Cateye accuracy

whoawhoa

Anyone know how accurate the cateye cyclosimulator is?
Thanks

ric_stern/RST

it's simply not accurate whatsoever, and each cyclosimulator displays significantly different powers for the same external power. for e.g., two of the riders i coach have one, and when i rode both the simulators at a steady 300 (SRM) W (with both of them on the same 'incline' or whatever the grade measure is) one said i was riding at 200 W, and the other said i was riding at 700 W. whilst riding other cyclosimulators (at different powers) i've noticed hugely different/wild estimates of power.

it's a great feeling unit though!

ric

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whoawhoa

Are there any trainers that you know of that are cheaper than the computrainer and give a somewhat accurate power output?

ric_stern/RST

I've used Elite, Tacx, Cateye, Computrainer and others and not found them overly accurate. However, as i have a variety of power meters at my disposal i chose my trainers based on other factors - e.g., feel, how easy it is to store, whether it can be used online to 'ride' against others, etc.

i would also guess it depends on how much you have to spend on a trainer?

ric

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Woofer

What exactly do you wish to get? A trainer with a good feel or a good power meter? Unless you're willing to spend over a couple thousand dollars you have to choose between the two. The cheapest thing to do is forgo the power meter altogether and ride a longish known climb and us analyticcycling.com. It's amazingly close to the numbers that people get when they compare the data versus using a power meter.

whoawhoa

I wanted a combination of the two. But, since I already have a somewhat decent trainer, a power meter would be the best option. Using the hill and analyticcycling.com might let me estimate my power, but it would be hard to train using "power" unless I used that hill exclusively, right?

Woofer

Actually I do most of my longish intervals on the same two or three hills just because I have a limited amount of time to train (and get to good hills) and many close hills are unsuitable for *me* to maintain a constant power for over 5 minutes. Your physiology, situation and location may be different.

There are a several options short of buying a power meter
a.) find several hills of known length and altitude to mix it up
b.) get a coach who will rent you a power meter
c.) train with friends who have power meters
d.) reportedly the HAC 4 works pretty well on uphill portions so you could use that in lieu of recording your time and going to analyticcycling.com

One thing I do instead of the 2x20's is 8x5 or however many I can do on a shorter hill with no rest between repeats just because this hill is much easier for me to get to than a 20 minute hill.

whoawhoa

Don't know anyone with a power meter. That would be cool. I really don't have any hills that are long enough to do intervals on that hold a steady grade. Well, maybe 1 but it has a short downhill in the middle. I usually do intervals on my current trainer and keep track of gears/cadence/tire pressure to track improvement.

Woofer

You could make a trip on a weekend to a known hill and try to gauge fitness every once in a while like that. Or if you live near a velodrome you can do known distances in a somewhat controlled setting without the hill and use analyticcycling.com.

I have trouble calibrating my effort with perceived exertion - it's super hard for me to maintain power over little dips in hills so that's part of why it's just easier for me to find a hill that's constantly going up rather than doing an interval on a rolling course. You may not have these issues with perceived exertion. Also, even when I think I am maintaining constant cadence and power, I look down and see the power fluctuating quite a bit.

jws

If you can afford one, get a power meter (PT is best for money; SRM Pro is good but expensive). You can use it on any trainer and outdoors, too.

If you have the cash, a dedicated trainer may be useful (though their power functions may not be great). However, I would highly recommend getting a power meter FIRST. It's so much more useful than just about any expensive equipment you can buy, except the bike itself.

Woofer

A dedicated trainer would not be worth the money unless it was the SRM or PowerTap equipped one which cost more than a power meter by itself. Every report I've seen indicates you need to calibrate the other ones to a known power meter and with the SRM and PowerTap trainers, at least one can calibrate (SRM)or check the calibration(PowerTap). Any other trainer will require you to ride a bike with a power meter to check it's calibration.