Dear Powercranks:
Well I got my new Powercranks yesterday. That was fast. I ordered them on
Sunday. I wasn't too impressed at first. Another thousand dollar toy...
a bit of a gimmick, a bit of a laugh... I had used them on my friends
bikes and at expos. I knew what they were and frankly (no pun intended to
Frank Day) doubted how useful they would be. Still I got them to make my
friends happy and shut people up who told me that they would be the
greatest tool I ever owned.
Now you must understand a little background. I am not easily impressed
with cycling stuff because I think I have seen it all. I have been a
cyclist for 20 years now and since 1987 I have been following all of the
technology and performance wisdom. During that time I have owned (what
feels like) over 100 top-end bikes ridden countless hours of training and
racing. I have spent at least $50k+ on equipment and talked with hundreds
of people. I have had $400 fit sessions and even discussed my position
with experts like John Cobb and Olympic contenders.
When it came to powercranks I had my opinions and they were NOT something
I needed. Yes I had tried them and I failed after a minute of use but
that was on other people's bikes. I was sure if they were on my bike and
I had my position things would be different. No, I didn't need
Powercranks. I was above that gimmick.
Powercranks (in my mind) were for desperate people with no clue how to
pedal. As a result of my super position and many miles of adaptation I
KNEW I was a great pedaler and I KNEW I was in the correct position.
Hell, how could I have not been!!??? I paid $400 bucks for a fit session
and my spinscan proved how great I was. Powercranks would just do one
thing... hurt my hamstrings. Those things are an injury waiting to happen
I would tell my friends. They ignore your quads! Oh how right I was...
but not like I thought.
Here's a little background on my hamstrings. I am also a runner. I have
been running as long as I have been cycling and like most runners I have
tight hamstrings. You see my hamstrings were something I always thought
about because they hurt a lot. To compensate for this I really paid
attention to saddle height. I thought I KNEW my proper seat height. I
had not a single doubt I was getting the best position (saddle-height
wise). Well it turns out that I was wrong and it wasn't until last night
when I finally figured it out.
How? How you ask did I conclude that I was incorrect when I was so sure I
was right for all this time? The answer is simple. Powercranks. It took
me under twenty seconds to know. I also have a pretty good idea that my
left leg is shorter than my right leg too! No, I didn't go to a doctor
and get x-rayed. All I did was use Powercranks on my bike for around 20
seconds.
You see the first thing I did was get on my saddle and clip both feet in
to my pedals which were hanging together in the six o'clock position.
This immediately made me laugh. I felt so stupid being in a position that
I had never been in on a bike. Then I noticed something. Those pedals
were really far down there and I barely reached them. No matter I thought
I have the proper seat-height.
Then I leaned forward to my aerobars and my hamstrings both felt like they
were being pulled. I still insisted (in my mind) that this was the
correct height. Why would I ever doubt myself? As I said before I had
been through FIST performance fittings and even talked with John Cobb....
my results also were pretty good on that set-up (362 watts for a 40k)....
I started pedaling and then all hell broke lose with my right hamstring
forcing me to stop.
I lower my saddle 1-2cm thinking that this was surely going to be too
much. Again I had the same experience as the first time... this time it
was less painful but still I could tell not quite as low as I needed. I
lowered the saddle another half centimeter and it felt fine.
I realized something in that moment. I now understood that I was fighting
my bike and tearing my hamstrings all at once. I was probably rocking my
hips back and forth so I could extend my legs (maybe that's what caused
those saddle sores) and losing major efficiency to do it.
In 20 seconds my new powercranks had become the best fit tool I had ever
used. It was also obvious that if I sat on the seat (squarely) my left
leg didn't reach the pedal the same way my right one did. Maybe this is
why I could only sit on the left hand side of my seat and why that area
had become a major source of pain.
In the future I will look forward to using my adjustable powercranks to
see if two different crank arms would help me. I will keep you updated on
my progress but I thought I would share day one.
Well I got my new Powercranks yesterday. That was fast. I ordered them on
Sunday. I wasn't too impressed at first. Another thousand dollar toy...
a bit of a gimmick, a bit of a laugh... I had used them on my friends
bikes and at expos. I knew what they were and frankly (no pun intended to
Frank Day) doubted how useful they would be. Still I got them to make my
friends happy and shut people up who told me that they would be the
greatest tool I ever owned.
Now you must understand a little background. I am not easily impressed
with cycling stuff because I think I have seen it all. I have been a
cyclist for 20 years now and since 1987 I have been following all of the
technology and performance wisdom. During that time I have owned (what
feels like) over 100 top-end bikes ridden countless hours of training and
racing. I have spent at least $50k+ on equipment and talked with hundreds
of people. I have had $400 fit sessions and even discussed my position
with experts like John Cobb and Olympic contenders.
When it came to powercranks I had my opinions and they were NOT something
I needed. Yes I had tried them and I failed after a minute of use but
that was on other people's bikes. I was sure if they were on my bike and
I had my position things would be different. No, I didn't need
Powercranks. I was above that gimmick.
Powercranks (in my mind) were for desperate people with no clue how to
pedal. As a result of my super position and many miles of adaptation I
KNEW I was a great pedaler and I KNEW I was in the correct position.
Hell, how could I have not been!!??? I paid $400 bucks for a fit session
and my spinscan proved how great I was. Powercranks would just do one
thing... hurt my hamstrings. Those things are an injury waiting to happen
I would tell my friends. They ignore your quads! Oh how right I was...
but not like I thought.
Here's a little background on my hamstrings. I am also a runner. I have
been running as long as I have been cycling and like most runners I have
tight hamstrings. You see my hamstrings were something I always thought
about because they hurt a lot. To compensate for this I really paid
attention to saddle height. I thought I KNEW my proper seat height. I
had not a single doubt I was getting the best position (saddle-height
wise). Well it turns out that I was wrong and it wasn't until last night
when I finally figured it out.
How? How you ask did I conclude that I was incorrect when I was so sure I
was right for all this time? The answer is simple. Powercranks. It took
me under twenty seconds to know. I also have a pretty good idea that my
left leg is shorter than my right leg too! No, I didn't go to a doctor
and get x-rayed. All I did was use Powercranks on my bike for around 20
seconds.
You see the first thing I did was get on my saddle and clip both feet in
to my pedals which were hanging together in the six o'clock position.
This immediately made me laugh. I felt so stupid being in a position that
I had never been in on a bike. Then I noticed something. Those pedals
were really far down there and I barely reached them. No matter I thought
I have the proper seat-height.
Then I leaned forward to my aerobars and my hamstrings both felt like they
were being pulled. I still insisted (in my mind) that this was the
correct height. Why would I ever doubt myself? As I said before I had
been through FIST performance fittings and even talked with John Cobb....
my results also were pretty good on that set-up (362 watts for a 40k)....
I started pedaling and then all hell broke lose with my right hamstring
forcing me to stop.
I lower my saddle 1-2cm thinking that this was surely going to be too
much. Again I had the same experience as the first time... this time it
was less painful but still I could tell not quite as low as I needed. I
lowered the saddle another half centimeter and it felt fine.
I realized something in that moment. I now understood that I was fighting
my bike and tearing my hamstrings all at once. I was probably rocking my
hips back and forth so I could extend my legs (maybe that's what caused
those saddle sores) and losing major efficiency to do it.
In 20 seconds my new powercranks had become the best fit tool I had ever
used. It was also obvious that if I sat on the seat (squarely) my left
leg didn't reach the pedal the same way my right one did. Maybe this is
why I could only sit on the left hand side of my seat and why that area
had become a major source of pain.
In the future I will look forward to using my adjustable powercranks to
see if two different crank arms would help me. I will keep you updated on
my progress but I thought I would share day one.