Does cycling power transfer to erg power

[markman]

Thanks everybody for the input! I've done a few workouts on the C2 and have made some improvement in increasing power while reducing stroke rate. I think I'm pretty comfortable with a 22-24 rate. I did a few 500 intervals tonight and managed 1:53-1:54 without feeling like I was really pushing it. My upper body will take some time to get going but so far I feel I'm on the right track. I may do the 500 and 2k tests in the next week or so and then build a plan from that.

Plan on rating 32 for the 2K.
I would use a very light setting (DF 100).

I would be surprised if you could not get under 7mins.

I did my 2k test last weekend and did 7:33 (the # in my signature). My SPM was around 31 and I think the drag factor is at 110 or so. I'm already feeling stronger than I did on Saturday, I guess I'm getting used to everything. I'm working on an 8 week program from the Interactive Training program on the UK site. I'm planning on doing the 2k at the Atlanta Erg Sprints on February 12th so I have a little time to work the speed and power parts of the equation.

[claus hansen]

Dear Markman

I find Your questions very interesting, as I do triathlons in summer and have wondered abbout the same thing. I only take up erging three times a week for three vintermonths. Did it for the first time last winter and experienced a lot of transfer to cycling and running, in terms of both cardio and general strenght. What does your watts on the bike translate to in terms of speed in a timetrial (40 km. or 90 km. for instance)?

[markman]

Dear Markman

I find Your questions very interesting, as I do triathlons in summer and have wondered abbout the same thing. I only take up erging three times a week for three vintermonths. Did it for the first time last winter and experienced a lot of transfer to cycling and running, in terms of both cardio and general strenght. What does your watts on the bike translate to in terms of speed in a timetrial (40 km. or 90 km. for instance)?

I don't do triathalons or time trials on my bike but I use watts to help me in my preferred rides which are centuries (100 mile) and climbing in the mountains. My threshhold power on the bike is 280 watts. That is the maximum power that I can sustain for about 60 minutes. I use that number to help me pace myself when I'm on a long ride or climb. On the erg it seems like my maximum sustainable power (for 5k to 10k distances) is somewhere around 240 watts, which is about 15% less than on the bike.

I'm really enjoying the erg and I think it will help me when I get back on the bike next Spring and start doing longer rides.

[Nosmo]

On the erg it seems like my maximum sustainable power (for 5k to 10k distances) is somewhere around 240 watts, which is about 15% less than on the bike.

I think there is a mistake in the numbers.
240W is a 1:53.5 pace. That doesn't seem consistent with your times in the sig.

[former lightweight]

For what it's worth...

FTP on the bike - ~360w
FTP on the erg (for the hour) - ~230w

This would be in a well-trained state on the bike, and with almost no time on the erg.

[markman]

On the erg it seems like my maximum sustainable power (for 5k to 10k distances) is somewhere around 240 watts, which is about 15% less than on the bike.

I think there is a mistake in the numbers.
240W is a 1:53.5 pace. That doesn't seem consistent with your times in the sig.

I apologize. I was guessing a bit on the watts. It looks like it is actually closer to 210 watts which is about 25% less than on the bike (for my 5k pace). The watts for my 2k are around 240 while the watts for my 30 minute are around 190 watts. I haven't done a full hour test on the erg but obviously the watts would be lower (maybe 185 watts?) than the 5k or 30 minutes. Either way, the erg is less efficient than the bike.

[claus hansen]

Hi again,

I can go 35 km./hour on my bike for 40 km in a TT, followed by 10 kilometers of runnning. This is equivalent to about 215 watt. On the erg my best 10 km. TT is 41.11 (pace 2.03.5) which is about 183 watt. I might be more effective on the bike in terms of energy, but still I don't think one can compare the two.

[potatorower]

I'm probably way late on this post, but as an ex pro cyclist I have found that the correlation between bike watts & erg watts are very different! I've been erging for about 2 weeks and while I feel as though I'm making big improvements, it's light years off of my days racing TT's, crits or road races. For example, I start to die rapidly after 300-350 watts for 10 minutes on the C2 yet recall doing super hard nat level crits where my SRM read an avg of 300+ for 100k. A hard TT would be close to 380-400 for 40k. I'm sure that it has a lot to do with acclimating the body and muscles to the specific sport & motion. Also I'm sure that maybe other than the TT's(which mimic most closely to erging effort wise), a lot of the power on the bike comes from going all out for 30 seconds then recouping for a few in the draft. Those 10-20 seconds of soft pedaling makes all the difference in the world. A luxury that I doubt rowing shares.

[Alissa]

I'm probably way late on this post, but as an ex pro cyclist I have found that the correlation between bike watts & erg watts are very different! I've been erging for about 2 weeks and while I feel as though I'm making big improvements, it's light years off of my days racing TT's, crits or road races. For example, I start to die rapidly after 300-350 watts for 10 minutes on the C2 yet recall doing super hard nat level crits where my SRM read an avg of 300+ for 100k. A hard TT would be close to 380-400 for 40k. I'm sure that it has a lot to do with acclimating the body and muscles to the specific sport & motion. Also I'm sure that maybe other than the TT's(which mimic most closely to erging effort wise), a lot of the power on the bike comes from going all out for 30 seconds then recouping for a few in the draft. Those 10-20 seconds of soft pedaling makes all the difference in the world. A luxury that I doubt rowing shares.

Actually, rowing does have "rests" they are simply more frequent, but shorter. After every drive, you have the recovery portion of the stroke cycle. Which should last a bit longer than the drive portion. That's your rest (in comparison to the drive, of course). Enjoy!

Alissa

[Nosmo]

... Those 10-20 seconds of soft pedaling makes all the difference in the world. A luxury that I doubt rowing shares.

But it doesn't do much for average power.

[markman]

I'm probably way late on this post, but as an ex pro cyclist I have found that the correlation between bike watts & erg watts are very different! I've been erging for about 2 weeks and while I feel as though I'm making big improvements, it's light years off of my days racing TT's, crits or road races. For example, I start to die rapidly after 300-350 watts for 10 minutes on the C2 yet recall doing super hard nat level crits where my SRM read an avg of 300+ for 100k. A hard TT would be close to 380-400 for 40k. I'm sure that it has a lot to do with acclimating the body and muscles to the specific sport & motion. Also I'm sure that maybe other than the TT's(which mimic most closely to erging effort wise), a lot of the power on the bike comes from going all out for 30 seconds then recouping for a few in the draft. Those 10-20 seconds of soft pedaling makes all the difference in the world. A luxury that I doubt rowing shares.

I agree with what you are saying. I've been training fairly frequently on the ERG and have made some good improvements in my time since Dec. The thing about the ERG is that there is very little rest and it is less efficient than cycling. I recently did my PB on a 2k of 7:13 and avg watts was around 275. For a similar effort on the bike I'd be at 330-340 watts. The biggest factor for me was upper body endurance/strength. I feel that finally, after 2 months, my upper body is catching up with my legs and lungs. We'll see on Feb 12th how it all comes together.