During a recent interview about his upcoming hour record attempt, Jack Bobridge was quoted as saying:
Bobridge: “At my weight at the moment, I’m going to have to average at least 375-380 watts to break the current record.
Up until reading this I have been under the assumption that even though watts/kg is a really significant metric when it comes to analyzing power data, it´s becomes much more so when the rider is up against climbs with more than 6 or 7% gradient. Up to this point power per se plays a greater role than power to weight ratio. Following this line of thought, I also assumed that because the hour record event takes place in a velodrome, where gravity´s role is pretty close to nill, changes in rider weight (assuming there were no great gains or losses, or not to the point of interfering with the rider´s overall fitness) would not matter in the athtlete´s power production More significant twould be his drag coefficient, i.e aero position, body mass).
Yet, Bobridge´s comment suggests otherwise, and one friend whom I shared the topic with suggested that weight gains or losses impart directly on the athlete´s ability to produce power.
So I´m left to wonder if:
- Jack´s comment makes sense;
- watts / kg is significant even in flat conditions;
- what the actual relation is between weight variations and power variations;
Any help in layman´s terms would be appreciated.
m.
Bobridge: “At my weight at the moment, I’m going to have to average at least 375-380 watts to break the current record.
Up until reading this I have been under the assumption that even though watts/kg is a really significant metric when it comes to analyzing power data, it´s becomes much more so when the rider is up against climbs with more than 6 or 7% gradient. Up to this point power per se plays a greater role than power to weight ratio. Following this line of thought, I also assumed that because the hour record event takes place in a velodrome, where gravity´s role is pretty close to nill, changes in rider weight (assuming there were no great gains or losses, or not to the point of interfering with the rider´s overall fitness) would not matter in the athtlete´s power production More significant twould be his drag coefficient, i.e aero position, body mass).
Yet, Bobridge´s comment suggests otherwise, and one friend whom I shared the topic with suggested that weight gains or losses impart directly on the athlete´s ability to produce power.
So I´m left to wonder if:
- Jack´s comment makes sense;
- watts / kg is significant even in flat conditions;
- what the actual relation is between weight variations and power variations;
Any help in layman´s terms would be appreciated.
m.