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Should I get a power meter?
I'm new to road cycling (10 months and going strong!) I've read quite a bit about how power meters can really help you improve, but here's the deal. I'll be 54 this year and have no intention of competing (the occasional sportive notwithstanding), how much will this help me? I'm somewhat financially stable, so the cost is not that big an issue for me. Can someone out there give a good enough reason to take the plunge? Many thanks!:)
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48 comments
No doubt that PMs are useful. The issue with HRMs is that your heart may get stronger or weaker, and so your HR zones may change. PM basically give you the actual output so that it takes some of the guess work out of your training.
What you seem to suggest from your post is that you're new to cycling and that you're not currently cycling competitively, so I would say that a PM is unnecessary for you. If you want to train and compete at a later date get one then. Forget what people say about spoiling your ride. You normally only check data after a ride.
If you haven't got a turbo trainer already many of these come with computers that work out your power (Tacx Flow and Tacx Bushido). These are not nesscessarily accurate, and are based on a simple formula, but as a poster above has mentioned calculating a rough power output is fairly simple. You could see how you go with that.
If I was in your position and had money to burn, perhaps get yourself a better wheelset or cycle a classic European route and see if it drives you on to more cycling.
I would also recommend a Garmin 810 or something as a way of increasing your enjoyment....to be later used with a PM if you get one. It opens up the roads as once you plot a route you can cycle confidently down roads you may only ever ride once, instead of constantly checking your route details.
I don't think that's really the best way to decide. If you just borrow one or have a couple of goes on a bike with power then all you're doing is seeing some extra numbers a few times. It's looking at a power meter as an expensive toy, not how you might use it to improve performance, or what it would take to do that.
I'm not saying that the poster should get a power meter. As has been said several times, it depends on his objectives and I would emphasise that the user needs to put something into it if it is to be anything more than a computer add-on.
But my point is you have to do a bit of work to understand the data and use the power meter effectively and I don't think you would appreciate that by just skimming the surface.
10 months?
Hilarious, as are the justifications above; cycling really is the new golf.
Buy a bike with mudguards, buy a decent waterproof, set a target of miles per week or per month and ride your bike.
It depends.
Are you going to enter races (I include sportives in this; others may not!) - then it could be worthwhile.
If not then it's probably not worth it. Just don't hope that Strava's 'estimates' will fill the void!
I got my PT2.4 SL+ on ebay, including a matching front wheel, for less than a set of decent new wheels. I don't always use it but have found my use on the increase.
Never broken it. Nice to meet you
Like having an accountant to tell you how poor you are
If that doesn't answer your question, OP, then I don't know what will.
Something helpful ?
Something helpful ?
I should have put /sarcasm in front of my post.
Old-school power measurement: ride the same hill once or twice a week, go hard, and time your ascent. You could even keep a log of the times if you need charts to look at.
Sure, you could use a £500 electronic gizmo or a mathematical formula, but time-to-the-top over a set course is really as good a metric as any for the amateur cyclist to track (and improve) their performance.
It really isn't. This assumes conditions each time you hit that hill are exactly the same. A power meter removes this ambiguity. The idea that an amateur cyclist can't benefit from a power meter is a myth that some in the road cycling world need to get over.
On a different note, the one thing I really admire about the triathlon community is there is none of this old road racing world dogmatic thinking to be found. An aversion to new technology is a peculiarity of the road racing scene, the tri guys seem far more receptive to innovation. I guess they are not bogged down in the "Merckx only needed [insert remark about number of gears/weight of bike/etc here]" as road riders are.
I agree. But the triathlon community has even higher barriers to entry than cycling because you have to be able to afford a wetsuit and a bike - generally this means higher disposable income and ergo the ability to splash the cash on what some call an extravagance. The cost of a wetsuit might equate to the cost of a bike to some.
Affordability really is at heart of some of these comments. No one needs a HRM or PM, but they certainly can help.
This is really the only important bit. If you can afford it, buy it. Every real man needs a new gadget occasionally. It's what separates us from the beasts.
Not really. You can do a pool-based tri in a tri suit, or in your swimmers and change into bike/run kit, for the princely sum of £30. As I am on Monday.
I've been riding bikes for 2 decades either mountain bikes or road bikes. Earlier this year I took the plunge and bought a powertap pair of wheels, my first power meter. I have never raced other than a handful of TTs, and maybe I will try a race if I feel I won't get crushed by the regular racers.
So my motivation was curiosity, and to get more focused on my training. At the end of the day it's your money so you can spend it on what you want!
I have found it very useful so let me answer those here saying they have no point and you should just go ride more, or time yourself up hills, or look at your HR etc.
The main benefit I've found is in real time, during the ride. You can see in front of your eyes your power vary as you pedal. Sound obvious?
Since having a power meter I've learned:
Tiny changes in your riding position make big differences to your power. You can get big increases from improving your bike setup.
What you subjectively perceive as pushing hard at any point bears little relation to your actual output. To a degree this is also true of HR if you are for example too cold, or fatigued, or pedalling inefficiently.
Seated vs standing power outputs may be nothing like what you expect.
Whether you are getting better power from lower or higher cadence.
Which part of the pedal stroke to focus on to generate the most power.
I didn't expect any of this beforehand, I thought I would just be able to do more effective training! But the above has transformed my performance just through position and pedalling technique improvements.
For me I've felt it's been worthwhile, and I'm surprised the above list doesn't get more of a mention in power meter discussions.
Great post! Have to agree although much better coming from as experienced a rider as yourself Streamliner.
Especially agree with position, after bike fits I've seen my power increase (especially when climbing) by a surprising amount.
Because all the naysayers are people who can't/won't stump up the cash, and think any technological advancement is 'unpure'.
I have no objection to technological advancement. I could but I won't stump up the cash.
I know that I won't use a powermeter - I usually can't be bothered to attach my Garmin (and when I turn it on I tend to find I have failed to recharge it) let alone analyse the data it produces, so my chances of using even part of the functionality of a power meter are pretty low. And the last thing I need is another thing to fix (or even calibrate) on my bike - I've got a long enough list of brakes that need recabling/whels that need truing/tubs that need gluing as it is thanks.
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