Robopacer + W/kg

Bugs and Support
1

I am wondering if there are other users with the same experience:
Every time when I ride with Miguel (1,8 W/kg) it feels too easy and my average power is between 1,6 and 1,8.

When riding with Maria (2,1W/kg) it is too high. Instead of 2,1 my average power is always >2,4W/kg.

2

Couple of things:

  • The robopacers have dynamic pacing, so they push harder going uphill, and lower power going downhill. Is it possible you were riding with Maria on a hilly course when you were doing more power?
  • The robopacers are 75kg, if you weigh a lot more than them you will need to put out more power than them, particularly on the hills. If you weigh a lot less than them you might find the hills more easy on the way up.
  • The robopacers will go faster if they are in a bigger group drafting behind a lot of people, vs, in a smaller group when they are taking more wind.

Not sure any of those 3 things are coming into play, but they are the things I can think of that would cause some differences.

1 Like
3

Maria’s nominal power is 2.2wkg (165w)

4

Today it was 2,1 but it doesn’t matter when I, with the same weight, have to ride with 2,4 or more to follow her.

5

No, it’s 2.2. 165 watts. Just fan view her when she’s on a flat road. I know it varies when she goes uphill and downhill, but that’s dynamic pacing for you. Her baseline numbers are what I’ve given you.

So, to stop being picky and to get back to addressing your actual issue :wink: here are a couple of questions about your Maria rides that may or may not be relevant:

What bike and wheels were you riding?
What route were you on and how many minutes did you ride for?
Whereabouts in the peloton were you riding?

6

Yes usually it is 2,2, but today 2,1. But it doesn’t matter because I had an average 2,4 over 15km. And it is not the first time.
On the other side Miguel has 1,8 and it is enough with 1,5 or 1,6 to follow him.
And the distance doesn’t matter. I have been riding with Miguel 50 km or more.
Today it was wandering flats with Maria and Sugar cookie with Miguel.

Von meinem/meiner Galaxy gesendet

7

OK. So hopefully we’ve ruled out the possibility that the portion of the route you were on was all or mainly uphill.

Bike and wheels? Position in peloton?

The reason I ask is because I’m 72kg and when I ride with Maria (I try to stay pretty close to her to at least try to get the same draft) on a Tron (same bike as Maria) my wkg is almost always exactly 2.2wkg (158w) regardless of the route we’re on, assuming I ride for 30 minutes or more.

If I’m on a climbing setup I need btwn 6 and 8 more watts.

8

Giant TCR and DT Swiss Dicut 62.
I use to ride in front of the Biopacer but not 1st position in the peloton.

It’s not just Maria confusing me but also Miguel who always goes “too slow” and I have followed him on several tracks and longer rides >40km.

Von meinem/meiner Galaxy gesendet

9

Had a new ride with Maria yesterday. Flat (67m on 13km), announced 2,1 W. 1 rode 15km. Nearly all the time with other riders in front of me and Maria behind. Average 177W, which is 2,36W.
Maybe it is because of 2 sprints? But Maria sprinted too. Changed to Aerowheels.
strava.app.link/WZp3BatpDHb

A little bit annoying because Miguel, who in fact means 1,5-1,6W for me, is too slow for zone 2 and Maria is too fast

10

The Robopacers don’t change their power output on the sprints. They just speed up because they’re being dragged along by the draft created by those who sprint.

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11

That would bump up your normalised power, but - assuming you soft-pedalled and waited for Maria to catch up - your average power shouldn’t be affected too much, if at all.

I’m finding it hard to explain to be honest. If you’re getting a roughly similar draft and are the same weight, you should be averaging the same power, and on a reasonably flat course that should be 165w (at 75kg)

12

I don’t have the ability to see your power numbers from that strava link because I don’t have strava premium, but in two of the photos you are well ahead of maria and taking wind, one picture shows the notification to slow down to get back to the pacer while you’re out alone in the wind, the other looks like you’re out in the wind with one or two more riders:
image

Can you share the power data for your ride? (graph that shows power over time) My hypothesis from this ride is you weren’t in the main group for at least part of the ride which is why your numbers are higher than maria’s.

The robo pacers will not sprint at sprint segments, so if you were sprinting you’re going to for sure average more watts than they do, and if you’re ever out of the draft you’ll also do more watts than them.

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13

A quick look at your power trace on Strava shows the obvious sprints - BUT, when you were in the Maria group on the Railway (very easy to spot as it’s the higher elevation section) your average power was 163W (2.17 W/kg) and your screenshot shows you were closer to her and in a group. So I’d suggest just staying closer to the Robopacer more, as a starting point.

I ride with Maria a lot - I am an 84kg rider (on average), Tron bike (usually), and aim to stay around 10m in front or behind. My most recent three rides over 20 min were:

Feb 15 - 50 min Sugar Cookie - 173W (2.05 W/kg)
Feb 25 - 2hrs Volcano Flat - 170W
Feb 29 - 20 min Waistband - 175W (climbing setup)

Generally any ride for me with Maria over an hour is about 170W average power.

I also rode with Miguel on Feb 24 - 32 min Sugar Cookie - 141W (1.7 W/kg)

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14

You are right. I always try to be 20-30m in front of the pacer, but avoid being the leader. It might be the 2 sprint sections which increase the average power more than expected.
Thanks for helping.