Why is it when I sprint in erg mode I can top 1000 Watts but when I’m just free riding and I come across a sprint, I can only get between 500 and 600 Watts. I feel cheated 
.
Anyone ?
Haha. Never done leg work, always been blessed with muscular thighs. I’m running a 10 speed cassette and I do seem to run out of gears downhill etc. My difficulty is set to 100%. Do you think if I drop it down to say 50% then that will give me the extra gears on need ?
I think decreasing the difficulty may make your ERG mode and Free sprint watts more similar but I think it would not be in the direction you desire.
Do you have outside rides to compare?
Do you know which number is the correct one?
Could the difference reflect a trainer error?
How big are your chain rings and whats the range of your cassette?
No answers, just thoughts to maybe spark something.
For me it’s the opposite. I can hit the watts in free ride as opposed to ERG.
I need the resistance of the road/trainer to overcome.
There’s no way you should be spinning out in a free ride with conventional gearing if on the flat.