The Wattage Thread

[okgo]

Yeh but its 40w out for one of them which renders the whole thing a waste of time. God knows why they ever added the feature, its ste.

[anonymous-user]

okgo said:

Yeh but its 40w out for one of them which renders the whole thing a waste of time. God knows why they ever added the feature, its ste.

Agreed. If you are using numbers to train from then the only thing to base them on is a repeatable device. I don't take any notice of estimated power, it's a load of nonsense and only in there because some software engineers had a bit of spare time

[nacnac]

I'm not so sure, I think if you accept it's limitations it can give you a ball park figure and for those without power will surely take it?

I suppose I should have said to disregard the 20th Aug one as I was doing hill repeats on the steeper part but had cruised the first bit hence power up but speed down.

[Rocksteadyeddie]

nacnac said:

I'm not so sure, I think if you accept it's limitations it can give you a ball park figure and for those without power will surely take it?

I suppose I should have said to disregard the 20th Aug one as I was doing hill repeats on the steeper part but had cruised the first bit hence power up but speed down.

Why? What does an inaccurate power number give you that an accurate stopwatch doesn't?

[anonymous-user]

nacnac said:

I'm not so sure, I think if you accept it's limitations it can give you a ball park figure and for those without power will surely take it?

I suppose I should have said to disregard the 20th Aug one as I was doing hill repeats on the steeper part but had cruised the first bit hence power up but speed down.

Ball park figure for what, what it estimated on any given day? So you set a PB into a headwind, you're going really well and Strava says you are 30w higher than your previous best. What is that number worth exactly? If you committed enough to do hill sessions then you would benefit from knowing exactly where you are. Powermeters are not that expensive nowadays, it is worth spending the money.

[ALawson]

yonex said:

Powermeters are not that expensive nowadays, it is worth spending the money.

I suppose those books mentioned earlier would give advice on how to train to using the data to improve?

[okgo]

ALawson said:

I suppose those books mentioned earlier would give advice on how to train to using the data to improve?

Yes.

[RGambo]

I agree the estimated power is a little off to say the least. I did one of my usual climbs, which I usuall ride at around 400W on the stages, battery went flat one day so no date. I did the climb on feel, my time was comparible with how I usually ride the climb but my estimated power was over 500W !!!

[Rocksteadyeddie]

RGambo said:

I agree the estimated power is a little off to say the least. I did one of my usual climbs, which I usuall ride at around 400W on the stages, battery went flat one day so no date. I did the climb on feel, my time was comparible with how I usually ride the climb but my estimated power was over 500W !!!

Asume that's a pretty short climb, or you're a secret First Cat?

[RGambo]

85kgs and about 3 -4 mins.
So yes to fat and yes to short.

[okgo]

RGambo said:

85kgs and about 3 -4 mins.
So yes to fat and yes to short.

I have a 4 or so minute hill climb event tomorrow, wonder if I can crack 500w!

[fromage]

okgo said:

I have a 4 or so minute hill climb event tomorrow, wonder if I can crack 500w!

Smash it, I really fancied the KW Hill climb as circa 4 mins is what I'm best at. But top end is'nt great at the moment and wanted to be uber fresh for Cutmill on Sunday.

[okgo]

Better win on Sunday then

[bert11]

had a powermeter 3 weeks now, loving it. Established my rough max power curve, and going to hit some longer climbs tomorrow

[ALawson]

Do you guys think a single vector pedal is worth it or is the L:R info worth the extra? Would you see improvements only doing 3-5hrs a week?

[okgo]

I'd get both, this left only thing is being found out I think. And yes, if you're doing the right stuff then ANY time will help!

499w for just over 4 mins. Not too bad. http://www.strava.com/activities/199988322

Edited by okgo on Saturday 27th September 13:36

[neenaw]

Is anyone here using the Quarg power meters at all?

I've been in two minds whether or not to get a power meter for a while and i've finally decided to go for it and get one, the problem is I'm unsure which to go for.

At the moment I'm leaning towards the Quarg Riken as i've seen one available for a 'reasonable' price. The Garmin Vector S single pedal is still a possibility but I'm not sure what they're like as there seems to be very few reviews of them floating about.
I've ruled out the Stages as I keep reading things about poor reliability with them, the Rotor LT doesn't appear to be much more than an expensive Stages with a complete crankset and as much as I like the Garmin Vectors, I'm not sure that I can justify the price. As much as I like the looks of the Power2Max, I'd prefer something for a UK based company so it's easier to deal with any potential issues that may arise.

Any other suggestions?

[okgo]

I've got a Sram Red Quarq, which is basically the Elsa unit. Can't fault it really, I had a slight issue updating the firmware at one point but it was due to trying to update it with a dodgy battery.

Warranty's are good, and cyclepowermeters.com are always on hand to solve issues etc if it needs UK work, but the US support guys are quick to reply.

I am going to get another meter this winter for my TT bike, I don't want GXP so it will likely be SRM or p2m I've heard very few bad things about the new power 2 max. Whereas I've heard lots of bad things about vector and stages.

[neenaw]

It seems odd with the Stages, it's either the greatest PM available for a great price or absolute rubbish depending on what you read.
So far I've only really read good stuff about the Quarg units which is pretty promising.

[fromage]

okgo said:

I've got a Sram Red Quarq, which is basically the Elsa unit. Can't fault it really, I had a slight issue updating the firmware at one point but it was due to trying to update it with a dodgy battery.

Warranty's are good, and cyclepowermeters.com are always on hand to solve issues etc if it needs UK work, but the US support guys are quick to reply.

I am going to get another meter this winter for my TT bike, I don't want GXP so it will likely be SRM or p2m I've heard very few bad things about the new power 2 max. Whereas I've heard lots of bad things about vector and stages.

Have you updated yours to the latest version so you no longer need a cadence magnet? If so does it work just as well?