Getting power on the bike (Page 2)

hmmmmm

yes I use a HR monitor.  My wife gave me my first one about 15-years ago.   I was not good at pacing...I would often start out hard and then blow-up (racing and training).  I just could not run or bike on PE. HR monitor seemed to remedy that for me.  I log the data but not sure why...I don't really do anything with it.  Anyway, my opinion is someone does not have to use a power meter to gain power on the bike...and I'm sticking to it! 

Ever blow up on the bike?  Can a power meter aid in pacing?

With so many variable affecting speed on any given day, if you don't measure power how can you know if you improved it?

Likewise, with so many factors affecting HR and being that it lags effort, how does one know they are training efficiently?

^^^^ 100% agree with this.

A power meter tells you how much power your putting out but does little to give you more of it. Practice riding up steep hills - time yourself and try to go faster each week.That will put some meat on your drumstick. 

If you don't have access to hills, or if you really want to use a training aid, a simple Heart Rate monitor will do the trick. Ride at 100%+ LTHR (~approx. 85%+ Max HR) for at least 15min. at  a time. 

I notice sometimes, toward the back half of my rides, RPE is up, HR is up but power is down.  Why is that?

RPE & HR up, power down - that's fatigue from a hard workout.

When it happens to me, I know I'm putting enough mustard into my training.

But you still owe some mustard.  You just don't know it without a power meter.

In fact, all you really know is that you're tired and your heart is beating fast.

meat, drumstick, mustard...

you need to eat dinner before you post. :p

John

Agreed. The difference is that "power weight training" has little to do with your cycling performance while the "number of watts your (sic) generating" is a key determinant.

if you use kurt kintetic trainer..you can just use your MPH reading on your bike computer.  

Kurt provides an equation that will convert MPH to watts.  It's pretty accurate - the power part.  MPH reading on an indoor trainer however...not that comparable to outdoor riding. 

One more thing Kelvin was wrong about...

I have the setup mentioned earlier -- PT on DT Swiss rim with cover for racing.  Works great.  Cheap on eBay if you are patient.

That also hold true for me. I made a commitment at the begining of the year to ride at least 60 miles every Saturday and I went for 17avg to 20avg around my typical loop.

I see no real reason to get a power device if I'm still seeing improvments with consistency and HR training.

I think the thread is getting a little side tracked. It sounds like the OP has already made the decision to train with power.

In regards to the i-Bike, I am not a big fan. It may seem a little cheaper with the base model but once you start adding the "modules" (software, wireless,recording data capability) the price goes up quickly. The device is an amazing piece of engineering. It does not work on a trainer (where I find the power meter to my best benefit). It also gives funny (inaccurate readings) when riding in a group. The device also needs to be mounted in front of the aerobars to get accurate measurements on a tri-bike. I think the device does have a niche in conjunction with a powermeter in determining the most aero position but I don't think it is the best option for everyday training.

I honestly think the cheapest, reliable way to start power training is to buy a used, wired powertap from e-bay (I would go with the Mavic rim). Download Golden Cheetah (free) and start collecting data. If you don't like the device you can turn around and sell it for about what you paid (-shipping) You don't even have to worry about a shipping box because you can use the one it arrived in. Installation is so easy I wouldn't bother with taking it to the local bike store. The instructions are on the website.

To the OP, If you are still on the fence about power, sorry about the redirect.

power is the most exact metric you will have on a bike.  here is an example from my ride 1 week and 2 weeks ago:

30' 227w 22.7 mph

25' 224w 18.5 mph

of course you can use rpe but look at how close i was with a PM within 3 watts, this is on the same course, but we had 16 mph wind straight at us.  i personally don't look at speed or HR only my watts when riding and time.

regarding the PT i had nothing but success since I got one.  total cost was ~1k w/ cover.  cover has worked great also.  with the exception of flat tire and putting it on.  to put the cover on takes some finesse and time.  yes its a few minutes but next time time yourself....now imagine you had a quarq with a disc. honestly non-issue for me because i love to give my bike a solid cleaning day prior to a race so this lets me clean the cogs, chain, breaks etc.  but some people don't like that....

prior to my last 70.3 it took me about 30 min to do all of that.  my friend with a quarq was done in 5

Thanks, that's almost exactly what I was looking for!

Thanks, some more great information!