"We’re not fully confident in this test result."

[mollydespondent]

Hi Fellow Sufferlandrians

I did a Half Monty today. The ramp wasn’t so tough, but I hadn’t spent a full hour on the seat since I started riding again - and my butt hurts!

After successfully finishing this test, I went upstairs and opened the laptop - and got an email that told me that confidence was lost. I know. I feel that way all the time, but hoped there would be confidence in my suffering here.

I am pretty confident I rode over the power levels asked for in the app over the ramp, and finished the heart rate section in the levels asked. I was asked in the middle to switch to “Level” so I chose a level in the middle not knowing what to do. I am using a Tacx Neo 2t and an iPhone with the latest OS and version of the app.

However, I had gotten a bogus FTP # earlier from a Kurt Kinetic I was using before the Tacx. My riding partner (and we are often very equal) got an FTP in FulGaz of 185 on the Tacx, while mine on the same test with the Kurt Kinetic was 69! I knew I was out of shape… but… I think that may have messed stuff up. Was that why confidence was lost?

I must admit that test made me suffer, and I would hope I can get some results out of it or it will be disheartening and I will cry big crocodile tears.

Here’s the test results at Strava.

Thanks for helping

[bukharin]

Did the email say what they thought the problem was? It looks like you may have ridden the ramp part in level rather than erg mode - it ramps up but quite variably, and then the power drops before peaking, and doesn’t seem to go completely to zero for 15 seconds. So it might be a bit hard to determine your MAP from that curve.

This is the graph from my last Half Monty - see how different it looks (the second curve is power and the third HR) - you can see the steady ramp up in power, then sudden drop in power to zero for 15 seconds, and the difference between erg and level mode is obvious.

[mollydespondent]

Thanks for your reply.

I was supposed to stop for 15 seconds? I thought I was to do that if I gave up to end the test? It said to do it as fast as possible, so I didnt stop on the ramp.

Is ERG mode calculated by the FTP I entered, that was really low? (Mentioned above) It asked me to switch to level mode in the middle of the ramp. I did, but didnt know what level to switch it to.

Is there a video to go with this that says what you are supposed to be doing?

[mollydespondent]

Here’s the text of the email, but I don’t understand it.

*We’re not fully confident in this test result.

• We couldn’t calculate a new MAP for you. As far as we can tell, it looks like you didn’t stick to the power targets during each step of the ramp. Next time, be sure to stick to the targets as closely as possible and we’ll be able to give you an accurate MAP. In the meantime, you can still do workouts in the app…they just won’t be as precisely calibrated to your abilities. • Without an accurate MAP or LTHR value, we are unable to confidently calculate your FTP. Your 4DP profile has not been updated.

• We couldn’t calculate your LTHR. It looks like you didn’t stick to the targets at each step of the ramp. Since we couldn’t get a clear picture of your true one-minute peak heart rate, we haven’t updated your LTHR. You can still do workouts in the app, we just won’t be able to give you accurate HR targets."

[bukharin]

See Half Monty Fitness Test FAQ – The Sufferfest if you haven’t already.

What should happen is that erg mode should control the ramp up, and eventually you literally can’t pedal any more, at which point you wait without pedalling for 15 seconds before continuing on in level mode.

Do you think you made it to the top of the ramp? That could definitely happen if the FTP you entered was (way) too low, which it sounds like it might have been, in which case I think you will probably need to do the test again unfortunately! Looking at your HR it doesn’t look like you really went to the limit?

Your power curve definitely doesn’t look like erg mode at any point - it’s just not smooth enough.

[mollydespondent]

The ramp seemed too easy. I made it to the top. Almost all of the test was in my big chainring. My heart rate was really low. I did not stop for 15 between the ramps. It appears I didn’t understand what they were asking on the screen.

I need to watch a video of someone doing this I think to get a full grasp of what it even is, does and tells me. What should I do with my bad FTP number I entered in the app? Just delete it or use my friends? Not use an ERG mode? If a level, what level?

Kinda feels this may be way over my pay grade, (without explicit instruction) Should I be using something a bit simpler?

[bukharin]

This is your power from the ramp part:

You can see a trend up, but just before the peak it has a big dip, and then after the peak it falls gradually and then stabilises at a level similar to just before the peak. Ideally it should ramp up steadily until failure - have a look at the power curve on my test above to see what it should like in erg mode.

So I think the app is having trouble working where you actually “failed” the ramp (ie couldn’t hold power), which is what it uses to determine your MAP.

If I were you I would:
(1) recover from this effort
(2) play with erg mode in one of the open workouts to be sure it’s working properly - I am very sure you weren’t in erg mode for this test. Erg mode isn’t essential but makes the ramp MUCH easier
(3) manually set your FTP to around 180
(4) re-do the test, being sure to do it in erg mode

[mollydespondent]

Thank you!

[bukharin]

You can see someone doing a Half Monty here: Wahoo All In Live Workout: Half Monty Testing Panel Discussion - YouTube

In terms of chainring - if you’re in erg mode it doesn’t matter what gear you’re in, as the trainer will control the resistance for you. Generally for erg mode people recommend using the small chainring and a gear somewhere in the middle of your cassette.

It’s not above your pay grade! You will definitely get the hang of it. You’re just transitioning from a dumb trainer to a smart trainer and had an incorrect FTP as your starting point. Easily fixable things!

Good luck getting it sorted

[mollydespondent]

@bukharin

Wahoo All In Live Workout: Half Monty Testing Panel Discussion - YouTube

The video was very very helpful! I look forward to my second attempt…

[bukharin]

Good to hear! Let us know how you get on

[phoenix65]

@mollydespondent I’d recommend using the big chainring and a small gear since it ups the flywheel speed and creates less power fluctuations (at least my experience with neo, neo bike and kickr bike)
And for sure play a bit with ERG Mode and Level settings / gear combinations to find a setting that will work for your cadence / power / HR at the HR-constrained part.
Be strong and try again

[mollydespondent]

Elissa of the Minions has been kind enough to spend some time with me on this. Yes, the initial FTP setting I had gotten from my other trainer threw a spanner into the whole mess!

She had me do a bit of Revolver to check the trainer to make sure that it was working correctly, and I basically came to the realization that I just hadn’t understood that I need to only match the cadence - not the power!

So I shifted, and tried to match every number on the test, and hence get to do it again today. It is all about the Suffer, isn’t it?

If a newbie like me reads this, I would recommend learning about ERG mode vs. riding like we do on a fun ride like in FulGaz or Tacx.

And watch the video that @bukharin shared - it was amazing, and taught me so much about the intention of the test, and watching a professional do it to see how it properly worked.

I’m stoked, and looking forward to seeing what I can get done today!