Andrew Coggan wrote:
trail wrote:
You're being deliberatively obtuse. You know very well that the $200 gateway is a barrier to wide adoption, while the basic free concept will continue to have value forever. You should consider that something of a complement. Your chart will never go away, like it or not. Might as well update (if you agree with the OP that such an update is warranted, which you may not.). And you can add on some subtext on the bottom that says something to the effect, of "Disclaimer: achieving these W/kg numbers does not mean you can actually win damned bike race of any kind, so don't come to me and complain that you're getting dropped from a Cat 5 crit. That's your problem, not mine."
No, I'm not being obtuse. I simply stated the truth with respect to the tools that are presently available for analyzing cycling data. Power duration profiling has made power profiling obsolete. Whether people are willing to pay TrainingPeaks for the privilege of using the former tool is irrelevant. As for updating the tables or providing explanatory material, you (and Zwift) seem to be well behind the times. The 8th (and final) version of the tables came out several years ago, and the logic behind their construction has been available since their genesis back in 2003.
Most definitions of obsolete are along the lines:
- no longer in use
- replaced by something newer
Since only a minority of those who may be interested use power duration profiling, the earlier tables are still of interest and use. That is unlikely to change anytime soon, partly due to simplicity for quick comparison to historical data and largely, because of the cost. Those looking at these tables do so primarily out of curiosity not necessity and will not even consider paying for a newer tool. So the tables are still in use. NOT Obsolete.
The tables have not been replaced by something newer and comparable. There is now a new source that provides superior information in the same subject area, for a price. That does not replace the existing material, except for those willing/able to access it. So the existing material is NOT obsolete.
Whether people are willing to pay for the tool is far from irrelevant. A tool is no good to someone if they don't have access to it.
You can argue further about the semantics of the word obsolete if you like, but as far as I can see, the tables are still of interest to many and power duration profiling has not supplanted them as a general reference. You may think it should have replaced them. It may be preferable for you if that were the case. However, that does not make it so.