How Did You Justify the Cost of a Power Meter?

[mjr]

I have settled on the power tap P1 pedals as it means I can transfer them between multiple bikes so I can train with power on the turbo as well as on the road.

I had it all ready to go in my shopping basket yesterday, but just couldn't bring myself to hit 'buy' on a £900 purchase!

Would transferring them often risk wearing the fixings out? Have you considered just fitting one bike out with a left crank meter for under half that price to see how you get on with it? How many bikes would you be wanting to equip eventually?

And would anyone like to opine which bike benefits most from a power meter? I suspect it's a road bike, because the turbo is in a more controlled condition where it might be possible to estimate power from wheel speed.

 

[e-rider]

unless you are a serious racer a power meter is not necessary - yes, if you have the money then why not, but it'd be stupid to spend your hard earned money on one otherwise

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Ahh "racing" has made an appearance

 

[fossyant]

I'll back up what S-express says. The best advice for completing a long distance ride is, wait for it................ ride more. Simple. The power meter won't be of much use really and you'll be throwing £900 away. That £900 could be spent on an all weather bike and a basic smart trainer - which will both allow you to ride more !

 

[S-Express]

And would anyone like to opine which bike benefits most from a power meter?

First thing to say is that bikes do not benefit from power meters - riders do. Having said that, there is no reason why a PM should not be fitted to any bike that the owner wishes to use in order to measure power. In other words, literally anything, provided you can find a PM device which is compatible with it.

 

[Cuchilo]

On my bike build i decided a power meter would be more beneficial than Di2 so that's what i did .

 

[mattobrien]

I recently bought a new turbo (Elite Kura b) which has a power meter built into it and I must say that I love having another number to look at. I am finding that it is helping my gauge my output and ongoing development from training.

I like it so much that I am likely to get a PM on my new bike when it arrives.

I am planning on sticking a number on my back later in the year, so hopefully a PM will help add an additional dimension to training, beyond using HRM.

We will see if it really does help / if I benefit from it. Gotta spend the hard earned on something

 

[400bhp]

1. Would transferring them often risk wearing the fixings out?
2. Have you considered just fitting one bike out with a left crank meter for under half that price to see how you get on with it? How many bikes would you be wanting to equip eventually?

3. And would anyone like to opine which bike benefits most from a power meter? I suspect it's a road bike, because the turbo is in a more controlled condition where it might be possible to estimate power from wheel speed.

1. Not with the P1 pedals, no.
2. Left side only is a good call
3. The bike is not a factor.

There is a lot of benefit for power based endurance riding as opposed to racing.

In my view a power meter is only as effective as the person sitting on the bike. If it;s not used in some kind of training regime and/or event/interval testing it's pretty pointless. But then again you could say that about most "upgrades" to a bike I suppose.

 

[Tin Pot]

Hi Guys,

Got a massive ride planned for May that's going to take a really large volume of training and want to use power to support me with this especially for the interval sessions I have planned.

I have settled on the power tap P1 pedals as it means I can transfer them between multiple bikes so I can train with power on the turbo as well as on the road.

I had it all ready to go in my shopping basket yesterday, but just couldn't bring myself to hit 'buy' on a £900 purchase!

So my questions are:

• If you have a power meter, how did you justify the cost of it?
• Has it been worthwhile?
• Have you seen the training benefits from it

It's not going to bankrupt me, I can afford it but it's just the principle of paying this much money when I could get a replacement bike for the cost.

Thanks,

Ben

I disagree with most of the people on this thread, with everything they've said. Heart rate is nothing like power.

Your training, and the ride itself, will take less effort and have more chance of succeeding in your goals with a power meter. And with confidence you're doing the right thing you'll likely enjoy it more.

Of course I don't actually own a power meter, but I may do soon

 

[S-Express]

I disagree with most of the people on this thread, with everything they've said. Heart rate is nothing like power.

I think only one person has said that - below

and someone else can come along to confirm (or otherwise) that HR and power readings on a ride (where you don't overdo it and bonk) have a pretty good correlation.

They don't. If they ever do, it's coincidence, not science. HR is affected by so many external factors, that using it to track effort is pretty meaningless beyond steady rides at endurance zone levels. And if you are at or above threshold or riding intervals, then it's pretty much useless.

 

[Tin Pot]

I think only one person has said that - below



They don't. If they ever do, it's coincidence, not science. HR is affected by so many external factors, that using it to track effort is pretty meaningless beyond steady rides at endurance zone levels. And if you are at or above threshold or riding intervals, then it's pretty much useless.

Agreed.

There's only two problems I have with power meters:

1. The cost is daft
A grand is just stupid. £500 is taking the piss.

2. The fallacy of accuracy
People don't understand anything, basically. Selling them a power meter without telling them explicitly that power meters do not tell them exactly what their power output is is bordering on fraud. That doesn't mean they're useless it just means people don't understand measuring things...they need to be told.

 

[400bhp]

They don't. If they ever do, it's coincidence, not science. HR is affected by so many external factors, that using it to track effort is pretty meaningless beyond steady rides at endurance zone levels. And if you are at or above threshold or riding intervals, then it's pretty much useless.

Spot on with the point about training above threshold. Heart rate just becomes "noise

Power and HR are correlated though, just power is so much better for the reasons you state. A big plus is the instantaneous nature of power which has massive beenfits over the lag of heart rate.

 

[T.M.H.N.E.T]

Spot on with the point about training above threshold. Heart rate just becomes "noise

Power and HR are correlated though, just power is so much better for the reasons you state. A big plus is the instantaneous nature of power which has massive beenfits over the lag of heart rate.

And a watt is always a watt, not effected by fatigue, sleep level, drug intake, stress, caffeine etc etc

 

[burndust]

Interesting thoughts.

Maybe it would be better invested in getting a decent turbo trainer. The rides outdoors are going to be all about long riding and building stamina where power is probably not that useful.

The turbo sessions are the tougher ones where I need more accuracy.

thats the way i look at it tbh

 

[Ajax Bay]

I said: "Your heart rate is a reasonable readout of the effort you are making, and someone else can come along to confirm (or otherwise) that HR and power readings on a ride (where you don't overdo it and bonk) have a pretty good correlation."

Heart rate is nothing like power. Your training, and the ride itself, will take less effort and have more chance of succeeding in your goals with a power meter. And with confidence you're doing the right thing you'll likely enjoy it more.
Of course I don't actually own a power meter,

Nor do I. Given you don't use a power meter, I can't see how you know what you say has any bearing on reality: this is just what you hope: "less effort", more chance of success, "enjoy it more" (with more figures to tickle one and enhance one's self confidence).

["HR and power readings on a ride. . .] don't ["have a pretty good correlation"]. If they ever do, it's coincidence, not science. HR is affected by so many external factors, that using it to track effort is pretty meaningless beyond steady rides at endurance zone levels. And if you are at or above threshold or riding intervals, then it's pretty much useless.

"Your heart rate is a reasonable readout of the effort you are making". So if you do your intervals at roughly 170 (say), this will make sure you're working hard enough, but not too hard. A power meter will give you a more accurate readout of the output and by derivation the rider's input. Is this the same as 'effort' and might they both be useful for providing control in a training session (my answer is yes)? But the power meter costs far more and is less flexible.

Power and HR are correlated though, just power is so much better for the reasons you state. A big plus is the instantaneous nature of power which has massive beenfits over the lag of heart rate.

"someone else can come along to confirm (or otherwise) that HR and power readings on a ride (where you don't overdo it and bonk) have a pretty good correlation." Thank you 'someone'. @Tin Pot "HR is nothing like power" @S-Express "They don't, or if they do it's coincidence" @400bhp "Power and HR are correlated". I would be interested to see a graphic readout of an interval session (@S-Express ? @400bhp ?) where both power and heart rate are plotted. Please surprise me by showing that there is no correlation between the power and HR. Yes, the HR will lag, but not by much once the rider is warmed up (ie after the first couple of intervals). Is what lag there is such a "massive" detriment (in the context of a 2+ minute interval)?