I completely disagree. A power meter for some people is worth much more than a cycling coach, not to mention a cycling coach would like you to have a power meter of some sort on the bike. POWER is the best way to see if your training is working or not. Training via POWER is also vastly superior to training by heartrate. I think its silly that some amateur would have a cycling coach before a simple watt measuring tool.

It's been pretty obvious that the OP knew exactly how a power meter works and what it'd do for him, so I'm surprised to see anybody bash the idea. It is obviously a luxury, but it is effective and useful, and I give it 2 thumbs up.

My vote: powertap + Edge 500 computer, then follow the training plan in either the Time Crunched Cyclist, or if you have more hours, pick up the training bible. Dump it all into Golden Cheetah or WKO+, and start measuring your success, aka, how much you suck

that I understand, but as of now, and this may be misleading...I did say once a week =) theres plenty of time for strength training, endurance, working on technique etc. but thats never the fun part...I like to compare with the other guys...isn't that why we do this? To be faster or ride longer than the next rider? pretty sure that's what the whole hooplah in france is all about. That fast guy (once i catch up to him) will have a few pointers to get me further as well

In a way....but here is a minor distinction. I make this only because after years of throwing it out there I believe in it even more now than ever before. If you are racing - it isn't about who is the fastest. It is about who crosses the line first.

Rob, how much for the 3G hubs? i think i may want a set of carbon tubbies some day

I'm getting the silent treatment form Saris on the new pricing. I should know within a month. Until then there have been some interesting sales going on and some really interesting substitutions they have been making on my orders...gotta think it's to run out inventory.

I am looking forward to the new hub. To me this feels like it marks the first real big leap forward for Saris. Everything up to now seemed like small iterations - adding up to big change and great product, but now really a big departure. This seems like it will be. The impending pedal power units had direct influence over the pricing in this case IMHO.

I've been racing/training/riding with a Power Meter (current PowerTap was purchased from Psimet laced to Zipp 404's in fact) for a couple of years. It provides you with a valuable training metric that is not available anywhere else, and Power Meters don't lie. If you want to get better on a bike, it can really help. Not necessary, but good to have if you can afford one, and it can make riding more interesting too.

"Voeckler also trains the old-fashioned way, using instincts rather than power meters. After he won the Québec ProTour race last September, the laid-back French rider made an interesting statement. “The vélo is not always an exact sport,” he said. Indeed, with his second round of 10 days yellow, Voeckler has restored romanticism to the Tour. And that perhaps is his greatest achievement." -velonews today

I considered getting a power meter and am still considering it (and waiting for garmin). I read the book a few times and couldnt help thinking that it reads like it is written by someone who has found out they can measure power and decided to study how it could be used for training - rather than someone who was desperate to know power output during training because they knew it would be useful. In other words, the technology was developed not through need but through techno progression. While meters are getting better, the software and data are still immature and need more development.

So far i still havent got a power meter mainly because my knee is playing up and if the data told me to ride hard i couldnt.....

Incorrect.

Spend $16 and just buy the book.

https://www.amazon.com/Training-Racin...-2147483553-20

There is a wealth of knowledge here that will teach you how to train properly and help you decide if you are willing to do the hard work involved to warrant the purchase of a powermeter.

I love my Powertap and it has helped me improve dramatically in the last 4 years. My threshold power ouput has improved by about 30% (which is huge) and I am 50 years old. Anyone who thinks this power system doesn't work either hasn't tried it or didn't do it properly. Anyone who trains seriously just "by feel" likely hasn't reached their true potential (ie. providing the optimal stimulus to make muscles stronger over time isn't intuitive).

On the other hand, I go through stretches where it makes my cycling somewhat of a chore instead of a fun hobby and then I need to get away from it for awhile. You might read this book and decide not to buy one, in which case it was still $16 well spent. Just buy the book and start learning.

If you don't know how to use a Power Meter, then it is a worthless tool. Based on what the OP says, he does not have the experience or knowledge to develop a solid training plan. A coach can do that for him. Yes, a Coach AND Power Meter is ideal, but based on what the OP is saying, just training with a coach is better than what he is currently doing.

Just using a Power Meter to track wattage makes it no better than a fancy bike computer.

And as a point of reference, I've been using a power meter for three years, but training with a coach for four. Additionally, my wife, who races on the development squad of an elite women's cycling team that has put riders in Liberty and other national events, only acquired a power meter a couple of weeks ago after spending two years training with a coach.

I think you read the old revision. The software now is actually really good. No one really uses Saris's software so i am really just talking about Training Peaks and Golden Cheetah.

Yes, I sell powermeters but that has always been secondary to my core business - wheels. I pursued Quarq because Quarq allows my customers to go back to using high end and light wheels.

Now....I don't know why people get so hung up on powermeters. I am starting to think it's because they aren't exactly inexpensive and it seems people get downright militant when they start to get the impression that someone else is claiming they can't get better unless they have the disposable income to buy something. I guess I see where they are coming from but in general it seems pretty silly.

Can you get better or train without a powermeter? Yes. I have a past Masters National Champion on my team who doesn't use a powermeter at all and trains a ton of high end racers...never using their power data. He still believes HR is a better training tool for the way he runs his programs. That said he was able to easily adapt some of his programs for my training center (power using computrainers).

I liken this to doing a TT without a disc wheel or aero helmet. Can you do a TT without those two pieces of equipment? Sure! Can you beat others who have that equipment even when you do not? Possibly/probably/most likely. Can you turn in a better TT time with less effort by using those two tools? Sure you can. Are they expensive? Many would say that yes they are.

For some the training with power discussion comes down to economics. If that wasn't a factor, or if powermeters were as inexpensive as HR monitors I don't think we'd ave threads like these. While for some - spending $500 on a power meter seems like a colossal waste of finances, to other the amount of time "wasted" turning in lower quality training time far exceeds the cost of a powermeter.

Personally I am lucky to get a few days a week to ride and/or train. I can't afford to put in a long 4 hour ride.....ever...anymore. People want their wheels. Can't blame them. As such when I do get a chance to get on the rig and train it HAS to be a quality effort. It has to be focused.

The downside - as jrobe mentions - focused training with power can make training more of a chore. It hurts to dig the way you need to and the powermeter won't let you lie or take a rest. That takes a mental toll over time. I too find that sometimes I just have to stop bringing my head unit and just ride my bike - acknowledging that I will give up the most effective training time that I could have gotten.

A good user friendly software package that has been develpoed well for its intended market would allow the user to analyse their data and make training decisions on their own. Good software will take a complex problem or dataset and make it friendly to the average guy on the street, thats what computers do - they handle large amounts of data and present it in a way that a silly human can make sense of it. Yet here I am reading a thread with people that not only paid for a power meter but they also pay a coach to read the data. My comment refers to the fact that the software (in my opinion) still appears to take a huge amount of data and present it factually without enough interpretation for the average guy (me).

Maybe things have got better but it seems that a power meter with software still requires training knowledge before it becoms a power meter training tool.

You all miss the point.