Power Meters and Pedaling Effectiveness

NORECUMYET

Holy Smokes! I had just heard of Power Meters and started reading up just a half hour ago. My God. First of all, I've always been kind of a geek about measuring things in my life and have found it both interesting and helpful, but all these posts on power meters, different length cranks, and basically just pulling every single bit of data out of your workout has me kind of bummed. Every person of course has his or her own things that keep him or her entertained and interested. I wouldn't be surprised if within the next few months I have a power meter myself, but for now, I wonder if all of this data isn't just overkill. I can certainly see all of this for a professional racer or Olympic contender/athlete. By all means it sounds like an excellent tool. However, if you’re riding and even competing because you love to ride and compete, is all this once again overkill? Please don't make tons of angry posts I'm just asking a couple of questions. For now I just don't understand the whole thing.

I will end this particular post with this observation. I've been riding on and off for about ten years with most of my riding being on a cheap, heavy, low tech, mountain bike with combination tires. I used to come in contact often with road bikers and or racing clubs on my rides. The majority of which had expensive rides with apparently every gadget available. (I’m currently riding a carbon fiber bike with top of the line components so I’m not just pissed that I can’t afford nice equipment.) Here's my observation. 90 + percent of the time I passed these guys up and stayed ahead for the duration. This was on flats as well as hills and mountains. I say this not to boast but to make a point. That point, or maybe I should pose it as a question, it this. Are we (myself included) spending too much energy (and money) on technology and not enough on just plain enjoying the ride? Just a question/observation. Don't write me an angry letter because you just spent thousands on Power Monitoring equipment please. Remember I said earlier that I might just be the type to do the exact same thing.

P.S. Maybe this is a better question. How do you know when you’re crossing the line between enjoyment of the sport and just wanting all the latest technology?

P.S. # 2 I've read several more posts since writing this original. I know that it appears that I'm oversimplifying the argument/s. That has its purpose. I've found that keeping ANYTHING you do as simple as is possible to be the best plan of attack. Maybe a power meter is your way of achieving this. (See, I'm not against them) This even applies to something as complex as computer programming. The more I'm able to approach a problem by simplifying it the better luck I have with it’s operation. Of course these are just my opinions and you know what they say of opinions. They’re like a certain sphincter, and everyone has one.

TamMan

Overkill - maybe. Fun, absolutely. It really depends on the kind of person you are. I love sports and the whole science behind it. Without a doubt, a PM requires some knowledge, but you learn a lot about yourself and cycling during the ramp up process. I don't race that much, but I still tremendously enjoy learning more about my body and how to push myself to the limit. And yes, I have improved my riding beyond what I thought was possible. Did I enjoy riding before, yes. Do I enjoy riding more now, yes.

beerco

Some of us enjoy the sport most when we're winning races. A PM and a good Plan is a great way for us to get more enjoyment .

NORECUMYET

I see a hint of fangs. For the third or fourth time now, I AM NOT knocking power meters. The whole idea is foreign to me. That's all. And from the little I've learned so far it appears as if the meter that's rated very high is about $3600.00. I am not opposed to spending money for an invaluable tool. I'm trying to learn about these things.

I'm extremely mechanically adept so I completely understand what is being measured here that isn't directly and exactly being measured in other ways. What I wonder is this. Is it possible to get virtually the same information from a couple of other sources? I.E., CADENCE, MPH or KPH, %GRADE, and HEART RATE. I'm confused that's all. Don't get ANGRY I may just be uninformed. Is this yet another electronic device that's going to cost 1/10 of today's cost within the next eighteen months?

Believe me, if I become convinced that a power meter will give me the ability to improve my performance in ways that what I already have CAN NOT, I'll be out there hunting down the best deal as soon as possible.

Maybe someone could give me an overview of exactly how one of these things can give me information that I can use to improve my performance in ways that the measurements I mention above simply can not give me.

And for all you that already have them and are now winning races that you could not of won before, CONGRATULATIONS! You should be proud of yourselves.

I just don't get it yet that's all. I'm not trying to bust anyone's huevos as much as doing just that is usually entertaining. It's just that I already know how many RPM my pedals have to turn to go a certain speed and I know that everyone is different and I know that I need to continually go faster than I am now and that means faster cadence for the most part. Experiance and the data I now collect tells me how far I went, the average speed, cadence, MPH, heartrate, as well as the maximums and minimums of the same, how many feet I climbed, how many I descend, devided by distance, time, location etc. along with many others that I just can't remember off hand. You mean with all that information I still need to know the exact torque I'm producing too? I'm overwhelmed. Or is it that once I can measure my torque and how fast that propels me that I won't need all the other stuff?

dkrenik

If you know all the appropriate data you can use this or this (amongst others).

If you check ebay you'll see that most PM's hold their value quite well. The past is no predictor of the future however...


Try CyclingPeaks site. There's a wealth of information on the benefits of PM usage there.


The other "stuff" you are referring to is very dependent upon many variables (weather conditions, hydration, altitude, and such). Power (torque*angular velocity) is independent of all those variables. Again, I encourage you to check out the CyclingPeaks site and to search this forum. There's much information on the benefits of PM's to be gleaned there.

Dave

MiSzA

No need to spend all that money - go check this site: http://www.peakscoachinggroup.com/p...power_book.html
get the book (a LOT less than a new or used PM ) and that should help you out!

The second thing you are going to ask is: do I really need WKO+

So - decide for yourself:
http://cyclingpeakssoftware.com

Happy reading...

beerco

No fangs intended at all. That was just my "funny" way of pointing out that whether or not you could/should use a powermeter is really dependent on your goals. If I wasn't interested in racing, I probably wouldn't even have a regular cycling computer on my bike.



Yep, that's pretty much it. Buy the book (I even have an autographed copy myself) and check this out while you're waiting for it to arrive: http://midweekclub.ca/powerFAQ.htm

jbvcoaching

Good compilation of resources (many, if not most, free) here:
http://www.freewebs.com/trainwithpower/resources.htm