PowerMeters, are they worth it?
Discussion
Some of you guys on here have some serious biking gear, am wondering on your thoughts about power meters.
I don't race, but I enjoy pushing my self on the road bike. Never had any kind of power meter before but my eBike software has been recently updated to speak to the Wahoo phone so this week I've been looking at some power graphs trying to make sense of them.
On a straight bit of road today it says I was pushing out about 250-300watts on the flat with no motor assistance.
Up a hill with motor assistance that figure went up to 500watts (bike motor is rated at 250watts).
According to Strava I can work out my FTP doing a hard 20 minute ride which I'll try this weekend, and with the motor off it should in theory give me a half reliable power reading. Would be interesting to see what figure I get.
A brief look at power pedals/cranks shows they aren't cheap. Am wondering how people with powermeter use theirs? And if its worth paying £300-400 for a power meter?
I don't race, but I enjoy pushing my self on the road bike. Never had any kind of power meter before but my eBike software has been recently updated to speak to the Wahoo phone so this week I've been looking at some power graphs trying to make sense of them.
On a straight bit of road today it says I was pushing out about 250-300watts on the flat with no motor assistance.
Up a hill with motor assistance that figure went up to 500watts (bike motor is rated at 250watts).
According to Strava I can work out my FTP doing a hard 20 minute ride which I'll try this weekend, and with the motor off it should in theory give me a half reliable power reading. Would be interesting to see what figure I get.
A brief look at power pedals/cranks shows they aren't cheap. Am wondering how people with powermeter use theirs? And if its worth paying £300-400 for a power meter?
Yes. I have the 4iii Single sided crank.
It's great to ensure your power output is on different gradients.
Try sticking at a 200w average.
It certainly helps pacing up hills once you know what you can put out over a 3-4 minute climb.
Also helps when you feel you're not going fast but you can see you're putting out the same power.
It's great to ensure your power output is on different gradients.
Try sticking at a 200w average.
It certainly helps pacing up hills once you know what you can put out over a 3-4 minute climb.
Also helps when you feel you're not going fast but you can see you're putting out the same power.
I use them to gauge effort and make things more comfortable on a longer effort. I use the power meter pedals to keep an eye on my FTP / 4DP, and then I can see, with numbers, where I’m at in each bit of a ride. For example, if I’m doing a 150+ mile effort, and I’m approaching a hilly bit, I can look at the numbers, to ensure I don’t over do it, so that I know I can get round the rest of the route, and not be completely finished. It helps with recovery as well. A while back I did do a year of continuous big mile rides, and didn’t use power meters. I really paid for it towards the end of the year, and was pretty much suffering proper physical exhaustion. I find riding a lot more enjoyable if I can keep myself out of hospital. I find Power meters really help. They also help me understand exactly how I’m fuelling during a ride, because I have constant cadence and power readings available, that really has proved invaluable for me personally. Different people use them for different reasons, but those are the main reasons I use them. I do only use them on one bike, I find I don’t need the social type rides, as they tend not to be at the sorts of efforts / mileages where I’m likely to get into difficulties
g7jhp said:
Also helps when you feel you're not going fast but you can see you're putting out the same power.
Quite. Too many people get hung up on ‘average speeds’, which are just about the worst metric to use to gauge anything by. You can be getting torn to bits by a head wind, or going up a lot of big climbs, and if you gauge your efforts on average speeds, think you were putting in less of a shift than riding on a route with less weather and terrain, only to discover you were putting in far more effort, on the ‘slower’ ride. I'm looking at getting one but due to being very one sided the double meter appeals more (to try to balance power better) and cost is more off-putting (£5-800) so haven't yet.
On your FTP comment and the responses about going too hard... Recently invested 30 quid
In a heart rate monitor and looked at HR zones, which has helped a lot. Amazingly useful at seeing when you're in the red which it often doesn't feel. And similarly when not putting enough effort in. For 10x less money.
On your FTP comment and the responses about going too hard... Recently invested 30 quid
In a heart rate monitor and looked at HR zones, which has helped a lot. Amazingly useful at seeing when you're in the red which it often doesn't feel. And similarly when not putting enough effort in. For 10x less money.
They are incredibly useful ... if you are competing in road bike races or triathlons, and want to improve. They will help you build speed and endurance when used in a structured way, and will help you not waste energy (a killer failing) on race day.
Otherwise, they are a nice if expensive toy which produce a lot of numbers which might or might not make a lot of sense, and might or might not be of some use. Principally they can tell you if you’re coming down with an infection (RPE goes high for modest wattage numbers) and will tell you whether your snapshot peak/5s/30s power on your regular sprint/climb is up or down since last week/month/year. If that’s important to you, great.
In short, for the vast majority of recreational riders they are a solution looking for a problem.
Otherwise, they are a nice if expensive toy which produce a lot of numbers which might or might not make a lot of sense, and might or might not be of some use. Principally they can tell you if you’re coming down with an infection (RPE goes high for modest wattage numbers) and will tell you whether your snapshot peak/5s/30s power on your regular sprint/climb is up or down since last week/month/year. If that’s important to you, great.
In short, for the vast majority of recreational riders they are a solution looking for a problem.
BlackWidow13 said:
They are incredibly useful ... if you are competing in road bike races or triathlons, and want to improve. They will help you build speed and endurance when used in a structured way, and will help you not waste energy (a killer failing) on race day.
Otherwise, they are a nice if expensive toy which produce a lot of numbers which might or might not make a lot of sense, and might or might not be of some use. Principally they can tell you if you’re coming down with an infection (RPE goes high for modest wattage numbers) and will tell you whether your snapshot peak/5s/30s power on your regular sprint/climb is up or down since last week/month/year. If that’s important to you, great.
In short, for the vast majority of recreational riders they are a solution looking for a problem.
I agree with this, from a position of ignorance - I've never used a power meter, and rarely if ever even have a speed readout on my bike, much prefer to go by feel because I'm not racing and it prevents me from staring at the little screen which is what I did when I did have a bike computer. If you're going to analyse the numbers and act on them to reach a goal, then yes power meters are good, otherwise push yourself hard a couple of times a week and enjoy the rest of the riding for what it is.Otherwise, they are a nice if expensive toy which produce a lot of numbers which might or might not make a lot of sense, and might or might not be of some use. Principally they can tell you if you’re coming down with an infection (RPE goes high for modest wattage numbers) and will tell you whether your snapshot peak/5s/30s power on your regular sprint/climb is up or down since last week/month/year. If that’s important to you, great.
In short, for the vast majority of recreational riders they are a solution looking for a problem.
If you're struggling to justify the cost of a dual sided crank arm system there's an extra benefit you may not realise.
Once you've measured your imbalance you can put one side on a different bike and run them both independently. This works with the 4iiii, not sure about others.
If you don't compete then whether a power meter is worth it is a similar question to whether a 1k bike is worth it over a £500 bike, or a 3k bike over a 1k bike. Not really on paper if we're honest, but it can be useful and it's nice to have toys.
Once you've measured your imbalance you can put one side on a different bike and run them both independently. This works with the 4iiii, not sure about others.
If you don't compete then whether a power meter is worth it is a similar question to whether a 1k bike is worth it over a £500 bike, or a 3k bike over a 1k bike. Not really on paper if we're honest, but it can be useful and it's nice to have toys.
I bought a Quarq dzero a year ago and it’s been by far the best thing I’ve bought for making me fitter/faster on the bike. Have to do a bit of reading and listening to understand what the numbers mean, and put the effort into training but it’s helped me make the most of the limited time I have per week to train.
It’s great to be able to do interval sessions indoors or outdoors depending on weather and get a direct comparison of efforts and keep things consistent. Useful for pacing longer rides etc as above.
I don’t think they are useful for a lot of riders, who just want to ride around at a medium pace with their mates, stop for coffee and a chat and thats cool, but they are certainly a useful tool to have to help avoid “junk” miles.
Biggest eye opener it gave me was how much easier it is to ride in a group vs solo, even in a small group of 3 or 4 I’m saving around 50 Watts for the same average speed.
It’s great to be able to do interval sessions indoors or outdoors depending on weather and get a direct comparison of efforts and keep things consistent. Useful for pacing longer rides etc as above.
I don’t think they are useful for a lot of riders, who just want to ride around at a medium pace with their mates, stop for coffee and a chat and thats cool, but they are certainly a useful tool to have to help avoid “junk” miles.
Biggest eye opener it gave me was how much easier it is to ride in a group vs solo, even in a small group of 3 or 4 I’m saving around 50 Watts for the same average speed.
Edited by lufbramatt on Wednesday 16th September 23:11
How useful they are does rather depend on whether you have a need for it.
Anyone who races and has a structured training regimen will find them vital (yes, it's possible to train to Heart Rate but its nowhere near as effective). I have a Quarq DZero crankset on my TT bike, Garmin Vectors on my main road bike and a Tacx Neo trainer - all to keep me honest.
One of my friends has pedals but other than 'out of interest' the numbers are meaningless to him and he very rarely even takes notice. Short of the odd 'what power are you doing at the moment?' we almost never discuss.
Also important to note - you can risk becoming a slave to the numbers. I have one ride per week that isn't a structured session and I've taken to putting my Garmin in my pocket because I was finding that I had stopped 'enjoying' rides - too busy monitoring watts and segments and then regretting not stopping to look at views or take pictures. Don't let this happen!
Final point on FTP test - it's not just a 'hard' 20 mins. It's a 20 min max effort. You'll want to warm up for 40 mins before hand with some increasing efforts, a couple of max sprints (5 seconds ish) and then go into the 20 min. Not going all out makes it sort of pointless. Having said that, a metered effort is a skill and until you know a baseline you wont know what you're aiming for, so the first couple are always a bit suck it and see. You'll definitely see some big gains on the first couple of tests that you do as you get better at them. Try to keep the effort as steady as possible - don't surge or sprint or stand. Obviously doing it on 'feel' will make it more difficult to do this. Good luck!
Anyone who races and has a structured training regimen will find them vital (yes, it's possible to train to Heart Rate but its nowhere near as effective). I have a Quarq DZero crankset on my TT bike, Garmin Vectors on my main road bike and a Tacx Neo trainer - all to keep me honest.
One of my friends has pedals but other than 'out of interest' the numbers are meaningless to him and he very rarely even takes notice. Short of the odd 'what power are you doing at the moment?' we almost never discuss.
Also important to note - you can risk becoming a slave to the numbers. I have one ride per week that isn't a structured session and I've taken to putting my Garmin in my pocket because I was finding that I had stopped 'enjoying' rides - too busy monitoring watts and segments and then regretting not stopping to look at views or take pictures. Don't let this happen!
Final point on FTP test - it's not just a 'hard' 20 mins. It's a 20 min max effort. You'll want to warm up for 40 mins before hand with some increasing efforts, a couple of max sprints (5 seconds ish) and then go into the 20 min. Not going all out makes it sort of pointless. Having said that, a metered effort is a skill and until you know a baseline you wont know what you're aiming for, so the first couple are always a bit suck it and see. You'll definitely see some big gains on the first couple of tests that you do as you get better at them. Try to keep the effort as steady as possible - don't surge or sprint or stand. Obviously doing it on 'feel' will make it more difficult to do this. Good luck!
Thanks for all the comments, for me its currently an unexpected curiosity rather than anything else.
Well go and try to do an 20 minute hard ride this weekend, though am not sure how enjoyable that will be on my eHybrid bike with the motor off and carrying all the extra weight of the electrical stuff
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Well go and try to do an 20 minute hard ride this weekend, though am not sure how enjoyable that will be on my eHybrid bike with the motor off and carrying all the extra weight of the electrical stuff
.gangzoom said:
My eBike by default appears to come with a power reading output which is why am asking about if its worth pursuing for my road bike.
On balance it probably sounds like a waste of money for someone like me who doesn't race.....
Ah I misread.On balance it probably sounds like a waste of money for someone like me who doesn't race.....
I'd say unless you are taking training pretty seriously then there's no real point.
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