hack

at worst, i'm see a max of 4.2% when comparing meter to meter for any given interval. in the end, not bad at all.

ovoleg

I got slower! Damnit guys!

tetonrider

in theory, as you know, the PT should read a bit lower than a crank-based meter due to drivetrain losses. in my experience in somewhat controlled environments (temp-controlled, that is), quarks can bounce around and have 2-3% or more variance in either direction during any given interval. it's not that they tend to drift high, high, higher or low, low, and lower throughout a session--it can vary from interval to interval. i find a unit that drifts in a consistent direction to be more valuable than a random number generator, but both are less preferable to something more stable.

shovelhd

Yes. Powertaps are very reliable in my experience. The bearings suck, the cassette freehub is soft as butter, and every once in a while a torque tube fails and you can't set the offset, but I have never seen or heard of a Powertap reading low or inconsistently. When they work, they work. Quarqs, on the other hand, have multiple failure modes. As gsteinb's recent experience shows, so do SRM's.

bobonker

This is my first year of using the Performance Manager Chart to keep track of performance. I like it a lot but after being sick for 10 days, it is really depressing to see that I gave back almost a month's worth of fitness during my downtime. On the plus side, my TSB is +40.

Sonny

shovelhd

rkwaki

That's the exact same as mine. 170mm or 172.5?

shovelhd

172.5. You know where I got it, too.

ovoleg

good to keep in mind. I'm just going to readjust myself to the powertap and roll with it. I think I actually must've lost fitness then....

furiousferret

So long as its consistently accurate it really doesn't matter what the numbers are.

I finally dove in and got WKO+, my expert review is meh.

shovelhd

i don't think you have enough data yet to come to that conclusion. Use the Powertap for a few weeks first.

mike868y

i think people need to give up the notion that one "bad" workout or one workout where you hit PRs means you've "lost" fitness. you can't set PRs every time you swing your leg over the bike. no way, no how. furthermore, there is a distinction between fitness and form. lots of things play into your ability to "hit your numbers." honestly, if you go out and finish your set within 5-10% or whatever of your "goal" numbers, you're probably doing alright.

the "GOTTA HIT HIGH SCORES" mentality is one of the reasons I stopped training with power. mentally, i struggled coming to terms with calling a workout "successful" when I didn't set a PR. which sounds silly now, but yeah.

Wesley36

Check out mid-Feb and mid-March. One 1.5 year old going to playgroups and one 6 year old in grade one means a house full of virii and bacteria. I am still more fit than I was in September, but dang, frustrating to hit the first races of the year trying to recover the fitness I had in mid-Feb.


PS But to be clear, the frustration is minimal compared to being able to get out on the roads and race again. First O-Cup race this weekend as an M3! And in 7 days, my second O-Cup race - I guess I will probably be racing against rbart in the M3 field in Hamilton. Would have been nice to be peaking after a couple of build blocks for these races, but either way it is good to be racing.

shovelhd

You have the right perspective. When I tore my shoulder all to hell last year I reset my immediate expectations and kept my eye on the prize. It all worked out great.

ovoleg

Good advice overall. Just to be clear, I'm not trying to PR every workout, but its frustrating not being able to hit the numbers you hit a few months ago.

shovelhd

Then the numbers are telling you something.

Dunbar

I think you just need to calibrate yourself to the Powertap numbers which are clearly different than the Quarq. I know if I did a 20 minute test 15w high I would be dying by the end of it. That seems to be what happened on your early Powertap rides. I don't think you can attempt to use the same target power numbers you were using on your Quarq.

tetonrider

yep. consider the possibility that those numbers were never real. unfortunately, one gets attached to them.

i've experienced this (quarq reading high, in my case), and it can take years to let go.

whether those numbers are right or the new numbers are wrong, as shovel said (a) you don't know and (b) you can't do anything about it other than move forward (2nd point was to a racer in another thread, about just getting back to it).

rbart4506

I'll be there...

Really skinny dude in a Novofit kit. Good Friday has never been a good event for me. I just can't produce the same type of power in the cold temps as I can in the warmth. I'm working on it, not i still notice the difference.

My goal race is the Collingwood race that finishes up Scenic Caves. I have no grand illusions of a victory, but it will hopefully be best finish ever. The type of route suits me. finally and honest to goodness climbing race in Ontario.

clones2

I'm sure my PMC chart in GC is extremely useful... Once I figure out what it all means

Wesley36

Cool - I will be riding for Cyclelogik, but that my team kit will be covered by warmer clothing. It should be warmer than the Clarence Rockland Classic was, and it looks like my race tomorrow will be rainy. Looking forward to being in the Hammer/ surroundings again for the race (I lived there from 2002-2008), I am hoping the weather will be a bit nicer for Good Friday.

Is that the Grey County RR? Won't be able to this year, but maybe in a future year. My goal race this year was a hilly RR (for this area, longest climb in the 5-6 min range) that has been cancelled/ discontinued. Would be nice to have a hilly RR to target in future years.

rbart4506

Yup, that's the one...

ovoleg

tells me I need to HTFU more.
I know its depressing tho, at least for my early adjustment period.

Yeah I'm letting it go(slowly haha). I am gonna just massage my brain into the new numbers and roll with it and go for progress with the powertap. I dont want to give up power data collection on the track so the Quarq is staying on the track bike.

waterrockets 

I hope you're joking

shovelhd

He's not.