Are my coworkers genetic freaks or is Peloton power off?

[hogicid]

So, I’m having a friendly conversation with two coworkers yesterday regarding the Peloton exercise bike. I’m just listening as they talk about how nice it is to get a quick 30-minute workout in, they discuss their favorite instructors and soon enough the conversation turns to FTP.

For some context my coworkers train a few hours a week sporadically, work 60+ hour weeks, have no athletic background, weigh around 225 lbs and are about 30 pounds overweight, don’t watch their diet, etc.

I take cycling somewhat seriously, train around 10-15 hours per week, eat well, race, sleep, etc

At this point, I’m expecting that their 20-minute power will be low compared to mine. My current 20-minute power is north of 330 watts and I weigh significantly less. I’m thinking of ways to downplay my power when it becomes my turn to share so as not to sound boastful. Turns out that wouldn’t be necessary because according to their Peloton bikes, their 20-minute power is 410 watts and 440 watts. One of them pulled out their phone and showed me their results on the leaderboard and sure enough - 440 watts for 20 minutes.

So my question is did my coworkers miss their calling as professional cyclists or perhaps Peloton power readings are a little off, lol.

 

[hogicid]

So, I’m having a friendly conversation with two coworkers yesterday regarding the Peloton exercise bike. I’m just listening as they talk about how nice it is to get a quick 30-minute workout in, they discuss their favorite instructors and soon enough the conversation turns to FTP.

For some context my coworkers train a few hours a week sporadically, work 60+ hour weeks, have no athletic background, weigh around 225 lbs and are about 30 pounds overweight, don’t watch their diet, etc.

I take cycling somewhat seriously, train around 10-15 hours per week, eat well, race, sleep, etc

At this point, I’m expecting that their 20-minute power will be low compared to mine. My current 20-minute power is north of 330 watts and I weigh significantly less. I’m thinking of ways to downplay my power when it becomes my turn to share so as not to sound boastful peloton bike vs bike+. Turns out that wouldn’t be necessary because according to their Peloton bikes, their 20-minute power is 410 watts and 440 watts. One of them pulled out their phone and showed me their results on the leaderboard and sure enough - 440 watts for 20 minutes.

So my question is did my coworkers miss their calling as professional cyclists or perhaps Peloton power readings are a little off, lol.

thanks in advance for any help

 

[LankyLancs]

I suggest they need to go outside. 60 hours a week at work then wombling about on an exercise bike for kicks? Mindlessly obsessing over wattages? What a miserable existence...

 

[Streddaz]

So, I’m having a friendly conversation with two coworkers yesterday regarding the Peloton exercise bike. I’m just listening as they talk about how nice it is to get a quick 30-minute workout in, they discuss their favorite instructors and soon enough the conversation turns to FTP.

For some context my coworkers train a few hours a week sporadically, work 60+ hour weeks, have no athletic background, weigh around 225 lbs and are about 30 pounds overweight, don’t watch their diet, etc.

I take cycling somewhat seriously, train around 10-15 hours per week, eat well, race, sleep, etc

At this point, I’m expecting that their 20-minute power will be low compared to mine. My current 20-minute power is north of 330 watts and I weigh significantly less. I’m thinking of ways to downplay my power when it becomes my turn to share so as not to sound boastful. Turns out that wouldn’t be necessary because according to their Peloton bikes, their 20-minute power is 410 watts and 440 watts. One of them pulled out their phone and showed me their results on the leaderboard and sure enough - 440 watts for 20 minutes.

So my question is did my coworkers miss their calling as professional cyclists or perhaps Peloton power readings are a little off, lol.

Get them out on a real bike and see if they can stay with you in a 1km sprint. That will sort them out!

 

[Suns_PSD]

Watts per kg is all that matters. For definite proof, take them on a real bike climb.

But ya, big fellas commonly put down big watts. It isn't really impressive until they have 400+ watts, at 155#s.

 

[Ark]

turn it up 4 watt

 

[Expidia]

Peleton suffered bad press after several shows featured characters having heart attacks while using a Peloton! I had thought they filed for bankruptcy after that, but I guess they are still around.

Suggest to your co-workers that they keep a portable defibrillator near their Peleton. See how that goes over with them

Their stock price never recovered though: https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/business/peloton-billions-heart-attack/index.html.

 

[hogicid]

Watts per kg is all that matters. For definite proof, take them on a real bike climb.

But ya, big fellas commonly put down big watts. It isn't really impressive until they have 400+ watts, at 155#s.

thank you so much for your suggestion

 

[maynard]

As a big guy . Well kinda . 200pbs just dropped a bit . I'm 85kgs now . Yeah we put out big power untill the heart rate gets going . Then turn the eeb up to turbo mode . Ha ha . Man I gotta do more cardio

 

[Ark]

Peleton suffered bad press after several shows featured characters having heart attacks while using a Peloton! I had thought they filed for bankruptcy after that, but I guess they are still around.

Suggest to your co-workers that they keep a portable defibrillator near their Peleton. See how that goes over with them

Their stock price never recovered though: https://www.cnn.com/2022/01/23/business/peloton-billions-heart-attack/index.html.

Pelon was just an expensive fidget spinner. people realise how boring exercise bikes are very quickly..


I remember in the 90s my sister had an exercise bike that she used about 5x
for the price of a peloton you can buy a normal bike and rollers or whatever as well...

 

[Suns_PSD]

Nothing can match the dense and effective training that you can obtain on an exercise bike with a HR monitor.
Plus you don't have to go anywhere.
Do 5-7 hours per week in Z2 (5 zone model) for 8-12 weeks with appropriate recovery and nutrition and you'll think you put a motor on your normal bike. An untrained individual, even a regular mountain bike rider, can make huge gains in the beginning.

 

[Jersey Skier]

So, I’m having a friendly conversation with two coworkers yesterday regarding the Peloton exercise bike. I’m just listening as they talk about how nice it is to get a quick 30-minute workout in, they discuss their favorite instructors and soon enough the conversation turns to FTP.

For some context my coworkers train a few hours a week sporadically, work 60+ hour weeks, have no athletic background, weigh around 225 lbs and are about 30 pounds overweight, don’t watch their diet, etc.

I take cycling somewhat seriously, train around 10-15 hours per week, eat well, race, sleep, etc

At this point, I’m expecting that their 20-minute power will be low compared to mine. My current 20-minute power is north of 330 watts and I weigh significantly less. I’m thinking of ways to downplay my power when it becomes my turn to share so as not to sound boastful. Turns out that wouldn’t be necessary because according to their Peloton bikes, their 20-minute power is 410 watts and 440 watts. One of them pulled out their phone and showed me their results on the leaderboard and sure enough - 440 watts for 20 minutes.

So my question is did my coworkers miss their calling as professional cyclists or perhaps Peloton power readings are a little off, lol.

Your co-workers should go pro. They'd kick ass.

What does a pro cyclist FTP look like? • ProCyclingUK.com

What is FTP cycling? FTP is the acronym for Functional Threshold Power. In theory this is the max power that you can sustain for an hour's riding. Once

procyclinguk.com