E-biking, lower heart rate & zone 2 questions

[ozzybmx]

It's only coz your riding flat XC trails and bike paths on that rig of yours

Last 3 rides I had on it over the Easter weekend, I reckon Zwift is about twice as quick so if anyone is looking to cover km's without stooping to e-assist, beat your chest, bash an ebiker and get your Zwift on

 

[ozzybmx]

It works, 160w, 150bpm and solid blue line in Z2.

Can even post on phone while riding

 

[ozzybmx]

So Zwift reckons my HR with a max of 191bpm is in Z3 when nearly every calculator on the internet goes from about 140-155bpm.

It was a cruisy ride at 155-160w but I couldn't do it any slower as I kept trying to go harder, causing the little green spikes. 1:41 for the climb which is 39 minutes longer than my fastest.

2 hours on the bike going slow, no out of the saddle, no hard efforts, should have worn more than a pair of 'Tradie' jocks

 

[Scotty T]

What mode did you run, or did you cycle through them a bit? I went up in turbo because I was last out before they were closing up so only tried the other modes briefly. Eco felt similar to riding a normal bike.

I went Trail for all of the ride except the steep fire trail to the bridge which was Turbo. Given more time would have had a solid crack on eco to test it out.

When I rode with the artist formerly known as Hambo (Bosch 250) that one was in eco and still way easier than a normal bike, I even turned that one off completely for a climb section to see how much harder it was and got a surprise that it wasn't insanely bad.

The Levo SL on Turbo was like Trail on the big motor bikes. I'll still totally consider a lighter one when the time comes cos it was easier to throw around.

But also was surprised on the big Norco that I could get a couple of little slightly sideways chucks on some small lumps, still could feel the difference to my pretty light bike.

 

[rockmoose]

So Zwift reckons my HR with a max of 191bpm is in Z3 when nearly every calculator on the internet goes from about 140-155bpm.

It was a cruisy ride at 155-160w but I couldn't do it any slower as I kept trying to go harder, causing the little green spikes. 1:41 for the climb which is 39 minutes longer than my fastest.

2 hours on the bike going slow, no out of the saddle, no hard efforts, should have worn more than a pair of 'Tradie' jocks

View attachment 408525

View attachment 408527

Definitely Z3 Tempo. Just need to be a smidge lower on the wattage to stop that HR creep, then you should manage to maintain Z2.

 

[cammas]

So I did a ride a couple of weeks ago where I wasn’t feeling the best before heading out and thought a ride would help, instead I had said issues with my heart rate and breathing.

Did the e-bike help me get back to the car, it certainly helped, I normally sit in the trail mode which is the middle mode of the 5 modes, as I could feel the issues occurring I was able to put it up a mode to compensate for my lack of power and as I got to steeper hills I was able to use full power mode to get up, it also helped to keep my heart rate from going over 200bpm, just.

So does it do what I was hoping it would do? The answer would be yes, I was able to get back to the car without having to walk (which is just as bad when this happens) and where I was riding there’s no way of taking a short cut or getting picked up. At the start of the ride I was thinking even in the middle mode it makes the hill’s easier and does feel a bit like cheating, by the end I was like I’m so glad I got it. The hardest thing for me is to acknowledge the reason why I had to get the e-bike to myself, but when this happens it sinks in a bit more.
Anyway here’s a snapshot of my heart rate during the ride, even though it was high to begin with, there’s a big arse hill at the start to get to the trail.

 

[rockmoose]

So I did a ride a couple of weeks ago where I wasn’t feeling the best before heading out and thought a ride would help, instead I had said issues with my heart rate and breathing.

Did the e-bike help me get back to the car, it certainly helped, I normally sit in the trail mode which is the middle mode of the 5 modes, as I could feel the issues occurring I was able to put it up a mode to compensate for my lack of power and as I got to steeper hills I was able to use full power mode to get up, it also helped to keep my heart rate from going over 200bpm, just.

So does it do what I was hoping it would do? The answer would be yes, I was able to get back to the car without having to walk (which is just as bad when this happens) and where I was riding there’s no way of taking a short cut or getting picked up. At the start of the ride I was thinking even in the middle mode it makes the hill’s easier and does feel a bit like cheating, by the end I was like I’m so glad I got it. The hardest thing for me is to acknowledge the reason why I had to get the e-bike to myself, but when this happens it sinks in a bit more.
Anyway here’s a snapshot of my heart rate during the ride, even though it was high to begin with, there’s a big arse hill at the start to get to the trail.

View attachment 408529

Do you have a comparison picture for the same route when you weren't feeling clapped out to start with?

 

[cammas]

Do you have a comparison picture for the same route when you weren't feeling clapped out to start with?

Mmm….. will need to through my files but should have one, I see what I can find.

 

[ozzybmx]

Definitely Z3 Tempo. Just need to be a smidge lower on the wattage to stop that HR creep, then you should manage to maintain Z2.

Every calculator on the net, all credible and very reliable sources put Z2 endurance at 55-75% FTP. Now my FTP was 237 for ages then I did some stupid effort somewhere that put it up to 265. At current fitness, 237 would be close.

At a max HR of 191bpm and FTP of 237, that puts my effort square in the Z2 range with HR between 131-158bpm and power between 132-177w. Effort was average 151bpm and 156w.

If I left the FTP at 265, that would have put my Z2 at 145-198w and HR the same at 131-158bpm, which to ride mid-top end of Z2 would have put my HR over 160bpm.

Not sure where Zwift gets those zones from.

 

[cammas]

@rockmoose heres a similar ride from a couple of years ago before all this started happening more regularly, obviously on a meat powered bike