Power Meters

[Dogtrousers]

Define expensive. I'd say mine was cheap

It's whatever you want it to mean. Depends how much you want one really.

 

[jefmcg]

Define expensive

How about this?

more than I paid for my bike

 

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

How about this?

Or the bike was cheap

 

[Kevin Alexander]

My bianchi was £2700 (Not including wheels and new handlebars)
My Cervelo was £2200

I paid £500 for my vector pedals so a grand on two powers meters.

I only needed one paid as I can swap but I don't always store both bikes at my house

Expenses is a individual thing as it depends on your financial situation

 

[Cuchilo]

I'm not on power yet and ive been TT'ing for two season now . Power will be the next thing i guess but right now i'm looking at keeping my heart rate down while doing the same speeds i was last year when i was in the red .

 

[Ajax Bay]

if you want a power meter it doesnt matter what level you are

Scarcely answers the OP's question though (need/is it worth it). Want, want, want! Danger of erring towards the 'all the clobber, .....' end of the spectrum.

I have seen people go from average to good amateur level (as defined in Coggans tables) using power training. There are at least two riders in our area who come on here who have transformed by using power as a repeatable measure of their performances.

The reason these guys/girls/women improved is because they trained more, probably to a plan with the crutch/metric of a power reading to motivate/help them. Without a power meter but with similar training effort (time and quality (coached ideally)) I suggest they would have similarly improved and an HRM would be a useful, inexpensive aid in such training (and cost much less than the OP's bike).

 

[Hacienda71]

Scarcely answers the OP's question though (need/is it worth it). Want, want, want! Danger of erring towards the 'all the clobber, .....' end of the spectrum.

The reason these guys/girls/women improved is because they trained more, probably to a plan with the crutch/metric of a power reading to motivate/help them. Without a power meter but with similar training effort (time and quality (coached ideally)) I suggest they would have similarly improved and an HRM would be a useful, inexpensive aid in such training (and cost much less than the OP's bike).

A hrm is fine, but it is not as accurate a measure of the athletes performance. If you want to you can train on feel only. Let's face it Beryl Burton wasn't using a hrm when she set all those records.
It is like saying a candle will light a cave, yes it will but you will be far better off with a big torch.
You can train with or without aids, it is just power normally in conjunction with hr is recognised as a more accurate measure than heart rate alone, making your training time more efficient and ultimately beneficial.
The cost of power meters has fallen to about a third of what they were ten years ago and to many that makes it affordable.

 

[annirak]

Without a power meter but with similar training effort (time and quality (coached ideally)) I suggest they would have similarly improved and an HRM would be a useful, inexpensive aid in such training (and cost much less than the OP's bike).

How much does that coaching cost? If you need a coach to replace a power meter, then it's only cheaper for a limited time. Personal coaching is expensive and, probably, even more of a luxury item than a power meter.

 

[Ajax Bay]

Was just saying that the quality of training and training plan is likely to be better if coaching is involved. Not suggesting it's a cheap option nor that it will cost less than the OP's bike. I'm saying that if people train harder their performance will improve (provide they don't overtrain) and an HRM is an effective, versatile and much cheaper aid than a power meter. Both are likely to have a motivating effect. Coaching contributes to motivation and use of HRM/specified HR zones (or power levels but at considerably greater cost) as a metric for a training programme assists athlete/coach communications.