Originally Posted by
Sojodave
I bought Powertap P1 pedals and when you own a power meter, you will find that power is measured differently. There is 3 second power, average power, nominal power, etc. Average power usually isn't a good stat to go by because if you free wheel at all, it is included into that number. I've gone 17.8 and barely doing 130 watts and I've also gone 17.8 doing 260 watts depending upon the wind or if you're drafting.
I don't think that measuring (or not) power when free wheeling is a function of average power vs something else (like normalized power). When you set up your power reading device (Garmin/etc) you tell it whether or not zero power readings are included. And you tell it whether or not readings when you are not moving are included (at least in the case of all the Garmin's that I have encountered). And they are included in average power (or not), normalized power (or not), etc.
FWIW, I include zero power times (like free wheeling downhill) but do not include power measurements when I am stopped (although that isn't much on the routes that I ride). And I find average power a useful indicator.
dave