All-time best is 690W for 5 seconds, which is indeed crap.
I try to grind the largest gear at 75-80 rpm, standing.
My normal cadence is quite low, 70-75 rpm I would say, I am lightweigt 63kg B-class climber.
All discussions I read about sprinting refer to 100, 120 or even 140 rpm, which is extremely unnatural.
Does my technique limit my sprint ability? Is high cadence is necessary, as well as seated sprint?
Technique is certainly a huge factor worth a watch of @Jake_Sanderson video for some starting tips.
Iām like you tend to grind and coming into sprint Iāll be usually my largest gear and look to spin at a higher cadence to increase power. last thing you want to be doing mid sprint is changing gears
What could be the cealing for me, taking into account I am 63kg, 174 cm tall, I am 34 years old ?
I am very good at my 20 min power. I am a half-marathon / trailrunner too, my best time acheived this season is half-marathon under 1h:30m.
I know, it is kind of diffcult question, but what average person with such data could acheive, ballpark number to shoot at?
Historically, I was performing better at longer type of events and efforts, where all others were absolutely cracked in the process and I myself had just a lot in the tank left.
gym work is important but you can make some gains on the bike. my favourite drills are:
1-3s slow start peak power efforts spread over 2 hours of easy riding (25+ of these, itās only about 1 min 30s of actual work). i do these outdoors because smart trainers hate them and so do my ulnar tendons
30s max efforts, 2 or 3 of them, again spread over an hour or two. full rest between intervals
1 min max efforts, same thing
and rarely: 6x 15s sprints. full rest between efforts
Itās so difficult to answer what your expected power would be.
Given your body composition you are more a climbers physique. That said Mark Cavendish isnāt a stereotypical sprinters physique and cannot put out the wattage of his fellow sprinters. The difference is he can sustain it for a lot longer.
You need to establish if your muscles fibres are more slow or fast twitch.
Looking at your exercise history youāre adept at sustained power.
1000w is a big big number for you to hit. Youāre running history looks similar to mine but Iām 20kg heavier and circa 15 years older and i can touch a 1000w on a good day.
As others have said train for it if thatās your focus but in the first instance aim for 800, then 900 etcā¦ Personally Iād love to say youāve a 1000w in you but it might be too much.
Donāt be sad about this though as you will be amazing going uphill.
We are all different. Thereās no such thing as a top sprinter and climber. You canāt be a world beater in both.
800W at 5 sec is my nearest goal for sure.
All recommend more to spin, than grind like me.
Is grinding so unefficient ? Or it limits the total power output, so I had to spin more rpms anyway to hit higher numbers ? Seems to be so, as I am at 2nd largest gear (52-12), since 11th sprocket produces too much noise on my trainer.
I would definitely say that, for a sprint, a large gear is very inefficient. Primarily because it just takes time, and a huge amount of effort to get it going. Think about trying to get your car up to speed from a stop sign in 5th gear. Itās going to take a while, if you can get moving at all. Much better to start in a smaller gear, that you can get moving quickly, and then shift to larger gears as needed.
at very high watts yeah. my peak 1-3s power usually brings me up to 130rpm. it becomes exponentially harder to produce the necessary torque the closer you get to your absolute peak
Try to do Spinning Drills at 100RPM Standing for 5 to 10s without any high power output and then when you get a good fell for this RPMās slowly increase the gears for more Power outputā¦i hope you own a Smart Trainer and not Wheel ON
sprinter here - 90rpm is average for me, anything below 80 and my legs set on fire bcos fast-twitch gets activated, so have to save it for when it counts. no idea how u grindy bois sit at 60-80rpm all day on a long ride, it would kill me in no time
for those saying large gear is inefficient - if you are a sprinter, you ideally want to be in a large gear b4 u sprint, bcos with the torque you are about to unleash when you stand up you are going to āspin outā if in an easier gear and you definitely donāt want to be changing up a gear after youāve launched. donāt worry you will only be grinding for like a couple of seconds until the rpmās get going
how to improve sprint? lift big, eat big, & do some exercises that involve short bursts of explosive power (typically a road cyclistās worst nightmare).
