicious of faulty configuration or cheating.
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Where is this going?
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Genuine interest. Im involved in a new sport where absolute rather than relative wattage is a primary focus - which I appreciate is not the norm in cycling. Initial stages but gauging what ability is out there.
Yes with over 100 new posts daily we need to keep our fingers on the button.
Fixed I had no bad intention. I just quoted a section to keep contex.
Really? I often do 4.5w up the volcano and nobody says anything much at all. About the only thing that happens is the guy you pass who was doing 2.5w suddenly increases to 6.5w.
Someone else mentioned strava before, for a long time I didnāt use strava either. TrainingPeaks did everything I wanted. Those kinds of w/kg are easy enough for me being light.
Most of the riders I knew with these big watts were typically pro riders at 80kg or so. The ones nearer my weight were in the 350-370w range.
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Thanks for your input. I work in a sport where there is employment opportunities for athletes who can put out large wattage over 20 mins or display high sprint repeatability (over the same time). Current problem we are finding is trying to find riders who can manage a 450+ ftp for 20 mins. These athletes would ideally be around 90 but could go up to 100kg.
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there are only a handful of people in the world with that level of ability at 90kg and most of them are probably salaried or sponsored athletes already. it will be rare to find someone at 100kg capable of that power too
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Ganna (82kg) springs to mind.
Thanks for the feedback. We are in touch with a few proās from various disciplines, obviously this is a great platform for scouting. Hopefully we can get something more official on here soon.
Looking at the top ranked people on zwiftpower i can find quite a few legitimate guys capable of 400-420 for 20 minutes, but not much higher:
it might be worth your time to sift through the first few pages of this and see if anyone fits your requirements, and whether they can be contacted or not. almost all of these guys are sponsored already, however
Penalised how? And did you really get noticed doing that?? Itās nothing for a short time (Volcano length) and not unusual for FTP. Iāve gone around doing a lot more than that and never had anybody, Zwift or fellow riders, give a monkeys.
As for random Germans doing 500w for an hour, when Ganna doing 523 for 13 mins made headlines, unless it was Tony Martin Iām calling custard, to use a phrase from a different forum. I presume what you mean is they rolled 500w turns?
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Iām glad you replied because I was bothered by the idea of someone thinking they had to try to compete against people with FTP above 400, let alone 500.
300 is very good and many people (50%) wonāt obtain it.
350 is even more rare (5%)?
These are guesses but the simple fact is 300 watts is a lot of work.
Exaggerating performance, intentionally or not, encourages others to āone upā, and maybe fudge things.
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where does it usually go on this subject lol - down the rabbit hole of Zwift cheats. Wish people would not take the platform so serious, just a training tool nothing more 
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Unfortunately itās not just cycling.
āGermanā = factual, āRandomā = not a known pro (from your description), so yes ārandom germanā not an insult, just a description.
Not accusing them of cheating, just accusing them of being imaginary.
Can you be coned in Cat A? I never have been and if they do exist and somehow have a 500w FTP I really hope they are riding in cat A.
FWIW the world record power output on a Concept II rowing ergometer appears to be about 410W for an hour. That was a 98kg Olympic gold medallist.
Itās possible that rowing ergometers are a bit less efficient than bicycles due to the need to also move your bodyweight. Ie, maybe the 410W at the rowing machine took a bit more effort than 410W on a bicycle would do. But Iād be sceptical of people doing over 400W for an hour unless they were a noted athlete.
Edit: ok Iāve now done a bit of googling and an inefficiency of 10-20% on the rowing machine due to body movement seems plausible (a cyclist would suffer a very much lower loss, perhaps negligible in comparison, from the limited leg movement). Nevertheless, 450W for an hour would be a rare person indeed.
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On the peter attia podcast armstrong claimed he had a 450 ftp at his āsoberā best and 500 full on the sauce. So once in a generation genes on a cocktail that wouldnt fly with the drug passport system today gets you to 500. We all know his relationship with the truth but it puts into context what 450+ would look like in theory and that you are flat out never going to race against it yourself unless you are being paid to do so. If you do, its the local junior who happens to be trashing you before he makes his way to the pro peleton.