You can easily lose 10-15 percent on the trainer. So correcting for that you'd be at around 250W ftp, you went 40W less on your ride, that's almost 80%, so definitely easier

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NO

some people have/use different FTP for indoor vs outdoor training as mentioned already. Couple of other things to consider, did your outdoor ride include 0 power in the average? Also, you might notice on easier pedalling your power imbalance (L/R) is larger than a hard effort which can skew the power readings on easy rides. All of it could lead to different numbers. Food for thought.

Go into the Element app, just customize pages, select which screen, click on your current power display, then a drop down list will appear and choose 3, 5, 20, 30, etc...or just add another metric on your current screen doing the same.

I use 10 sec buffer on my Garmin Edge and it works well. Any quicker time and it jumps all over the place. When running an FTP test use 10 or 20 sec. You lose nothing.

What was your testing environment like? The inability to mitigate heat can have a dramatic impact on performance. When testing indoors be sure to have adequate circulation and as cool as possible. I usually recommend my athletes have multiple fans on them to assist with this.

Best in Health,

Scott Proscia, BS ATC M.Ed ACSM-CPT
IRONMAN Certified Coach
Head Performance Coach
IREP Athletics / The Training Plan Source
http://www.TheTrainingPlanSource.com
http://www.IREPAthletics.com
email - coach@TheTrainingPlanSource.com

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Dynamic Athlete ProgrammingVIP Endurance Racing | Like us on Facebook Get Your Training Plan Here

1 fan may not have been enough but hard to say and no not necessarily meaningless at all. There are a lot more metrics that you should be looking at. How was your VI? What was your PW:HR? Did you have any decoupling of HR and Power in the later part of this workout. My point is you have a powerful tool that people take many years to learn how to use properly and as you grow and learn more on how to best use your training and performance will continue to grow. Good luck get a few books and enjoy the journey.

Best in Health,
Scott Proscia, BS ATC M.Ed ACSM-CPT
IRONMAN Certified Coach
Head Performance Coach
IREP Athletics / The Training Plan Source
http://www.TheTrainingPlanSource.com
http://www.IREPAtheltics.com
email - coach@TheTrainingPlanSource.com

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Dynamic Athlete ProgrammingVIP Endurance Racing | Like us on Facebook Get Your Training Plan Here

Another factor when training indoors versus outdoors in the impact of the wind resistance on your upper body. That wind resistance outside takes some of the pressure off your hands/arms so your upper body does not need to work as hard to maintain your posture. Yes a fan can help cool you down but does nothing compared to a 15-25mph headwind.

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USA Triathlon Level 2 Coach
Slowtwitch Master Coach
Head Coach, TriCoach Colorado, LLC

Since it is left leg only your power balance could be different in a more variable ride (outside) versus inside.That could easily account for a 5% difference in power. Secondly, get as much air on you as possible indoors, two big fans going full blast. Thirdly, there is a mental component that can be hard to overcome riding indoors. Fourth, you could of simply had a bad day.

I am still a bit foggy on which bike you were testing on (I assume it was the Tri bike) and which bike you were using for your outdoor rides. Not many people can put out equivalent power on the two, with road bike power usually being higher because of the higher position/ more open hip angle and better breathing. Climbing power is also usually higher because their is constant resistance from the top of the pedal stroke.

I would figure out what your FTP is for the environment you will ride in for training with Power. If it is the trainer, then do an all out 20 minute test and multiply by 1.05 (I think that is the right multiplier). Also do it on different bikes. If the power is a bunch higher on the road bike, then you should look at your Tri position and see if changing that will make the power outputs more similar.

The nice thing about a PM is you now have the feedback to make educated changes in position and equipment.