Power meter

E@gle.

Looking at buying a power meter for training purposes and looking for some recommendations. either looking a a powertap or the polar cs600 with power.
The Srm is a bit too much out of my budget. Iv heard that the powertap is great and the polar isnt that accurate. Any one have any experiences??

cunavalos

I personally havent used a powermeter but I was actually looking at this a couple of weeks ago but reckoned i wouldn't have got much use out of it (i am simply not good enough) but like you i ruled out the srm (definately the most accurate but outside my budget), the ergomo has reliability issues and the company is the brink of going bust so where would that leave you if you had problems in the future. there are conflicting reports as to the accuracy of the the polar so i would go with the powertap. if you are planning on using it for training i would go for a wireless system laced on to a mavic open pro rim but there are lot more compatible wheels on stream. i was looking to rent a powertap system from these guys http://www.cyclepowermeters.com for a period of 12 weeks. it would give you an idea if training with a powermeter is of any benefit to you before commiting to a signficant purchase. the company is run by a leading british cyclist and are happy to deal with irish customers. as always ebay is a good option if looking to purchase and the for sale section of http://www.timetriallingforum.co.uk

Junior

There's actually a decent write up on this subject in one of the cycling mags this month, I'll dig it out later on. Power Meter is the way to go unless you can afford the SRM

E@gle.

Junior wrote: »

There's actually a decent write up on this subject in one of the cycling mags this month, I'll dig it out later on. Power Meter is the way to go unless you can afford the SRM

you mean the pro cycling mag, have read itm thanks anyway

Pinarello

E@gle. wrote: »

Looking at buying a power meter for training purposes and looking for some recommendations. either looking a a powertap or the polar cs600 with power.
The Srm is a bit too much out of my budget. Iv heard that the powertap is great and the polar isnt that accurate. Any one have any experiences??

Stay away from the Polar powermeter.Apparently it's a disaster to setup and is prone to not working so well.The Powertap is the way to go.I have the Powertap SL and used it in my final year when racing.It is brilliant and was the best money i ever spent on equiptment for the bike.The SRM is the best if you can afford it but with readings of +/-5% it exactly the same as the Powertap.If it's good enough for the Garmin-Chiptole boys,it well worth the money...:)

Diarmuid

I have a Powertap. It's rented as I didn't want to put down a ton of money for something I wouldn't use. I would recommend doing this as the rental is quite reasonable. Do you have a garmin 705 by any chance? It would be worth considering the wireless models if you do as they should be ANT+ compatiable. They are great for training (especially if you do turbo work) as you have a totally objective summary of how hard you are working.


Don't bother with the Polar.

E@gle.

Diarmuid wrote: »

I have a Powertap. It's rented as I didn't want to put down a ton of money for something I wouldn't use. I would recommend doing this as the rental is quite reasonable. Do you have a garmin 705 by any chance? It would be worth considering the wireless models if you do as they should be ANT+ compatiable. They are great for training (especially if you do turbo work) as you have a totally objective summary of how hard you are working.


Don't bother with the Polar.

Didn't know you could rent one maybe i'll rent a powertap and see how i get one with it.

i have that the polar isnt worth the money

scottreynolds

http://www.quarq.us/ -- this is another option a new company doing power meter stuff. Say that though, and not having used one, the PowerTap looks the business. It let you swap bikes easier than any crack based system.

tunney

Pinarello wrote: »

Stay away from the Polar powermeter.Apparently it's a disaster to setup and is prone to not working so well.The Powertap is the way to go.I have the Powertap SL and used it in my final year when racing.It is brilliant and was the best money i ever spent on equiptment for the bike.The SRM is the best if you can afford it but with readings of +/-5% it exactly the same as the Powertap.If it's good enough for the Garmin-Chiptole boys,it well worth the money...:)

Get an SRM Pro - its much less than 5% plus it reads from closer to the source of Power.

Garmin-Chiptole are PAID to use it, they don't PAY to use powertaps.

That being said the only options are really SRM or Powertap, everything else is cack.

(I've ridden with a SRM DA Pro for 18 months or so now and its amazing)

Lumen

tunney wrote: »

Get an SRM Pro - its much less than 5% plus it reads from closer to the source of Power.

2,368.10 EUR :eek:

Raam

Lumen wrote: »

2,368.10 EUR :eek:

Quick! Get two of them in case one breaks

Pinarello

tunney wrote: »

Get an SRM Pro - its much less than 5% plus it reads from closer to the source of Power.

Garmin-Chiptole are PAID to use it, they don't PAY to use powertaps.

That being said the only options are really SRM or Powertap, everything else is cack.

(I've ridden with a SRM DA Pro for 18 months or so now and its amazing)

Nice to see that some of us are still flush in these recessionary times...;)

tunney

Lumen wrote: »

2,368.10 EUR :eek:

I got mine a little cheaper than that and mine is not wireless, I got mine before they became Wireless.

Not cheap but in terms of performance improvments, it has more impact than my disc, my 404s and my new bike. Second only to my coach.

MCOS

tunney wrote: »

I got mine a little cheaper than that and mine is not wireless, I got mine before they became Wireless.

Not cheap but in terms of performance improvments, it has more impact than my disc, my 404s and my new bike. Second only to my coach.

Jaysus Tunney. I suppose its all relative. Do you mind me asking ballpark what you have invested in this sport (Tri) and what the ROI has been since your first season in terms of results and planned goals?

Diarmuid

tunney wrote: »

Get an SRM Pro - its much less than 5% plus it reads from closer to the source of Power.

Just for clarification.
From the specs on each manufacturer's website the PowerTap is slighty more accurate than the SRM (+/-2 % vs +/-1.5%)

I think if price is a factor, it's hard to justify the SRM.

tunney

Diarmuid wrote: »

Just for clarification.
From the specs on each manufacturer's website the PowerTap is slighty more accurate than the SRM (+/-2 % vs +/-1.5%)

I think if price is a factor, it's hard to justify the SRM.

SRM is still considered the gold standard and is the most common PM in the peleton.

Diarmuid

tunney wrote: »

SRM is still considered the gold standard and is the most common PM in the peleton.

That's probably true, however money is not an object for a pro team.

tunney

Diarmuid wrote: »

That's probably true, however money is not an object for a pro team.

Accepted.

However if you have multiple wheelsets you have the choice of multiple powertaps, or a single srm? Which is cheaper then?

scottreynolds

tunney wrote: »

SRM is still considered the gold standard and is the most common PM in the peleton.

So is DURA ACE, SRAM RED, Pinarello Prince Frames..... etc etc..... and a full team fit .. However what acceptable to amatuers and professionals (they don't fork out the cash) isn't necessarily the same thing....

short circuit

@tunney .. regardless of the solution used .... I would be interested in hearing about your experiences on training with a power reading ... what sort of improvements have you seen

Not sure if anyone else here is using power meters .. but if you are .. would be interesting to hear your experience

911

I use a PT and consider it the best piece of bike kit I have ever bought. The most basic example i can give is if you did your 3 hr rides at 240 watts and you now do them at 260 watts you can see from your downloads that you're getting fitter. Also, if i have 20 min efforts to do, with a PT i start and complete them at the same power level irrespective of terrain/wind etc. People have a tendancy to start way too hard when doing these by hr and then backing off once that hr has been reached to maintain, so essentially the power line starts off with a spike and then decreases for the rest of the interval. On shorter efforts of 3 or 5 mins when working v02 your hr might still be climbing by the time the effort is over. You still need to get out on your bike and put in the hours if you want to get faster.

E@gle.

@ tunney, yeah would love a SRM but just a bit too much outta my budget, i may be getting it part paid for so, the srm is just a bit too much. i can see the disadvantages of the Pt with wheel changes etc, but i may just use it on my training wheels

RobFowl

E@gle. wrote: »

would love a SRM but just a bit too much outta my budget,

There's a guy in my club selling one (looking for €1000) can send you the details if you want

tunney

short circuit wrote: »

@tunney .. regardless of the solution used .... I would be interested in hearing about your experiences on training with a power reading ... what sort of improvements have you seen

Not sure if anyone else here is using power meters .. but if you are .. would be interesting to hear your experience

Invaluable for the followign reasons:
* Repeatable testing for functional threshold power
* Pacing, especially for TTs/Tris, you have a range that if you go above you will blow for that distance
* Best use of training time
* Improved ability to get a good TT bike fit.
* Combined with HR and PE can tell you if you are, in fact, f*cked
* Solo rides - makes sure each one is quality.

For me as I do mainly 90km and 180km TT style efforts in my races pacing and testing are the big things for me.

Also my coach uses one and he recommended that I get one. He told me to sell my Zipp 404s and Zipp disc and buy a power meter instead.

Highway_To_Hell

FYI...

There is an article by Joe Friel in the Feb edition of 220triathlon on training with a Power meter, haven't read the article yet so I cannot comment on ho good it is.

tunney

Highway_To_Hell wrote: »

FYI...

There is an article by Joe Friel in the Feb edition of 220triathlon on training with a Power meter, haven't read the article yet so I cannot comment on ho good it is.

220 Triathlon == crap article.

Diarmuid

tunney wrote: »

220 Triathlon == crap article.

but Joe Friel == training guru .

Billy Whizz

Diarmuid wrote: »

but Joe Friel == training guru .

I'm not so sure of that. I find his methods a little outdated, although I hear he is changing his tune.

IM0

I had an older generation of the polar power system (not W.I.N.D - the kind instaed use with S720i hrm's) Most of the problems with the polar are to do with incorrect installation, its not as idiot proof as most things, just not for 'cave men' types . When the system is set up 'accurately' its as accurate as an SRM or Power tap (in real-world terms) the accuracy drifts on the big ring while on 3-4 highest gears on the bike. Also the samples are taken at 5 sec (I believe this is 1-2 sec with the newer WIND version) so thats where a big difference is evident. but if you do alot of mountainous climbing (as I do) its perfect for requirements. There is a great article on a comparision of all three here
and is WELL worth a read and analysis. check it out.