patentcad

I need a Bike Weenie > English translation please. I use Shimano Dura Ace cranks myself.

And the PT is transferrable from bike to bike. Big plus.

merlinextraligh

^^^^
you can't use your D/A cranks, or any other external bearing crankset with the current Ergomo.

You can get the SRM with D/A cranks, but it's a whole new crank.

According to DR W, switching an SRM crank from bike to bike is a 5 minute job. I think it would be a bit more involved switching the Ergomo from bike to bike.

CyLowe97

The guy painting 55/Rad's Tete won.

chzman

off topic... but i'm willing to bet if pcad takes 5-7 days off the bike, the first ride back will be a PR.

patentcad

I pump air into tires. Move an SRM from bike to bike? Would you like the tranny in your Mercedes replaced with that too?

Your optimism regarding Pcad's mechanical aptitude cannot be overstated. Here is a more appropriate assessment:

UT_Dude

Doubt it. 5-7 days won't help much more than a day off and 2 days of easy spinning, in fact, it might make it worse.

Pull the 'rigger, buy an SRM

phlegmon

Oh yes, thank-you for this thread. I was going to start a thread entitled "Is it okay to say that powertaps suck?", but your thread has opened the door for my rant instead. Bless you.

I got the cordless powertap this year becasue I was serious about training and all the big dogs say you need one. Walla, $2,000 dollars later. It SUCKS! Where do I start? The crappy battery life--changed at 1,000 mile mark? This thing drops more data than an I-bike. Seriously, I lost 5 minutes of data on my last 1 hour interval ride. May not seem like a lot, but it always seems to occur during a serious change in power, such as when you are doing hard intervals based on, of all things, POWER! So it totally screws your averages because it's reading zero speed, cadennce, etc for those 5min out of the hour. And you get these nifty dips to zero in your power graphs. What else? Oh yeah, it takes a frigging PHD to change the functions from powertap to bike computer should you want to race different wheels. Also, what's the deal with being able to see cadenece OR time? Yeah, that's right pick one, because you can't see both with this bugger. So you get cadence and have to wear a wristwatch for timing your intervals. What fun! I wish I had just gotten a really nice polar HR monitor instead and dropped the $$ on a set of 404's.

On the other hand, I did take home a stars and strips from nationals last week, so maybe it's helping my training. But I still hate the little bugger.

Thanks for letting me rant.
-The phlegmatic one

patentcad

We are all left to ponder: is this a plug or a slam?

Lithuania

i am going to withhold any comments until at least your third thread on this subject.

patentcad

You are wiser than your choice of hobbies would indicate.

phlegmon

A plug I guess, just wanted to lend some credibilty to my powertap hate.

patentcad

BF Whining RULES.

Congrats on the Stars and Stripes. None of us are worthy of being in the same cyberspace with you. You have something in common with George Hincapie more impressive than 'well we both raced in Central Park a few times'.

botto 

pcaddy, my greeka friend, spend some of those hard earned green backs on a DA SRM. it's the ONLY way to fly.

ericcox

Just go ahead and buy 2 so you don't have to switch them back and forth. You could always sell the ST1300 (or is that 1400).

ElJamoquio

For once, I'm going to try to not be argumentative. Of course, just because I try doesn't mean I will succeed. Hell, we all know I'm going to fail.

But anyway, $2K? Ebay, my friend.

Don't know about the wireless, but mine is AOK at 6K miles.

Hmm... again, no problems, but I don't have wireless.


I do not yet have my Ph.D. but don't have a problem.




I'm with you on this one, I usually have to go by feel, or speed in gear.

patentcad

It would appear that 90% of the problems are related to the new wireless technology. Wired may be more of an initial setup pain, but it sounds more reliable and easier in the long run. And several hundred $ cheaper.

Pcad is leaning towards wired. I will have my eyes peeled on eBay, but this gizmo I may buy new to have warranty rights and to stop pissing off my LBS.

pinky

PCad, this may challenge your mechanical aptitude but do you know if your Six13 is an SI Bottom bracket equipped model with a sleeve for the DA BB? If it is you could run a 'dale SI crank SRM. Same price as a DA but lighter and stiffer...

bdcheung

I hated the user interface on the Powertap. You are restricted to consecutive intervals: i.e., when one interval ends the next automatically begins. What's nice about the Ergomo is that I can stop an interval without starting the next one. Furthermore the Ergomo just has a better computer head, IMO. I can see speed, power, cadence, elapsed time, and heartrate on one scren. Push a button and you get power, gradient, current altitude, and total elevation gain. Push a button and you can cycle through "Maximum" and "Average" of the main screen (power, cadence, speed, heartrate). A fourth screen gives you total kJ, kCal, trip miles, and odometer. Another screen gives current power, Normalized Power, TSS, and IF. Finally, you get a screen with battery info, total memory record time remaining, date, current time, and temperature.

Very intuitive displays. Very easy to do intervals.

patentcad

But can't you just use your PT to do intervals and see what kind of watts you're generating? Isn't that the whole point of a power meter? Do I really need have some computer program that tells me when I start and stop? I'd never train that way anyway. I want something objective to quantify my workouts with not some computerized cluster ****. I work with that stuff all day.

This may be far to complex for Pcad's simple brain. Cycling is supposed to be fun. This doesn't sound like fun. This sounds like a massive techno pain in the ass.

Just forget the whole friggin thing already.

ElJamoquio

As much as I'd like to guilt you into it, Pcaddy, if you're not going to look at the data, it's pretty much worthless.

So you should buy a set of 404's laced to an SL, try them out, and sell it to me later.

patentcad

Isn't there enormous value to knowing if your power at a given moment is what expect it to be or NOT? I thought that was kind of the whole idea with these things.

bdcheung

pcad, the reason I dislike the PowerTap's interval function is evident in the following hypothetical (though realistic) scenario:
I'm doing hill repeats. As I begin the climb, I mark the start of an interval. At the top, I mark the end of the interval and begin my descent/rest period. As I begin the climb again, I mark another interval start point. This process is repeated with each successive hill repetition.

Now, when I go home and look at the data in CyclingPeaks, I have to pick out which of the intervals are "work" and which are "descent/rest" intervals. This isn't too difficult or complicated, but it's a pain in the ass as I have to go in and delete every offending interval.

----Now, with the Ergomo, the session would have gone like this----
Get to the hill, start first interval. Reach the top, stop first interval. Descend. Start hill again, start interval #2. Get to the top, end interval #2. Repeat as necessary.

Go home, download data to CyclingPeaks. Every interval selection represents a "work" or "climbing" interval. There are no "trash" sections to weed through and delete.

bdcheung

The whole idea is to enhance your training - ie to make your training more effective. Intervals are a proven training method.

Lithuania

i dont understand the problem with the PT interval function. When I do 3 20 minute intervals with 2 minute rest periods I dont need to delete anything to see where the 20 minute intervals are. I just look at the rest periods as intervals too, rest intervals.

timmhaan

i think you need to think about it a little more. it's a lot of money for something that you may not even get much use out of anyway.