Newbz'z summer mentor group is FULL!!!! (Page 35)

jpbis26 - 2010-05-05 12:21 AM
Question: What bike trainers do you like? I don't need anything fancy or $$, just a basic one that's fairly quiet. I need to start biking more & can fit this in at night after my kids are asleep. Give me some names. Thanks.

jgerbodegrant - 2010-05-05 8:25 AM

I went with the kurt kinetic road machine.  Yeah...pricey, but also AWESOME!  Don't buy a trainer new....they are all over craigslist and classifieds.  A ton of people buy these things and never use them, only to sell them to us!

I also want to start training with power.  I find that my heart rate is sometimes inconsistent for a week.  Another reason why I am going with the disc cover for my rear wheel...sometime in the near future I am going to find a powertap I can afford....I'm determined.

Speaking of disc cover.  Stupid question, I have a fulcrum racing 5 wheel that I want to cover.  So I obviously know the spoke count because I can COUNT them.  What type of wheel is it?  Do I want an untrimmed cover?  And is my rim depth, just measured from the top of the rim to the bottom?

tri808 - 2010-05-05 2:08 AM

you know I was just poking fun right...=)

I'm actually very self motivated...so I agree that coaching for me at this point wouldn't be as beneficial as it may to others. Once I plateau though...the fine little tweaks a coach can make to break through is what I would be expecting. I'm partially biased to a PM now just because I love numbers and to play with data and track my progress. I know everyone is not like that...but it gets me excited to do my next workout.

Surprisingly, I actually don't mind the trainer. I got some spindervals recently and they push me harder than I would ride out on the road. I just did the Totally Time Trial tonight...it kicked my @ss. Granted it was raining today...I would never pick the trainer over an outdoor ride.

carlwithac - 2010-05-05 10:22 AM David I know that you are and RPE/bare bones guy but do you use a PM or have you used one in the past?

I understand that the PM measures the amount of torque on the rear hub but I don't understand much more than that.  Does the PM simply measure your output and nothing more?  Or do the numbers take into effect wind, hills, etc. 

carlwithac - 2010-05-05 1:22 PM

David I know that you are and RPE/bare bones guy but do you use a PM or have you used one in the past?

I understand that the PM measures the amount of torque on the rear hub but I don't understand much more than that. Does the PM simply measure your output and nothing more? Or do the numbers take into effect wind, hills, etc.

tri808 - 2010-05-05 4:38 PM



From the research I did...PMs measure the amount of force you are applying to your bike. Whether it be the pedals, the crank, or the rear hub. These measurements ignore the wind, hills, or if you're towing a 50 pound cement bag. That's the whole objective...to know how much energy you are exerting regardless of "outside factors". If you're riding uphill, into the wind and goind 16 mph...you may be pushing 225 watts. If your goal is to be riding at 200 watts, then you know you need to slow down to conserve energy. At the same time...if you're going downhill with a tailwind, you may be going 30 mph and only be pushing 170 watts...in this case you know that you need to push harder to get to 200 watts. So in essence, a PM takes out the guess work as to how hard you are working.

Sometimes we may feel like we got in a good ride because we finished fast...but your average wattage may tell you differently....or vice versa. It's similar to HR or RPE training...but assuming your PM is accurate, it's considered more exact. RPE is a personal estimation...so naturally it has it's flaws. And HR is very variable because of cardiac drift or simply how you are feeling that day. Power is exact...if you are cruising at 150 watts and start hammering at 300 watts, your power meter will show it instantly...your HR does not instantly change from 120 to 165...it may take a few minutes to reflect the attack you just made. And when you slow down and start coasting...your power will drop instantly...but your HR takes a few minutes to drop back down.

Hope that helps

carlwithac - 2010-05-05 10:03 PM Thanks guys.  That cleared up a lot.  BTW both of you would make damn good PM salesmen!  I'm sold already!

I might honestly look into a PM for next year.  If I can pick up a used one at the right price, I think it would be a good tool for helping me nail my bike at IMLP 2011.

I did core this morning and then swam with my best friend who is out of shape but is still faster than me in the pool.  In a distance set, I have the upper hand.  We got in some good hard intervals that idk if I could have done on my own.

I just got done with a 90min interval session on the drainer of 12x1'sprint 5' recover.  I have a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine and it feels way harder than the road.  I seem to go 2mph slower at the same perceived exertion than I do outside.  My HR zones match up with the speed but it jest feels way harder and I struggle keeping the intensity up.  I assume that it's just the fact that I'm in my basement whereas when I'm outside I enjoy hammering away.

tri808 - 2010-05-05 10:23 PM yeah...I hear that a PM is almost cheating at the HIM and IM distance.  Because once you determine in your ideal race wattage, you really can't screw it up (nutrition and hydration asside). 

However...I hear the thing that most people screw up with a PM is that they have no clue how to use it effectively.  Just because something spits out a power number...it doesn't make you a stronger cyclist.  You have to be able to understand the numbers, incorporate them into your training...then somehow determine what your ideal race wattage is.  If you somehow calculate that your ideal wattage for IMLP is 400...the PM is going to kill you...=)

tri808 - 2010-05-05 10:23 PM yeah...I hear that a PM is almost cheating at the HIM and IM distance.  Because once you determine in your ideal race wattage, you really can't screw it up (nutrition and hydration asside). 

However...I hear the thing that most people screw up with a PM is that they have no clue how to use it effectively.  Just because something spits out a power number...it doesn't make you a stronger cyclist.  You have to be able to understand the numbers, incorporate them into your training...then somehow determine what your ideal race wattage is.  If you somehow calculate that your ideal wattage for IMLP is 400...the PM is going to kill you...=)

jgerbodegrant - 2010-05-06 9:08 AM

Yeah, exactly.  David, do you know of any good books to buy for training with power?  There are a couple out there and I'm the kind of person who will buy all of them if I don't know which is better.

newbz - 2010-05-06 10:56 AM the book above is good, but honestly if you understand HR training this is the same with a slightly diff set of tests. you do your FTP (threshold) test, and a 20 min test, and base zones off of that. the only book i would use though is the one linked above. as for the disk cover, call wheelbuilder with ANY questions you have for htem, very helpful.

carlwithac - 2010-05-06 11:45 AM Just got done with a 6.3 mile run that I did in one hour.  I honestly thought that I went farther in that hour but I'm not going to fret about it since I am significantly ramping up my bike and run volumes and I have been going pretty hard this week.

Does anyone know if drink mixes dissolve better in warm water or cold water?  I find it very hard to mix recovery drinks because they want you to load your bottle up with so much damn powder.

jgerbodegrant - 2010-05-06 12:01 PM

Dude, that's a perfectly good run in my eyes.  Like scout says, run lots, mostly easy, sometimes hard.

As far as the recovery drink, any time you heat a solvent, it makes it easier for something to dissolve.  Without getting too much into thermo, the more entropy, the easier it is to dissolve.  (adding heat increases the entropy)

carlwithac - 2010-05-06 9:45 AM

Just got done with a 6.3 mile run that I did in one hour. I honestly thought that I went farther in that hour but I'm not going to fret about it since I am significantly ramping up my bike and run volumes and I have been going pretty hard this week.

Does anyone know if drink mixes dissolve better in warm water or cold water? I find it very hard to mix recovery drinks because they want you to load your bottle up with so much damn powder.

jsiegs - 2010-05-06 9:57 AM

Can someone tell me the difference between a set of HED H3 clinchers and like a HED Jet 6 clincher? Biggest difference i see is the ability to use a disk over for the Jet rear wheel. I'm sort of lost comparing which is better for whom and under what circumstances...