powercranks

Bisontwo - you know that I am only kidding, right?  I just noticed this was your first post here so just to clarify:  DON'T post that question on ST, unless you are ready to be flamed.  And, flamed bad.

To answer your question, I have read a lot about Frank Day's Invention, but haven't seen enough data that shows that an investment in these will improve your biking significantly.  There are a lot of anecodtal reviews both ways with PCs.  Personally, I would spend the money on a biking coach first.

Who has enough time in their training schedule to spend time on something of unproven/questionable benefit.  I think if I had $700 dollars burining a hole in my pocket to spend on cycling I would find a way to scrape up maybe $300 more and get a power tap if I didn't already have one.  The data are not there yet with power cranks, maybe someday it will be.

Heh, yeah and end up a sobbing mess wondering why you ever tried triathlons to begin with.

Otherwise I'd agree that the money could be better spent elsewhere.  I'm too lazy to search, but I remember seeing a study about how much time was saved with different upgrades (wheels, aero bars, aero helmet, etc.) over different race distances.  That may be a better place to look.

here is a review
http://www.testrider.com/fly.aspx?layout=player&video=42

too much money for my taste

If you do think about getting them, why would you put them on your indoor spin/trainer bike?
I know that there are tons of poeple who don't think that they work as advertsied, but if you are going to use them you need to use them every ride if you hope to see any benefit.

I have a pair I won through Janus Charity Challenge a few years ago and love them.

Hip flexors are weak on me and because if that it dramatically reduces my spinscan numbers. After using powercranks for several months my spinscan numbers were consistently in the low to mid 70s on standard cranks.

I love powercranks.


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Then there is always the BT legend about JeepFleeb who after using PowerCranks for a long time was able to pedal ONE-LEGGED in a race for...oh....AWHILE until the sag vehicle could catch up with him and put his crank back on.

Just sayin'.

Studies have proved most untrained individuals improve pedaling efficiency by just training and within an adaptation period cycling efficiency differences between amateurs and pros are not significantly different. In addition the most force generated when pedalling is from the 12 to 6 position and studies have shown there is little gain to be made when pedaling from the 7 to 11 position.

Furthermore by engaging the entire leg muscles (quads, hamstrings and glutes) one can use those big group muscles to generate the majority of power, it is rather insignificant and a waste of time to try to generate much power from such small muscles such as the hip flexors (not to mention the stories of athlete injuries on hip flexors after using PCs). Finally there are two documented testimonials of athletes training with PCs and documenting everything with a power meter and there weren't any significant gains that could be attributed to the PCs, certainly nothing close to the claims done by the inventor and there are many threads on this on ST.

The only gains to be made with PC apperently comes from the will of new owners to train on them given the investment hence they end up training more. I guess you can invest that much more to motivate yourself to train more...

For instance I also have a computrainer and my spincan usually is around 70 (never trained with PC) and this year since I began to focus on increasing my power more agressively and of course riding more now my numbers are constantly mid 70s which is cool since 1) It seems to reinforce the idea that: riding more = better efficiency and 2) I never care to look at my spinscan numbers besides a few times that i got curious about it. IOW I am not proactively trying to increase it

In *my* opinion is nothing more than:



Edited by JorgeM 2009-08-05 10:27 PM

Buy a pair of rollers. Your technique will improve for a lot less cash, and you'll have a place to train in the winter...

X2

A fixie will also help.  One more bike to add to the stable ... 

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I still have to say that you won't realize just how weak your hip flexors ARE until you've actually tried riding PowerCranks.  You could definitely improve your hip flexor strength far more quickly than just "riding lots".  I doubt the riding improvement people see with these is just from "riding more".  PC's DO work your muscles as advertised.

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I'm not saying that riding lots won't HELP.  I'm just saying that if people say "it must be the riding not the power cranks" they are ignoring a huge factor.  When I rode with my power cranks I could literally get to the point where my hip flexors were so fatigued I couldn't bring the pedal around again without resting first.  The cranks work your hip flexors BIG TIME which can lead to huge gains in efficiency since you are using the WHOLE pedal stroke, not just the push down.

And even if you THINK you are using the whole pedal stroke already you're not.  Trust me.  Riding some PC's will quickly dispel that illusion for you.

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the problem with that is 1) the hip flexors are tinny when compared to quads, hamstrings and glutes hence the amount of work they can produce is minimum, 2) the benefits you can get from enaging your hip flexors on the pedal stroke are minimum as the majority of the power applied to the pedals come from the 12 to 6 position and 3) if muscles imbalance is an issue for the athlete (i.e. weak hip flexors) you can train those specifically for free (one leg drills, plyometrics, etc) without spending 899.00 for the basic PC model.

I don't mind people who choose to use this product and believe in it, people are free to spend their $$ as they see it fit, however I do have a problem with the inventor's claims about power and running gains because there is nothing but anecdotal evidence to support those claims.

doesnt' it all come down to power to weight anyway??

I tried the PC for a bit, and sent them back, to get a PM.  Yes it was more difficult to get used to having to lift my leg up at first. But after a few weeks it wasn't that big a deal.. sometimes I'd be lazy and mess up.. but I did a few 2hr + rides with them and didnt' notice a lot of difference. 
I was hoping since I"m a bit newer, less advanced than others in cycling, and  I definately seem to get a leg imbalance with my left leg, that this would help out... I"ll admit I only used them apx 7-8 weeks though.

But for my biking what seems to help the most is biking harder on hard days, hill repeats and staying healthy enough to train.   Now if I can drop 30-40 lbs over the winter and either keep or increase my power I'll be super happy

+1 Just purchasing a new tri bike did that for me.

PennState,  hey, maybe a little late for this but congrats on the significantly sub 11 hr at Lake Placid!  

Edited by rc63413 2009-08-06 1:06 PM

I've used them and my spin scan #s went up and not because I rode more.

I'm not suggesting anyone buy powercranks...all I know is that they helped me a lot. And I am someone who has actually used them...not sure how many others on this thread actually used them but it would be good to add to your comments if you did or not so we can get levelset on where the comments stem from either (1) only research read or (2) actual experience from consistent use.

Either way, I have no idea if Frank's comments about how great they are have any truth to them....all I know is what I personally experienced and I can tell you that I absolutely benefited from their consistent use...and I'm not an early adapter for new gadgets...hell I still use my Garmin Forerunner 301 for crying out loud. ha ha ha.

FWIW


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