S-Express
Guest
It's a power meter yes? What else would you be expecting it to tell you - tonight's lottery numbers?
Power meters
- Thread starter Cuchilo
- Start date
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No good to me as i dont gamble or listen to sales bullshit . You are the first person to say i need one number to work with .
S-Express
Guest
I'm genuinely interested to know - what possible other numbers would you be expecting from a power meter, other than power?
You are now asking me a question to the question i asked .
S-Express
Guest
Well, let me help. The only thing you need from a pm is a power number. If you ever come up with a different suggestion, let me know.
I thought i explained above that i was confused by all the information i had seen . I guess you have not bothered reading that ?
S-Express
Guest
Saw that. We're going round in circles here. Not sure what else to say really, other than a pm needs to tell you how much power you are making. They will all do that.
As not all power meters on the market feature temperature compensation it is important to know if yours does and how to calibrate it as this can drastically impact the accuracy of the data that you receive from it. Most are simple to calibrate and some advise doing so pre ride.
The power produced by a power meter can be quite erratic as is instantaneous reporting as such you want to ensure that you enable some kind of power smoothing on your head unit (Garmin or other device) so that it displays a 3 second average to obtain a true understanding of your performance.
The next steps would be to do some base line testing and set your zone value to work off. The book I advise earlier will provide you with a great deal of information regarding this.
To obtain the maximum benefit from a power meter you need to learn about or employ the services of someone who will crunch the data for you.
The power produced by a power meter can be quite erratic as is instantaneous reporting as such you want to ensure that you enable some kind of power smoothing on your head unit (Garmin or other device) so that it displays a 3 second average to obtain a true understanding of your performance.
The next steps would be to do some base line testing and set your zone value to work off. The book I advise earlier will provide you with a great deal of information regarding this.
To obtain the maximum benefit from a power meter you need to learn about or employ the services of someone who will crunch the data for you.
HarryTheDog
Guru
- Location
- Basildon Essex
I don't want to hijack the op's thread but just a quick question. Does this book when helping with training with powermeters compensate for age? just I have set of Zone DPMX power meters on order and wonder if being in my fifties would I follow the same training as a 20yr according to the book.
HLaB
Marie Attoinette Fan
Ive not read the book but power is power regardless of your age. I guess it'll have instructions how to establish your Functional Threshold Power (FTP) and will have training zones based on that.
To expand on @MistaDee 's answer a little, I think you're asking about the difference between single and dual leg measurement. Crudely, single sided systems like Stages measure your power output from one leg and double it to estimate your total power (you can set an imbalance, but you'd need to know what this is first!). Dual sided systems measure the power independently from each leg. In theory, a dual sided system will account for any imbalance between your legs and hence be more accurate.
Another promoted advantage of dual sided systems is that they often capture where in the pedal stroke you're generating power, although this might only be available for you to look at post ride or by using the manufacturer's compatible computer, as there's no agreed standard for encoding high-frequency power measurements.
Both of the promoted advantages of dual leg systems carry a big "so what?" factor though. Many people will have one leg slightly stronger than the other - it's not an indication that there's anything drastically wrong. In-stroke power looks pretty but again, how is it going to make you a better cyclist?
In terms of which to buy, it's completely up to you and how much money you want to spend. Prices have been dropping as more companies enter the market but this is likely to be offset by the pound going down the toilet.
DC Rainmaker has just done his yearly review of power meters, which is well worth a read. Linky here.
Another promoted advantage of dual sided systems is that they often capture where in the pedal stroke you're generating power, although this might only be available for you to look at post ride or by using the manufacturer's compatible computer, as there's no agreed standard for encoding high-frequency power measurements.
Both of the promoted advantages of dual leg systems carry a big "so what?" factor though. Many people will have one leg slightly stronger than the other - it's not an indication that there's anything drastically wrong. In-stroke power looks pretty but again, how is it going to make you a better cyclist?
In terms of which to buy, it's completely up to you and how much money you want to spend. Prices have been dropping as more companies enter the market but this is likely to be offset by the pound going down the toilet.
DC Rainmaker has just done his yearly review of power meters, which is well worth a read. Linky here.
S-Express
Guest
Agree with the above. Once you have established which system will be the simplest to transfer between bikes (by swapping pedals, or by swapping NDS crank arm, or if you even need to do any of that) the other considerations are down to consistency, reliability and budget. Strain gauges measure power, they don't measure anything else, so power is the only figure a powermeter will give you. That's not to say you can't combine it with things like HR, cadence etc, depending on what other sensors and head unit you have, but if you are measuring power, then HR becomes largely irrelevant and cadence becomes even more irrelevant than it already is.
T.M.H.N.E.T
Rainbows aren't just for world champions
- Location
- Northern Ireland
+cadence. Since you can't have power readings without cadence 
