Most of the time when I ride hills I stay in the saddle. Last night I rode the hills out of the saddle and wow! did my average wattage improve.
I was not doing one of my standard routes so not sure how average speed would compare. Plus was riding road bike instead of tri bike.
I am curious if when you are out of the saddle is the wattage very accurate?
Yup, same thing. It’s measured at the wheel hub so it doesn’t car what you are doing on the pedals.
You may want to look at your bike fit on your road bike, matters how long you were out of the saddle though. 15 sec sprints my wattage is way higher out of the saddle. 20 min climb is a different story.
I usually get the best result doing a mix of the two when I climb. I try to emulate some of the TdF guys I like.
Curious why you mention fit?
It is curious because I do plan on adjusting fit. I was originally fit on the bike but I think the cockpit is too long. I am looking at decreasing the reach.
Well this all depends on the duration out of the saddle, but I’m guessing that when you’re on your road bike seated you aren’t in an optimal position and you can’t put out as much power.
Then when you stand, even though it’s less efficient you generate more power over time.
I’m guessing your hip angle is collapsed on your road bike if you think your cockpit is too long. That’s an easy way to kill your power.
What was the power difference and over how much time? Maybe I am making too much of this.
Your post makes no sense. Even if your position is the most optimal, you will still be able to produce more power out of the saddle. More power over time? Power = W/t. Power over time is J buddy.
You are making too much of this.
Also, producing more power does not mean you are going faster, your frontal area will most likely increase (unless you are cavendish slouched over with your mouth on your stem).
Not true.
To test you can try two 60 minutes all out climbs, one in the saddle and one out of the saddle. You will produce more power in the saddle.
I’m guessing you think you produce more power out of the saddle because of short anaerobic efforts. Like I said above, short efforts do produce more watts out of the saddle. Riding out of the saddle is less efficient than in the saddle though (like I said before). Thus, for longer efforts you produce more power over time sitting than standing.
For you to think that riding out of the saddle always produces more power than sitting over any time period you would have to think that riding out of the saddle is as efficient or more efficient than riding in the saddle. This is not true.
Yes, more power over time does equal joules. In the context of this post, it makes more sense to say you can create more power over time than saying you will produce more joules.
Most of the time when I ride hills I stay in the saddle. Last night I rode the hills out of the saddle and wow! did my average wattage improve.
I was not doing one of my standard routes so not sure how average speed would compare. Plus was riding road bike instead of tri bike.
I am curious if when you are out of the saddle is the wattage very accurate?
I’m not sure what all of the debate is about. The answer is simple. Yes, wattage on a PT is very accurate when riding out of the saddle. If it wasn’t then nobody should be buying their product.
Thanks, Chris
a 60 minute test does nothing to determine whether or not you can produce more power in the saddle or out. All I need to do is see how much power i can produce in the saddle, and how much I can produce out of the saddle, it would only take about 30 seconds and I can guarantee it would be more out of the saddle. You are putting words in my mouth that I never said. You are using 4 of the arguments from the book I am reading about arguing with idiots 
The amount of time has EVERYTHING to do with it, that’s the part you don’t get.
What words did I put in your mouth that you didn’t say?
Thanks for calling me an idiot.
You can’t sustain that higher avg wattage you get from standing.
But, it’s a good way to mix things up, use different muscle groups, etc.
As Lakerfan said, it’s ALWAYS accurate.
You must be thinking about the iBike power guesstimator - who knows what that thing’ll tell you when you are standing (or wearing a vest, or using a different helmet, or…)
The higher wattage produced while standing is largely, if not completely offset by the increase in drag. That’s why you don’t end up going much faster for all that extra output.
You won’t likely be able to sustain the output anyway.
You can’t sustain that higher avg wattage you get from standing.
Exactly. But if he could for some reason sustain more power out of the saddle than while seated for extended periods of time, my first thought would be to look at bike fit while seated.
I’m I crazy here? Msuguy512 think’s I’m an idiot for have this line of thought.