Got Power Meter: Now Watt?

[Ride]

Hi all,

I just installed and calibrated a Garmin Vector set on my bike. I'd like to setup a power focused page on my Garmin Edge 800. A page can have up to 10 metrics but I'm thinking 6 should be enough. With 6, two metrics are full rows and 4 are half rows.

My current though for the two full rows are 10s power and 10s power balance. For the first column of half rows I'm thinking heart rate and cadence. For the second column I'm leaning towards vertical speed and grade.

For those that have power what do you think of this setup? What do you think I should have available to glance at? I'm most likely going to look at this way too often in the short term since it is my new toy.

Thanks,

Ride

 

[Rob3rt]

I suggest you read training and racing with a power meter and then thinking about the concepts and with a morsel of an idea on how to use power data devise a new Garmin layout.

Power balance is one of the last metrics I would want taking up space on my screen, utterly useless.

 

[VamP]

3s and 30s average are the two power readouts I have on my screen. Agree power balance is pointless, as is HR frankly.

My others are time, time ridden, speed, distance.

 

[amaferanga]

Power, power 30s, lap power, lap NP, cadence, time. Then another power screen with ride (not lap) metrics. And another summary screen with TSS, kJ, etc. I prefer instantaneous power as there's already a slight delay in the power displayed so even 3s power lags by quite a bit.

As above, get that book and don't go using power balance metrics to change the way you pedal. You may be close to 50/50, maybe not, but there's no evidence to suggest there's anything special about being entirely symmetrical (unless of course you have a PM that only measures left leg power such as Stages).

 

[Ride]

I gave I a go this morning with 3s power, 3s power balance, kJ, %FTP, heart rate, and cadence. Mainly a spin ride to get a feel for what is going on.

It was really interesting to see power versus heart rate in the warm up and cool down. Power balance was heavy on my left leg; close to 70% at times. I'm going to check that I have the correct torque on the petals and recalibrate. If that does nothing then I think I might I need to do some right leg strengthening.

Sadly, from this one ride Training Peaks has place me in the sub-Cat 5 power profile. Might have to rethink my plans to go pro.

Ride

 

[amaferanga]

I strongly suspect you've not installed the pedals correctly.

 

[jdtate101]

As Rob3rt suggested already, this is the best place to start your understanding, however for the best results (but much cost) a coach who knows their stuff is really worth it:

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Training-Racing-Power-Meter-Hunter/dp/1934030554/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1384556690&sr=8-1&keywords=training and racing with a power meter

Also make sure on the Garmin the data recording is set to include zero's otherwise you will get an inflated avg on rides. On my Garmin 800 I have one screen for general riding which has 3s pwr avg on it (along with lots of other data), another screen for TT's which only has time, HR and 3s avg pwr on it and a final screen which has all the avg metrics for the entire ride (avg HR, avg pwr, avg speed, avg cadence etc...)

 

[Herzog]

Do you have a 15mm torque wrench? As amaferanga infers above, incorrect installation can cause crazy readouts. Graph is from DC Rainmaker's excellent Vector review (http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/09/garmin-vector-review.html)

 

[Ride]

I checked the torque and it turns out I way over torqued the left pedal. The 15 mm crowfoot that I used at first was too wide so I didn't really get it right. The LBS ground a few mm off the thickness and now it fits perfect.

When I checked the torque with this the left pedal was clearly way over torqued. From a 2 hr ride this morning the average balance was 56/44. It seems to be working now.

You most definitely need a torque wrench (and a proper crowfoot fit) to install these correctly.

This will be my most favorite piece of kit for a while. Currently it's my most favorite to hate as it is showing me just how crap I am at producing power.



Ride