Powermeters In The Pro Cycling Peloton



steve

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Aug 12, 2001
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Powermeters have revolutionised how professional cyclists train. We took a look at the range of products used by the pro teams; SRM, Stages, Pioneer and Quarq and spoke to some of the people at the cutting edge of powermeters and how they're used. We spoke to Tim Kerrison at Team Sky - the man believed by many to have turned Wiggins and Froome into Grand Tour winners, about how the Team Sky's new work Stages Powermeters has affected their training approach. We also met Darren Harper of Pioneer powermeters. Used by Belkin Pro Cycling, Pioneer are one of the newcomers to the market.
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The Pioneer powermeter seems to be having issues. Belkin is supposed to be using it but Gesink was on his old SRM at the Tour Down Under.
 
Interesting what he says about the Stages. That is precisely the issue I had. Great power meter, especially for the money, but if you aren't 50/50 left and right leg, the power numbers will indeed be off. Stages claims most riders are pretty close to 50/50 but I have heard otherwise from other sources.
 
Originally Posted by jcm01
Interesting what he says about the Stages. That is precisely the issue I had. Great power meter, especially for the money, but if you aren't 50/50 left and right leg, the power numbers will indeed be off. Stages claims most riders are pretty close to 50/50 but I have heard otherwise from other sources.
The problem I have with the 50/50 thing, that I could live with if it could be shown that the ratio was consistent across all intensities and cadences, and it seems to me it's very much not, I see much more that it's 50/50 at lower intensities and diverges at higher, and changes again depending on how fatigued I am for the same power.

That's much more of a concern than simply 50/50 over or understating power by a fixed amount.
 
Originally Posted by JibberJim

The problem I have with the 50/50 thing, that I could live with if it could be shown that the ratio was consistent across all intensities and cadences, and it seems to me it's very much not, I see much more that it's 50/50 at lower intensities and diverges at higher, and changes again depending on how fatigued I am for the same power.

That's much more of a concern than simply 50/50 over or understating power by a fixed amount.
Agree. Also, standing vs. seated can change things I think. And even if the ratio was consistent, the other problem (which I ran into) is I had Stages one 1 bike and a different power meter on another bike so it made comparing rides, tracking TSS scores, etc., a bit of a pain. Not to mention it throws off your power charts.
 
I don't know who would waste their money on an SRM these days, so many other more affordable options available. You can get a powertap hub for $800, stages start at $600, either would be good enough for 99% of road riders who pay for their own equipment.
 
It's nice to see the Sky Team take up the Stages Power Meter, but they should have decided not to force the public to purchase the power meter with the hard connection to the crank.

It leaves room for another company to clean their clock with a Power Meter that is both left and right

Yes, something not "hard connected" could fall off ... but what's new?

Zip ties are not my favourite ... but it was disgraceful for SRM to suffer the world with their 6-8k cranksets for something which should have been licensed 10-15 years earlier.

SRM could show some penitence and release something the current era. And not with magnets. Garmin's could be alright, but not for 1.5k ... 500-600 maybe (with repairability)
 
I don't think anyone is forcing anybody to buy a power meter.

Abandoning magnets comes with a performance cost in rotational speed measurement.

Not sure what you mean by "hard connected".

6-8k cranksets? what currency are you talking, Lire?

Originally Posted by HBChristo
It's nice to see the Sky Team take up the Stages Power Meter, but they should have decided not to force the public to purchase the power meter with the hard connection to the crank.

It leaves room for another company to clean their clock with a Power Meter that is both left and right

Yes, something not "hard connected" could fall off ... but what's new?

Zip ties are not my favourite ... but it was disgraceful for SRM to suffer the world with their 6-8k cranksets for something which should have been licensed 10-15 years earlier.

SRM could show some penitence and release something the current era. And not with magnets. Garmin's could be alright, but not for 1.5k ... 500-600 maybe (with repairability)
 
Alex, I think he means he wants just the "widget" part that's attached to the crank so he can move it from crank to crank... Yeah... It mystically calibrates itself too. ;) You mean you don't force people to buy powermeters? I heard the tale of that one guy you coached to do the hour record - something along the lines of you putting him on a bike equipped with a "Cancellara motor" in the bottom bracket and kept him on that bike for 1839 laps of the track until he gave in and said he'd buy an SRM. :p