Thinking of getting a power meter
 

Well with the weather getting better all the time Im back on my bike and off the trainer.
This will be my second season ridding, and I've been thinking of getting a power meter, they're pretty expensive, but I've been looking at the ibike pro, have any of you had any experiance with this power meter, if so I'd really like your input on it. Last yr I rode useing my cycle computer with cadence, it served me well, but Im woundering how much better a power meter will serve me. I started ridding to loose weight and accomplished that goal to the tune of 128lbs, now I ride because I LOVE it, any advise will, as always, be greatly appriciated.
Paul :thumb:

You can buy my set...for sale..below...

The iBike is OK, if you're willing to do all the calibration stuff, and it can be finicky to set up. If you have only one set of wheels, Powertaps can be had for cheap. If you like to use more than one wheelset, Quarq usually wins. If you have money burning a hole in your pocket, go SRM. It's still the gold standard.

First and foremost, get Allen and Coggan's "Training and racing with a power meter." Read through it, and remember that a power meter is only as good as the geek crunching the numbers. Will that be you? a coach? If you don't have yourself or a coach to crunch the numbers, build the training, etc. then a PM might not be the most useful thing for you.

When used properly they're the single best training tool you can own. If not used properly, i.e. as part of a structured, power-based training program, it's a fancy bike computer that makes some graphs and adds weight to your bike.

Power meters are best for people that have coaches and are training hard. I bought one and it is just an expensive toy. I still like the data but I don't plan my training specifically enough to make it worth the K I spent. If you are just having fun riding cadence is about all you need. $.02

Pete's advice is good, just do it in the reverse order. Read the book. If you're bored to tears and can't get through it then you're only out $20. If you can't wait to play with all your new data then go nuts.

That was what I meant in my very poorly written post. :)

the most often underappreciated aspect of training with power is the ability to quantify how much stress you are putting on your body and how you manage it over a course of an entire year. If you don't like dealing with burning out in July, a powermeter is great.

Also, if you are time constrained but want to remain competitive (be it a hammer ride or a race), a powermeter allows you to squeeze the most out of your time.

A year ago I looked and saw many sets of older wireless PowerTAp 2.4's sell for $700 for front and rear wheels, including computer. I don't see as much stock on eBay right now but that is what I'd go for.

Powertap Comp new $699, complete wheel. http://www.competitivecyclist.com/pr...905.351.0.html

A power meter is like counting calories, it keeps you honest and removes the guessing. It's a great way to take your training to another level especially if you ride alone. I have two and highly recommend them. GL

Pshaw. I thought your paper was very well written, Peter. And your advice was the dogs bollocks.
http://blogs.amway.com/answers/files...2/j0439513.jpg

I read the book before getting my SRM, but different strokes.
I don't even race, but the power meter with the Hunter/Allen book has doubled my pleasure, doubled my fun.
The greatest 'AHA!' moment happened when I learned during intervals that backing off just a fraction and focusing instead on perfect, fluid circles caused my watts to go well beyond the wattage I'd been struggling with! With less effort! It was crazy and I didn't sleep for three days after that moment.

I basically use my powermeter to see the squiggly line charts after rides.

It does allow me to track relative fitness, relative ride difficulty, and it gives a solid number to efforts (i.e. I exploded after 15 minutes at 165 bpm and averaged 205 watts during that time, which is really what happened on my Monday ride).

I don't use the powermeter much for training. It's more like a second-by-second diary of my ride (I also use a helmet cam to record the visuals, but that has a more morbid reason - it's a record of what happened in case I can't tell the story, or if I need to corroborate a statement). Yes I race but no, training I don't really focus on it. I generally race for my harder training rides, and my "training rides" are usually more like "just riding around" rides, whatever my mood/spirit for the day.

I forgot to say that there are a lot reasons for having a power meter. You don't have to use it methodically etc, you can have it because you want it.

If you are a tinkerer or techie type person then you should get a crank based PM - you'll appreciate it when you use different wheelsets. If you'll stick to just one or two wheelsets then a powertap works great. I'd stick with tried-and-true powermeters - it's extremely frustrating dealing with inconsistent or unreliable powermeters.

If you were my friend, I'd recommend either a reasonably new Powertap (not first gen), SRM, or Quarg, and that's it.

I bought this about a month ago. It's the wired version, but for the money you can't go wrong. There's a single wire that runs from the "sharkfin" on the chainstay to the computer. Mine runs up the bottom of the down tube and is barely noticable. You are limited to the standard yellow CycleOps wired computer. So if you want to integrate with a Garmin or some such, you have to go wireless.

I started out with a Polar system that I bought used. Let me know if you're interested -- I'll let it go real cheap. The Polar power meter is a pain to install and setup, but works reasonably well.

I like my Quarq. It keeps me honest: when it's time to go hard, I go hard; when it's time to go easy, I go easy. I spend a lot less time riding not quite hard enough to stress my system or not quite easy enough to recover.

The one other benefit of a PM is that if you only have a limited amount of time to train, it really helps you get the most out of your training time.

that is amazing
i have had similar results. my focus is more on breathing

good deal, i just would rather have lighter (by 200 grams I think?) and wireless for roughly the same price. I am not a fan of wires.

It's a slippery slope, as you start moving to more expensive PT's, the Quarq starts looking better and better.

You can often find used wired SRM (PC V) for $1000 or less on eBay.

This is very true. Not to mention the incredible value it has as a TT pacing tool. Still, though, to know the magic numbers and what the heck to do with them does take a certain amount of geeking out and number-crunching. Of all things cycling-related, a power meter is definitely one where realistic expectations are key.

+1 I didn't want to blather on forever, but the breathing was another breakthrough made possible by the meter.
I started doing yoga after my two back surgeries, (and yoga is really big on deep, relaxed, focused breathing) and I noticed when I employed that deep, yoga breathing while riding, I was able to sustain the same output at a lower HR.
For years, I just let the body take care of its own breathing, but I'm convinced now that making a conscious effort at keeping your trunk relaxed and breathing deeply has a terrific benefit. And it's tricky because it is possible to concentrate on breathing too much and clench up, but the watts/hr ratio is a good indicator when you're doing something wrong like this.
I'm still working on staying relaxed during events and in when putting on the hurt. It takes a lot of focus to NOT let your trunk clench up in those situations.
I don't even race, but the challenge is pretty exhilarating sometimes. http://forums.youthrights.org/images/smilies/rockon.gif

Thank you all for the info, I think Im gonna go with the ibike power meter just because it will be my first power meter, if I like it I plan on upgrading it when I upgrade my bike next season. I'll let you all know how the ibike meter works out.
Paul

How much $ ?
Why not just get a real PM to start with and forget the pretend power meter ? A used PowerTap for $500 worked out quite well for me. Don't forget, that is a fully built wheel, not just a computer, and will hold decent resale value if you change your mind.
Another advantage of a real PM is you can use it on the trainer in the winter or bad weather and get some solid interval numbers.

+1

ibike, especially one that's not calibrated against anything else, is no better than an HRM. In many ways, i'd argue it's worse as you can't even download data in some of the cheapest versions available, which makes it no better than a $60 Timex watch you can buy on Amazon.

I bought two of them this way.