# FTP test: Drafting??



## Hyder (May 30, 2013)

Hi coaches,

My buddy who is a better cyclist than me is doing his FTP test on a stretch of road by our house. slightly up hill with no stops for about 19 miles, so a good place to do it.. We both have power meters.. For some reason I always seem to do a much better when someone is setting the pace and I am on there wheel... He is a little better than me so I figure I would ride his wheel which should be close to my max effort for 20 minutes. 

So my question is: Is it a real FTP test if I am drafting someone instead of solo even if I am putting out my max effort for 20 minutes??

Thanks,

Hyder


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## pedalbiker (Nov 23, 2014)

Power is power. 

Whatever gets your watts out. A lot of people do it uphill instead of on the flats, too, to max it out.


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## bootsie_cat (Jan 7, 2005)

If you are at max effort- drifting doesn't really matter.
But my guess is that there are some spots where your power drops because the grade or wind changes?
When you do this you should have actual power and average power on your screen at the same time.
If average power drops- you are getting too much draft.


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## woodys737 (Dec 31, 2005)

Testing consistency is important.


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## aclinjury (Sep 12, 2011)

for me, FTP testing is almost always yielding higher numbers if I do it on the trainer or on a hill, and it's almost always lower when done on the flat WITH a head- or sidewind. The reason is the trainer allows for a setup where I can relax my body and focus on my legs pushing. And on an uphill, you're always forced to pushed down, no let up, but the mountain is a 40 min drive from me, so it's not always possible ride there except on the weekend.

But headwind and sidewind kills me because it forces my to work the upperbody and if the wind is strong enough it messes up my breathing, dries out the throat and lungs. I'm a lightweight, winds affect me in that i need to work the upperbody proportionately harder than compared to the bigger guys.

Nowadays, when it comes to threshold testing, I've stick to just doing a 20min test on the trainer because this is actually what I do as interval, it's convenient, it's a consistent setup, and best of all, I love doing it, on a weekly even. When it comes to testing, it's important to set up a routine that you can stick with, repeat it with high consistency, and like doing it. Trainer wins for me. Having said that, I know a lot of guys (especially the newcomers to cycling) who suck at threshold testing on the trainer and one of their biggest complaints is that trainer locks their body in a position and this inflexibility causes their body to fatigue faster than on the road. This is where bike setup is important if you ever plan on doing an all out threshold test on a trainer, because any deficiency in bike setup gets revealed fast, and because you're locked in, you can't really get out of your saddle or even to shift your butt ever so slightly like you can on the road to hide those micro deficiencies of a bike setup. I just think that riding on trainer is also an adaptation process too though.


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