Check out the power analysis from the 2Peak’s site.
“Faris averages the same power he achieved when he won in 2005: 283 Watts. His cadence was a bit lower this year averaging 81,7 RPM. The race separates again in two pieces. High power on the way to Hawi, averaging 301 W in the first half and a drop to 267 W in the 2nd half. It is visible from Faris’ data that 7 meters distance between the athletes isn’t enough to avoid drafting effects. Luke Bell, who was riding in a group in Faris’ wake, especially in the 2nd half of the race, needed remarkably less power for the same speed. Comparison of the average power output proves that as much as comparing the mechanical work expressed in energy: Faris burned 4592kJ (mechanically) vs. Luke who spent 164 kJ less despite being taller and (2kg) heavier. Our spotter who followed the leading men, confirmed what we measured. The true shootout on the bike took place between Normann at the front and Faris behind him.”
you think there’s a disparity here, look at cam brown’s watts, who was in the same group, and only 3km lighter than faris. 215w for an average, and 141hr. now THAT’s a big difference for somebody who rode the same time.
I don’t think that you can draw these conclusions.
Faris changed position fon '05 to '06 which would change the watts needed to travel at the same speed.
Wind, temp, and humidity will affect drag #'s and therefore watts needed to maintain speed.
Unless two riders are on the same bike I don’t think that it is possible to compare power numbers form on to the other. Their meters could be calibrated differently.
Perhaps someone had a low tire. My point is that there are too many variables to say that the 7m zone is what is affecting the numbers.
Just a subject I wanted to enquire about. Is the 7M equal to the “three bike lengths”? If so would the bike length be approx 5’? A typical hwy stripe is 12 ft long. So adding a bike length to that would put one “legal” but as far as I know there is definitely a difference following someone at that distance. Someone tried to tell me it was “in my mind” (the draft feeling) following at 3 or 4 bike lengths back. I know it isn’t in the mind, because I feel relief in my legs! What is your experiences with the “legal” draft?
i checked on this. his hasn’t been calibrated in quite awhile, but i talked to scott montgomery (scott bikes) and beppo (2peak’s guy at kona) and i asked them to check this, maybe recalibrate his srm.
but i’m not convinced it’s way off. his hr was extremely low. big time low. i thought he was going to win this race while looking at this data on the bike. i mean, okay, maybe he’s like spencer, and has got a 170 max hr. but i doubt it. he rode 15 beats lower than mark allen rode his bike in kona. a 2:45 would have won him the race (or got him into a sprint finish). this was his best chance of winning, it seemed to me.
but to your point, even if the srm was low, again, his hr was so low i think it’s credible to claim this raises a real question about 7m. this is easy to check. just take 5 guys out on a stretch of empty road, and see how a guy’s power changes in 1st position, 2nd, and so on. you really only need one guy to have a power meter, but the more you have the better your data.
Dan, if 90% of the pros that answered the survery that is being driven want 10 meters, why would WTC and USAT not support their customers? Who cares what hte “data” is.
I don’t think they were comparing his performance last year to this year. Although it is amazing he averaged the exact same watts both years.
I think they were comparing the first half of the race to the second half. By most accounts the chase pack tightened up on the return to Kona. Luke and Faris had almost identical power outputs and speed to the turn around, which would indicate they had similar w/kg and aero profiles to that point. Then all of a a sudden when the group tightened Faris had to put out 20more watts to go the same speed. I don’t think they are saying Luke was cheating, he was outside the zone. The window just needs to be lengthened.
I can’t believe his powermeter was not off.
I rode a 103mi recently, NP was 250 and avg was 235 for slightly below 25mph and I’m smaller than Cam Brown (and prett much anyone).
215 for Brown must be way off.
i had thought that there had been some controlled wind tunnel tests that showed that the ‘draft’ was non significant at 7M. unless these guys were spending a lot of time up closer than that. I know that 7M feels really far away in practice.
“why would WTC and USAT not support their customers?”
i expect to be pursuing that question, not with the aim of backing WTC in a corner, but just with the aim of pursuing that debate. i think it’s a fair question to ask, and perhaps there are good answers. i believe 10m is a rule in much or most of europe, so we can look at what’s occurring in other races to see how it works there.
Remember its 7m tip to tip, so more like 5m between bikes. There must be some draft, otherwise it would be a pretty amazing coincidence that 6 guys would have identical bike splits and all finish together.
Now, we would not want to consider having the same, or similiar rules between countries, organizations, … ? :o)
Hope the new folks that support WTC on the USAT board can help make some changes. Again, true representatives, leaders on a board, IMO, would ask their customers how to make the sport better, rather than telling them the answer. But again, I guess this is La La land thinking. :o)
I think they were comparing the first half of the race to the second half. By most accounts the chase pack tightened up on the return to Kona. Luke and Faris had almost identical power outputs and speed to the turn around, which would indicate they had similar w/kg and aero profiles to that point. Then all of a a sudden when the group tightened Faris had to put out 20more watts to go the same speed. I don’t think they are saying Luke was cheating, he was outside the zone\
There is another thing to consider when comparing the out and back. There is a lot of downhill on the way back, and as I hear it, there was more tailwind too. This will lower the power numbers considerably. And some differences can be because of a riders superior ability to descend. There was a great stretch that they showed after a short climb, where Faris was about 30 meters ahead of Luke starting the downhill. Faris pedaled the entire way down, and Luke used my sprint the top and coast technique. Luke then coasted for the next 15 seconds, while Faris pedaled, and eventually had to sit up to keep from entering the 7 meter zone, coasting the entire time. My point is that when you have a lot of downhill sections, and one rider is able to coast them, their power is going to average way lower than the guy that pedals the entire time. Bjorn rides that way too, that is why he uses huge gears. He almost never coasts, and in my opinion, is one of the things that hurts his race overall. SO with that in mind, power readings may not exactly reflect what was really going on. You cannot assume that everyone pedals the same amount of time…Remember the hole you punch in the wind has a big impact on power readings, and can vary greatly form person to person, regardless of their overall weight. And that down turned bar of Faris looks to be to be very un aero compared to the other riders he was racing there…
As Ez says, its 7m front wheel to front wheel. And, yes there is a draft at that distance. You can definitely feel it as your speed starts to get over 30km/h and really feel a lightness in the legs approaching 40km/h (something you don’t feel TT’ing by yourself). Also, if you watch the formation of the pros they always end up riding right on the 7m zone - presumably if there was no draft they would be more randomly dispersed. I’ve officiated at IMC for a number of years now (always on the bike with the pros) and this always happens. The pros know the limits and exploit the advantages. Any reasonable athlete would do the same - at least that’s how I justify it.
“Luke then coasted for the next 15 seconds, while Faris pedaled, and eventually had to sit up to keep from entering the 7 meter zone, coasting the entire time.”
This was one thing that drove me crazy while watching the race. Several times Luke was obviously moving faster than Faris, but would sit up and coast just out of the draft zone instead of passing him. He wanted to stay behind in the pack. Did he think he was going to outrun Faris? Lieto had the balls to go out on his own. I wish others did. (strategy be damned)
