Power Meters

Green&Red

We've recently got new coaches into the (tri) club who stated that to really improve your cycling you need to invest in a power meter.
I'd like some arguments on power over HR and whether its worth the investment?

Thanks

Hmmzis

The main argument for aPM is the consistency of the numbers it provides for your effort. HR is great for long steady efforts where you train base endurance (3-6h).
For all the interval training the instant feedback of a PM is invaluable. From the first seconds you'll know exactly if you are putting out the right amount of effort.

I do not have a PM myself yet but have found that training by HR in interval mode is a bit of a hit n' miss affair. For me the HR takes very long to respond so anything below 10min I'm better off with RPE. That said for a 40k TT I'd rather have a HR reading in front of me than just relying on RPE.

mistermatthew

Green&Red wrote: »

We've recently got new coaches into the (tri) club who stated that to really improve your cycling you need to invest in a power meter.
I'd like some arguments on power over HR and whether its worth the investment?

Thanks

How serious are you about your cycling? What time would you expect to be doing a ten mile or a 20km tt?

Green&Red

16k (whats a mile) in under 24 mins, I;d assume I'd knock out a 20k in under 30

Average TT in sprint tri would be 30.30-31.30

Lumen

Power is generally considered to be a more effective way of training by numbers than HR.

Whether training by numbers is a good idea is something else.

I quite like the Obree approach, which is to do hard, structured efforts on an indoor trainer and leave the outdoor cycling for unstructured fun.

mistermatthew

Green&Red wrote: »

16k (whats a mile) in under 24 mins, I;d assume I'd knock out a 20k in under 30

Average TT in sprint tri would be 30.30-31.30

Green&Red wrote: »

16k (whats a mile) in under 24 mins, I;d assume I'd knock out a 20k in under 30

Average TT in sprint tri would be 30.30-31.30

Personally I think unless you're at the elite level a powermeter is an expense thats not needed.

If you have the ability there is no need for a powermeter to allow you to get down to a 21mins 10mile,

I just think the money people waste on power meters is ridiculous.

Green&Red

Thats kinda been my thinking, theres a lot of places i can go with HR before I can warrant shelling out that money

12 sprocket

Green&Red wrote: »

We've recently got new coaches into the (tri) club who stated that to really improve your cycling you need to invest in a power meter.
I'd like some arguments on power over HR and whether its worth the investment?

Thanks

First of all no its not true to say that to really improve your cycling you need to invest in a power meter, depending on what stage of cycling development an athlete is at there might be lots of things more important than a power meter to achieve improvements.
Some positives for power... its good for re viewing races and training. People who like figures seem to enjoy them and get good benefits from them.....

Power metersnon positives continous testing is required to track changes and adjust training levels.. they are expensive. Its a myth that you get very precise wattage as in reality t he power fluctuates a lot when pedalling.

Heart rate, positives it doesnt change much as you get fitter, but t he power at each level of heart rate inceases. So its a fairly reliable inexpensive means of monitering training intensity for aerobic effort. Research is suggesting that there is no greater benefit from using a power meter versus heart rate moniter. Its also useful to moniter fatigue
Non positives it does vary according to fatigue excitement caffeine ,

Green&Red

I suppose I dont look at my HR from races, I use it solely to monitor my training and have programmes based on it for the turbo

Cheers lads

mistermatthew

Green&Red wrote: »

Thats kinda been my thinking, theres a lot of places i can go with HR before I can warrant shelling out that money

Yeah, I really doubt you need it. With the money you could pay 10 or 15 race fees, a much better investment I'd imagine. And to help you TTing getting out with a club or involved in a TT league would help the best.

fat bloke

"Waste" is subjective. As is expense. People of all abilities routinely spend over a thousand euro on wheels and are generally applauded for it. It's their choice, it's their money and heck I've done it myself, lovely wheels are.... lovely. But for some reason there's a strong antipathy to amateur cyclists purchasing power meters.
Having bought flash rims myself on a number of occasions, and then sold them on due to lack of use, and having then bought a power meter at the beginning of the year - which I've used constantly, and smartly, with the help of some coaching advice, it's been an infinitely better purchase for me, and not at all a waste of money. I think it's the best bit of cycling kit I've ever bought.

Why?

Well, I can't claim to be a far superior cyclist, or a transformed athlete but it has done the following:

-it's got me interested, and kept me interested in training.
-it gets me up on the turbo and keeps me there (for this alone, it's worth its weight in gold!)
-I have bench marks now from last year which will be good motivators for next year once I go back in a few weeks and get my lactate threshold again and stuff like that.
-I did a few TT's this year and found the power meter really fantastic for keeping me focused and concentrating on and spreading my effort over the whole of the course.

That's it I suppose. -I bought the thing to measure and track my power and to use that data to train somewhat intelligently and regularly. It does exactly that, and has been in at least thrice weekly use since the beginning of the year. - That's a result in my book. I bought a pair of Zipp 808's (second hand) a couple of years back, I had them for a couple of years and I adored them, but I'd say I used them 15 times, maybe 20 times? -That's a waste.

Mind you, I sold them on dead easily and got my money back on them, and you'll always be able to do that with a power meter as well. So it's not as big an investment or a gamble as you might think, or be led to believe.

Sin é mo scéalsa, as the man said.

Mugser

You could try one out: http://www.donedeal.ie/bicycles-for-sale/power-meters-for-sale-or-hire/5808835