power
 

so i have been getting pretty serious about riding and i wanted to make some upgrades. looking over BF, i saw many people have recommended new wheelsets, engine, power. well right now i think a power meter would be best to improve my abilities. a new wheel set would be nice but i doubt ill notice a difference in speed or any other qualities, seeing that i am only 140 lbs.

so what are my options of going about getting a power meter? new crank? new hub? which brands?

also whats a good stem? thats a must.

You know power meters don't supply power right?

Your options would be
Powertap
SRM
Quarq


IMO, crank based is the way to go, I love my SRM. You can run whatever wheels you want, they're lighter and very reliable. You can get a used SRM off ebay for the price of a new powertap.

First buy this book to see if training by power is really something you want to do. Putting a powermeter on your bike won't make you faster without a lot of work.

How is a power meter going to improve your abilities? Those things cost a fortune, so make sure you know what it does and does not do.

Buying a powermeter does not make you better/faster. Using it as a tool to improve the quality of your training and racing can. It's like a tire pressure gauge though...just a measuring device. If you don't know what it's telling you then you could easily go flat or blow up.

Definitely buy the book recommended above. A powermeter is a novelty if you do not know how to use the data it provides. And if you do not use the data, all it does it add weight to your bike.

If you ride more than one road bike I would recommend a PowerTap so you can easily train with power on both bikes. If you ride one road bike then either a crank based power meter or a PowerTap(assuming you will just use that one rear wheel) will work well.

PowerTap is updating their hub lineup and you may want to wait until their new hub is released.

At this point, you would probably be better served by focusing on your training and not your equipment. And if you want to spend money, finding a good coach is better than any equipment upgrade.

A power meter mainly quantifies how badly you suck. As you train harder and better, it will indicate the degree to which you start to suck less. Seeing that you're starting to suck less can be a powerful motivator. There are other way of doing this, like timing yourself up a particular hill or along a stretch of road. You can also use the power meter to monitor your training to make sure you're putting in the optimal amount of effort for the particular exercise/intervals you're doing. This is way better than using heart rate, though heart rate is way better than nothing.

It's also a good tool to keep track of calories burned if you are counting calories to manage your weight.

So if you plan on using it as a tool to maximize the benefit of your training and quantifying the fruits of your labors, they can be a good thing.

$1500-3000 is a lot of coin to shell out just to find out how badly you suck. Save your money, hire a personal trainer. The goal is to go faster from point A to point B. A simple stop-watch will tell you everything you need to know.

1) you can get a good power meter for $600

2) If you spend the money for the Coach (i.e. personal trainer), you need the power data to share with the Coach to get the maximum value from the Coach

3)Read the book, and I think you'll realize there are a number of valuable things a power meter can tell you that a stop watch won't.

Listen to Merlin...

Also having power allows you to broaden your search for a coach, if you so desire one...

My coach, for example, is on California...I am in Ontario Canada...He gets my power data daily and modifies my training regime based on those numbers...

I have been using power for about 18 months now and I have seen steady improvement....Nothing earth shattering, but I know I am a stronger rider then before...And yes I highly doubt I would be in the same place if it wasn't for the power meter and having a coach who understands my specific situation....

Used first (Shimano freehub only) and second generation wired Powertaps start at about $200 and $300 respectively built into wheels with electronics.

Spending as much as you would on a nice dinner for two isn't significant.

Used wireless Powertaps run about $600 built into a wheel (use your ANT+ computer), and new wireless units $750 (costs to get a wheel dependent on what you have laying around and your wheel building skills; perhaps just $50 for a rim and $20 for spokes).

Power2max cranks start at 690 Euros.


Among other things It won't tell you when you're not riding embarrassingly slow enough on your easy days to be fresh for your hard days and can't tell you that you're not fast enough on your hard days because there's too much wind, because you're just not digging deep enough, or because you really are spent and should stop your intervals for the day.

What?

I understand all this, but based on the comments and questions asked by the OP I'm assuming he's pretty new to the road cycling world. I'm suggesting that he not waste money on something like a power trap at this stage of his experience. I think he'd be better served just hitting the road and riding hard for a while before getting all wrapped up about his "power" statistics.

Exactly.
Power statistics are undoubtedly wonderfull but quite expensive.
For normal training it is enough to simply train on the same course all the time and compare your times relative to weather conditions.

C'mon, Garmin Vector...

^Which will be $1000+

That's a completely inaccurate price range quote. Saris's new line is coming out in about a month. Pricing is supposedly to be in the $400-$600 range for the hub only. Pro+ is supposed to drop to sub $1k in a built wheel at MSRP. MSRP on Quarq units is $1800 ish..

i know what a power meter does. i know it will not improve my abilities literally but like one said i can use it as a tool to see how i am progressing or progressing at all. right now i am using a cateye double wireless and all i have gain from that POS is how my avg speed has gone up and how my overall miles have shot up. other than those 2 things, that thing was a waste of money. i am getting serious about cycling and i want to get faster. the only thing that seems to make a person go faster on a bike is the engine and not really the weight of the bike. so i wanted to see if a power tap would be something a person could consider...when the price is right.

ill read more up on power meters.

Good for you. Just ignore some of the other comments.

It happened again today. I sucked on the big climb, depressed. I d/l'd the PT and overall it was a good day with high intensity, I had been trading strong pulls with another guy before the climb. Many times it's a headwind that gets me down but look at the data later and wow. I now have three years of data to compare my current conditioning. I have found that intensity and recovery make for rapid gains over just clocking miles.

I just googled the three suggestions made early in the thread and that's what the price range was.

???? I just googled Powertap and found comp hubs for $342. As an OEM with Saris I don't know where you're getting your information, because it isn't Google.

http://www.google.com/products/catal...ed=0CF0Q8gIwBQ

I just go out and chase the fastest guy in the group until I almost die....and then do it again the next week and hope I die later than i did the previous week. I figure his power meter tells him he is more awesome than me...and when I can hang with him without getting droped....I'll know his power meter thinks I'm just as awesome.

Yup....going out and just riding hard every time is a lot of fun. Unfortunately it will never allow you to achieve what is possible.