Quote:
Originally Posted by Mr Tonka
I'm not sure if this is close to you, but this bike shop is a Stages dealer who can get you a stages demo power meter.
CHAMPAIGN CYCLE
506 S Country Fair Drive Champaign, IL 61821 US
I think power meters are an excellent training tool and there is no tool that will help you train smarter/faster than a power meter, save for a professional coach. But it's also cool for data collection and is a great tool for managing energy expenditure on longer rides.
Stages is likely the best option for you. There are Garmin Vectors, Power tap P1 pedals, power tap hub, power tap chain rings and other high end crank/chain ring options. I would say the power tap chain rings are probably the second best option for you.
A hub based power meter is inexpensive but you have to either buy a wheel with it installed or buy it and have it laced into your existing wheel, assuming they produce a hub with the same number of spokes as your existing wheel. This gives you a single power number, no L/R specific specs.
The high end stuff is is $1500 and up. All the bells and whistles.
The pedal option is really nice because you can just switch them from bike to bike without any worries as they will fit any bike. .....But, you have to get clipless shoes and experience the clipless learning curve. (clipless = mechanically attaching your shoes to the pedals) About $450 for a single pedal to $900 for dual pedals. This will give you L/R power stats independently. When you use a single pedal, it doubles the power reading.
Chain rings have to be compatible with your current cranks and run about $700 to $800 plus install. These also show L/R power stats independently.
The stages power meter is mounted in the non-drive side crank arm. So you'll have to buy a non-drive side crank arm and swap yours out. So long as your next bike utilizes the same bottom bracket and same length crank arms, you'll be able to swap them out. This is a single side power meter and will double the power read by the left crank arm.
They are great fun to geek out on but as others have said, not necessary. HR is another metric that you can use similarly to watts, but it doesn't tell the whole story. Power is power no matter going up hill, down hill, into the wind or with a tail wind. It is also the most accurate way to calculate calories burned.
All of these power meter options include built in cadence sensors too.
Edit: Looks like Stages doesn't make a power meter in a crank arm that matches your Crossrip 1 bottom bracket style. So you'd likely have to buy a crank set from them assuming your bike will accept a comparable bottom bracket. If not, i'd say go with a single pedal option, unless you're in love with having L/R data recorded independently. But you'd better confirm that for yourself with one of their dealers.
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Hmm, guess I'll wait on that a bit. I need to recover from the cost of the new bike first. Next time I'm in Champaign and have some time, I'll go talk to them anyway. I know exactly where that shop is.
Quote:
Originally Posted by M4Now!
M_Six, I wouldn't worry about a power meter yet. If you're wearing a HR monitor and using a Garmin, you're getting a great data set. Tonka is absolutely right that power data is very useful, but mostly to very serious riders who are on a specific training plan.
Re your gearing, were you in the big chainring when you had trouble finding the best gear? Gear ratio changes between gears are larger when you're in the big ring, so a change to the smaller ring can give you finer adjustment. Try not to cross-chain tho (e.g. small chainring / smallest cog on the cassette).
Cheers
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Yes, I was on the larger chainring. Tonight I'm going to try some of the hills around me and I'll try riding with the smaller chainring instead since it'll be mostly low-gear stuff. I'll remember to shift to the larger chainring before going downhill and using the smaller cogs. Thanks for that heads up.