Mid plan when to swap to Power Match

Hi everyone, I am nearly at the halfway mark of my build phase and wanted advice on when I should cut over to ‘Power Match’. I have a Ramp Test next week, yikes… and thought it would be a good opportunity to make the change just in case there are subtle differences. Or would I be better to wait until I complete the entire plan?

Not sure if it’s relevant but I am using a Kickr18 and a Stages LH PM.

My motivation is to have my power numbers match indoors and outdoors. Currently I can do the math when I’m fresh outdoors but once fatigue kicks in the grey matter struggles with the calculations.

Advice and personal experience is very much appreciated. I did find with my testing it seemed to work a lot better in the small ring as the inertia of the flywheel when in the big ring was too much and Power Match couldn’t make the adjustments quickly enough.

Yep, sounds like you have right idea. Stick with current set up then next ramp test change to power match and then just carry on with new set up

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Thanks Robert, I have a mid plan ramp test scheduled for Monday but if I do that will I be expecting a see a possible variance in my FTP based on the new setup? If so I may wait until I start my Speciality plan which is only four weeks away. Keen to see if I have made any gains since moving from base to build :slight_smile: Cheers.

You’re changing the device used to measure power - so yes you should see whatever variance there is between the stages and the kickr. I’d still encourage you to swap to power match now - the sooner you track on a consistent device inside and outside the better

Yes, this is good advice! If I remember the podcasts correctly you should also re-test when you make a big change to other elements of your set up, e.g. if you significantly change your bike fit and/or swap out components like crank arms to different lengths.

Also having your power numbers match inside and out is a good goal and using the same power meter in both places is definitely a step up, but people commonly have different indoor and outdoor FTP estimates. Tempting as it is to head down the local velodrome and do an FTP test out there I’m not that keen on accuracy :laughing:

I’m going the other way - all my numbers are from Powertap P1 pedals, and I just got a Tacx Bushido to replace my dumb trainer. If I use powermatch to control the smart trainer, but the P1s to measure the power, then the measuring device will be the same as before - do I need to do a new ramp test?

i can tell you my 2015 snap was 25 watts off of my bike PM. I got the 2018 Kickr and it is 11 watts off. I agree that the best plan is wait to do power match starting with your next FTP test. I made the change to power match for the same reason you did because for a while there i was wondering why I couldn’t hold the same power outdoors as i was indoors:)

Anyway, if you want to see how close they are though, i had my bike PM (power2max) running through my garmin and my kicker with TR on my iphone and just watched the power numbers side by side to figure out the delta. There is probably a better way but this worked for me.

Kickr17 and Stages L-only, and now LR.

Try TR PowerMatch first, its simple and it works. I used it for about 6 months.

Over the last month I’ve used Wahoo’s version of power match as I detail here PowerMatch Experiences - #71 by bbarrera – however the Kickr doesn’t always connect to Stages so its a bit finicky and not as ready for primetime in my opinion.

So I will always recommend TR PowerMatch first.