Stages Cycling - UCI WC DH - Leogang Power Competition

Jun 15, 2016
by Pinkbike Staff  
Who likes new stuff? Have a crack at figuring these 3 riders' power outputs and you could be rolling out to your next ride with your very own power meter from Stages Cycling.

Stages Cycling Leogang contest page

Stages Cycling makes power meters for all types of riders. Power meters are a training tool that helps cyclists get the most from their training, you may be surprised but many of the riders you follow through Pinkbike’s race coverage use Stages Power to maximize their performance. In Leogang, Stages Cycling collected samples of Max Wattage from the Trek Factory DH team. Max watts are a metric used to quantify sprint power.

Match the rider with their correct Max power for a chance to WIN a Stages Power Meter of your own. Correct entries will go into a draw to win a Stages Power meter of their choosing. Registered Pinkbike users are only eligible for entry.

Stages Cycling prize

**Stages Cycling will give away one Stages Power meter, valued up to $649.99 USD. (Saint M820 Stages Power meter pictured.)

HOW TO ENTER

STEP 1 -
1. Make sure you are Logged in to Pinkbike. If you are new to Pinkbike, create a Sign in to enter the competition.

STEP 2 -
2. Select the correct power output for each athlete below and submit your entry. (The winner will be contacted via Pinkbike. Pinkbike users are only eligible for entry.)

**Contest Closed**


Thanks to Stages Cycling.

MENTIONS @trek


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85 Comments
  • 47 1
 Us imperialist want it displayed in Horse power.
  • 6 1
 That is what we know and can relate to but metric does make a lot more sense.
  • 2 0
 about 750 watts per horsepower
  • 44 0
 Going to attach this to my wrist.
  • 5 0
 lol
  • 11 0
 Bachelor Power
  • 41 1
 Immediately after I voted I realized I will never use a power meter
  • 12 0
 I can use it for... uhm... uhhhhh yeah shit itight be nice to win simething I guess?
  • 2 0
 once you know how to use one they take the guess work out of riding. Think of it like a rev meter in your car, with the red area. you go into the red zone you are at risk of blowing your engine. sit high for too long early and you wont have any power left at the end of the stage
  • 1 0
 @hayden19: Haha I know what they're good for but as a recreational downhiller the use for them would be minimal at best.
  • 2 0
 Sell -> buy parts
  • 1 0
 @Mooka: Daddy needs a new wheelset!
  • 30 5
 Pretty sure the answer is

Gee: 1231
Rachel: 1600
Taylor: 908
  • 11 8
 Are you having a laugh or do you really think Rach puts down more power than Gee?
  • 20 2
 10 World Cup wins in row don't lie!
  • 1 2
 I was looking for the 'more than the men' selection but couldn't find it?

I think there is a fault with the competition
  • 4 1
 Rach's is 1600 because thst's as high as the meter can currently read.
  • 2 3
 Gee does regularly beat Rachel by 0:30.
  • 44 0
 It's ironic that this contest comes up for a track that a guy won on without putting down any power at all.
  • 1 0
 @kabanosipyvo: You should ride a pump track and then will realise how wrong you are.
  • 1 0
 @Hockerz: you missed my point
  • 15 0
 "The first Pinkbike user to select all correct power outputs and submit their entry will WIN..."

Looks like the winner has already been chosen, shouldn't all correct entries be put into a draw to give a fair chance?
  • 1 0
 please re-read.... you have no idea what you are talking about
  • 1 0
 @GotNuts: You're wrong, they article has now been edited. Previously, it said exactly what I had copied&pasted from the article, but now they've changed it so it says about a draw, nice try GotNuts...
  • 1 0
 @brynbikes: Haa think you mean what I copied and pasted? But yeah the article previously said the quotation that I put in my initial comment, hence why I commented to say it should be fair. But looks like they've changed the article now so it says there will be a draw for all correct entries
  • 10 0
 I have no idea what those numbers mean, i'll just guess the middle values.
  • 38 0
 Its like school all over again. Except I won a diploma last time.
  • 1 0
 The middle figures seem the most likely
  • 1 0
 imgur.com/Mg0I2Bc
  • 1 0
 Google does other things than pron and bikes.
  • 9 0
 power output for what? peak power for 1 second? 5 second sustained power? 30 second power output average?
  • 4 0
 Normally it's tested as a 5 second sprint and then you obtain the max power reading from within those 5 seconds rather than an average power or something like that
  • 3 0
 Agreed! This competition is silly. First user to get it right wins, and they dont even specify which watt-measure they are having us guess at. Peak, weighted average +++? All of which has significant influence on the numbers.
For instance, my personal peak is in the 1200w range, but when we are talking about a 5 sec duration (or so), that number drops to 800-ish watts, which is in line with the range of the options we are given.
  • 2 0
 I wonder what the 'max' power reading would be after a rough landing from a jump.... Correct me if I'm wrong, but power meters are just measuring tension in the crank, aren't they...
  • 2 0
 that would be torque, not power. Power is work/ time, and work is force x distance, so if the pedals dont actually move, you 'technically' don't do any work.
  • 1 0
 I know, some BMX racers can produce 1800+ Watts which can be 25-26 W/kg in certain cases - depending on rider's weight, of course. Wink Source: www.trainingandracingwithapowermeter.com/search/label/BMX
I can imagine, Pro DH racers also can produce 1600-1900 W.

Nevertheless, my personal record is 1380 Watts. Shame, I know... Big Grin
  • 2 2
 As far as I know the top female cyclists (on the road) top out at about 750-800 Watts during their final sprint and the males peek at around 1600 Watts. So if the numbers provided are correct... Rachel Atherton is going to win a gold medal for Great Britain in the Olympic Road Race this year. If these numbers are correct she'll win by a considerable distance, actually.
  • 4 0
 That's not quite the best comparison. The Trek team more than likely was put on a trainer of sorts and asked to sprint for about 5-10 seconds. Just enough to collect the peak. The numbers you're giving are, like you stated, from the end of a race. Naturally, that short test can have very high numbers. Those same top cyclists can easily peg over 2000W doing the same test the Trek team did.
  • 3 1
 @Albe23: While a short test with a proper warm-up will yield higher numbers than the end of a race, it isn't that much of a difference. 2000w requires absolutely insane fast twitch muscle fibers and a lot of training purely designed around lifting that peak - squats, sprint intervals, etc. Even a lot of the top male sprinters on the road don't put out that kind of power. Cav, for example, sprints at around 1600w.
  • 2 0
 @Albe23: Correct, also Rachel will more than likely weigh more than most road cyclists which affects the w/kg
  • 3 0
 @Downhilldean: w/kg ---- my nemesis.
  • 2 0
 @msam: He sprints at 1600w after a 200km ride with the fastest riders in the world... I'm sure his actual peak power after a warm up under controlled conditions would be far nearer to 2000w. He also outputs a lower power than the other top sprinters on the road but spins a higher cadence to make up for that fact in the sprint. The more you know....
  • 1 0
 Rachels fitness routine will favor strength over endurance, and it wouldn't surprise me in the least if her power is more than the top female road cyclists. She's the top in DH, of course she's going to be very strong.
  • 3 0
 @Albe23: You're right about the comparison being a bit unfair. Rachel's results would be collected from a trainer and the pro cyclist results are being generated after a long ride. However, as MSAM says, the sprinters are basically reaching their Max Wattage at the end of a race. That's what they're paid to do and they're very good at it. Their results at the end of a race aren't much different from their results on a trainer. They aren't reaching 2000 Watts on a trainer - and they definitely aren't doing it easily! If you want to know what 2000 (plus) Watts looks like on a trainer Google search Chris Hoy or Robert Forstermann. Seriously, take a look at their legs and use that as a reference for 2000 Watts. It's an absolutely enormous number and requires beastly legs to achieve it!
  • 2 0
 Most of those max power number come from a Wingate test protocol. It's a 30s sprints on a trainer, it can be seated or standing(standing gets you bigger numbers) that is against a fixed load. Original number was 0.075 kp per kg of your weight, although usually elite cyclists are tested with a high kp value. Really, RPMs is what gets you the highest numbers. The elite BMX guys put down huge numbers because they can outspin just about anyone.

The test also give your fatigue index which is probably more important than max watts in most cases, which is how fast and far you come come down off the peak power number the rest of the test.

Peak power is like VO2max in a lot of ways, it's an interesting number that tells you very little in the real world alone, and is usually brought up more for bragging right than anything.
  • 2 0
 @zutroy: yup. BMX racers and Track racers (usually there's some crossover) will always have immense power. Until guys like Rennie come along and smash it. Back in the 2000s there was a local DH racer who wasn't the fittest looking guy around, showed up to the Toronto bike show in jeans and did that road bike race sprint challenge. Smoked all the roadies who showed up with trainers and practice and won the bike. Ended up racing track and still races I think. Won't name drop but all the older Canadian DH and Track guys will know who immediately. We used to call him M&M for wearing skinsuits racing DH.
  • 3 0
 Any half decent DH racer should be able to crush just about any road racer in a sprint from rest. Being able to sprint out of the gate and being able to sprint after being pinned for 6hrs are two vastly different abilities.
  • 1 0
 @WhatAboutBob: Actually they are not. Sprinting comes from your genetic make up and to a lesser extent how you train. Most DH racers are not as powerful as they think they are.
  • 1 0
 @zutroy: You are correct, sprinting does come from genetic make up, as does endurance.

When you are talking about road racers they are primarily endurance athletes. The field sprinters just happen to be best sprinters of endurance racers. Marcel Kittle is an absolute amazing sprinter, but there are tons of people who can match the 2000 watts he does in a sprint. However, most of them would be dropped well within the first 5km of a road race.

And world class DH racers are powerful, incredibly powerful. I know some of the numbers they produce and they are quite impressive.
  • 1 0
 @WhatAboutBob: In cycling the muscle fiber difference between a road sprinter who goes hours and then puts the power down and pure track sprinters is very small. Its not even close the difference you see in runner, were sprinters and distance runners are almost different species.

You've had very power WC level guys try there hands at track racing, they're decent at an elite level but they're not on the same level as the elite elite track guys. DH doesn't require elite level power that pure sprinting does, or even BMX racing were the first straight is a dead sprint. I would argue that since most WC courses are around 3-5min in length that DH racing is an endurance sport also.

Also, peak power means nothing in the real world along. You could hit 3000 watts, but it's not going to help you can only hold it 0.2 second and you're at 1000 watts 3 seconds later. It's about hitting a highish number and holding it a long period of time.
  • 1 0
 @zutroy: I would agree that peak sprint power is pretty well irrelevant for DH racing. I also agree that DH racing has a much larger endurance component then most believe. The physiological demands of DH racing is fascinating and I believe not well understood.

Still the fact is most world class DH racers have incredible peak sprint power. I have tested enough high level DH racers and enough high level road and XC racer to be able to say with a high degree of confidence that high level DH racers are far superior sprinters then the vast majority of high level endurance racers.
  • 2 0
 Isn't there only 27 choices, so theoretically, this could go in the first 30 people quite easily?
  • 1 0
 i've been trying to save up a power meter for ages! Would be sick to know how much power these legs have... probably not much lol.
  • 3 0
 Watts in in LA where the Towers, are right?
  • 1 0
 Wow, I had a spaz with the spelling and punctuationz.

Loic might want to have a look at this during recovery time

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pRSVBorcOT4
  • 2 0
 i chose:
gee 1965
rach 1343
tay tay 1654

cuz why not. these three are hitting the weight pile n such.
  • 2 0
 Real men measure power with an ORCHIDOMETER!!! en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Orchidometer
  • 2 0
 If 2200 is correct I'll be well impressed.
  • 1 0
 Afaik, Martyn Ashton said that Gee's personal record is in the 2000W range.
  • 2 4
 I don't know about that. Mark Cavendish maxes out sub 1600w. On a DH track I can't see anyone getting near their max either. Maybe South Africa. Interesting to find out.
  • 3 0
 2.2 kW is equal to 3 bhp - i would doubt that. Unless Gee is horse enough Razz
  • 4 1
 youtu.be/S4O5voOCqAQ

700 Watt ...
  • 1 0
 @Pr0Sasch: jeezus that guys a beast
  • 3 0
 @Pr0Sasch @tinfoil
From the article, "Stages Cycling collected samples of Max Wattage..."

Max wattage is measured over a 5 second sprint period, so it's not what they are putting out while racing

Track sprinters are know to put out around 2000W in the last few seconds of their sprint races, Hoy was know to max out at 2300W
  • 1 2
 Different aerodynamics involved there... interesting to find out indeed
  • 1 0
 @Joebohobo: Absolutely true. As far as I can tell though, the name of this game is to guess the max wattage put out on the track at Leogang. My point is that I doubt any DH rider a) has the power to rival a track cyclist or b) gets anywhere near their true max power on the track. Now if Stages set up some kind of trainer test that we're supposed to guess wattage from then I'd be expecting some higher numbers - maybe even in the 1800w range for Gee, although that still seems huge.
  • 5 0
 Nathan Rennie produced 2080 watts at the Australian Institute of Sport (beating roadies and trackies). They offered him a position on the national track team. He declined.
  • 1 0
 @iamamodel: correct. and Jared Graves raced DH and was up there as well. so "a" is already proven to be false, since there are several former DHers that have that power.
  • 1 0
 Cool. I had no idea, though Rennie is undoubtedly a beast, as are Graves and Gee. Still doubt he's putting down that kind of power on a track that can be won chainless though.
  • 1 0
 @tinfoil: We think the results aren't from practice on track but on a trainer.
  • 1 0
 @tinfoil, It's not MTB but incredible how Liam Philips puts out over 2500W in the first few pedals of a SX race
  • 1 0
 @Joebohobo: Olympic levem BMXers pull out really high wattages. As do some DH riders.

Track cyclists are already monsters in that regard.

So I can totally see Gee putting out insane wattage
  • 1 0
 @dragonaut: I know, that's what I've been saying!!
  • 1 0
 What the hell is the unit? And is the number the max power? The average?
  • 1 1
 In what condition? For how much time? Etc
  • 1 0
 Double post for some reason. Deleted.
  • 2 1
 @tinfoil: what is double posted? What got deleted?
  • 1 0
 @TheLongMan: Hmm. Well then. Good old pinkbike mobile. I think what I was saying was something to the effect of Stages always seems to use a max wattage derived from a 5s average.
  • 2 0
 well its cycling, so its watts. and it would just be the peak watts put down sometime in the run
  • 1 0
 I'd better need a Weakness Meter.
  • 2 2
 Result dependant on weather gee is allowed to dabble in drugs...
  • 2 2
 They're giving away power meters cause nobody is buying them
  • 2 2
 Power meter
  • 1 0
 Exactly
  • 1 2
 Try and reduce DH to watts...riiiight. Go home roadies, you're drunk.







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