Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade?

Apr 16, 15 8:12

Post #1 of 38 (3193 views)

I have a 2013 Felt B16 with all the stock components. The bike has aluminum handle bars and aerobars and it was suggested that it would be of benefit to upgrade to carbon bars to lose some bike weight and help with vibration.

Noticing the drop in price of the Power2Max Gossamer power meter to $599 today, I'm thinking maybe I should try a power meter instead.

I've never had a power meter before. I use virtual power on trainer road while indoors, but that's it. I hear having a power meter is a great tool and I'm not sure how much benefit I'll get with carbon bars, so leaning towards the power meter.

Any opinions on which to go with?

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 8:14

Post #2 of 38 (3183 views)

Benefit of carbon bars ~0.

Benefit of PM could be a lot if you use it.

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 8:17

Post #3 of 38 (3170 views)

I would get the PM for sure.

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [rruff] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 8:17

Post #4 of 38 (3168 views)

rruff wrote:

Benefit of carbon bars ~0.

Benefit of PM could be a lot if you use it.

This

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [Liaman] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 8:18

Post #5 of 38 (3165 views)

Agreed

Human Person

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 8:21

Post #6 of 38 (3152 views)

absolute no brainer - I missed power the first time I trained - 15 years ago, couldn't afford it - this time round i bought a p2m and stuck it on a surly cross check (trainer bike) and its a total game changer, has provided structure - that which can be measured can be improved and in my case with no history of knowing RPE, HR etc, power is a metric which allows specific measurable points of reference

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [Andrewmc] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 8:26

Post #7 of 38 (3133 views)

I figured it was probably a silly question, but figured I'd check anyway. Thanks everyone.

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 8:35

Post #8 of 38 (3122 views)

Unanimous for the PM

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [winchester] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 8:37

Post #9 of 38 (3114 views)

I think he should get the Carbon Bars...

Just kidding...go for the PM

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 8:59

Post #10 of 38 (3080 views)

PM...for Sure

Adi Prabakar

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade?[jmk1538] [rruff] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 9:20

Post #11 of 38 (3057 views)

rruff wrote:

Benefit of carbon bars ~0.

Benefit of PM could be a lot if you use it.

I'll offer the lone dissenting opinion:

Upgrading your stock B16 round aluminum bars to a lighter, more aero, and lower bars is WAY more than ~0. I was in a similar position a couple years ago on my 2011 Felt B16. I went with the aero bars first before getting a PM a year later.

One thing that might be overlooked is the ability of a better bar (I got a Felt Devox Full Carbon 39cm bar) to allow you to get in a much better aero position than that stock bar on the B16's. I love my power meter, but to me, if you're position is crap, you should work on that.

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Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 9:26

Post #12 of 38 (3038 views)

jmk1538 wrote:

it was suggested that it would be of benefit to upgrade to carbon bars to lose some bike weight and help with vibration.

The weight difference of carbon bars will save you about 0.5 seconds per Ironman.

The vibration difference may not exist at all.

If the stock bars are not very aero, you could get some substantive performance improvement from a more aerodynamic cockpit, but it need not be made of carbon.

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Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [Runner Rick] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 9:27

Post #13 of 38 (3035 views)

Runner Rick wrote:

rruff wrote:

Benefit of carbon bars ~0.

Benefit of PM could be a lot if you use it.

I'll offer the lone dissenting opinion:

Upgrading your stock B16 round aluminum bars to a lighter, more aero, and lower bars is WAY more than ~0. I was in a similar position a couple years ago on my 2011 Felt B16. I went with the aero bars first before getting a PM a year later.

One thing that might be overlooked is the ability of a better bar (I got a Felt Devox Full Carbon 39cm bar) to allow you to get in a much better aero position than that stock bar on the B16's. I love my power meter, but to me, if you're position is crap, you should work on that.

Would you say you benefited from a better position that the new bars let you attain, or that the new bars were lighter and more aero?

If its the former, maybe the OP should consider that as well concerning their position on the bike.

Otherwise, power meter all the way.

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [Runner Rick] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 9:37

Post #14 of 38 (3015 views)

So what you're saying is that the OP should get the PM and also (maybe) fork out an additional $30-60 on a stem.

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Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 9:44

Post #15 of 38 (2999 views)

I also have a Felt B16, albeit a year or two older. I went with a PowerTap, but have also upgraded the front brake to an Omega, and also upgraded the bars to the Zipp Vuka Alumina. Those bars are not as slick as a set of Missiles or something, but they're pretty good, and very adjustable.

I would agree with the rest of the folks though...the PT is the one upgrade I couldn't live without.

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 10:01

Post #16 of 38 (2971 views)

I was trying to hold off on getting a powermeter until the end of the year but when $599 price point pops up it's really hard to resist. But it seems the power meter prices are dropping rapidly so hopefully end of the year maybe I'll pick one up. I have my first 2 HIM this year. One in May and the other in September. It's very tempting to get a power meter to start in training for the September HIM.

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [JasoninHalifax] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 10:16

Post #17 of 38 (2944 views)

JasoninHalifax wrote:

So what you're saying is that the OP should get the PM and also (maybe) fork out an additional $30-60 on a stem.

For me, on that bike, it was more than the stem. The pads sit pretty high on that Felt Aluminum bar. Obviously, the bang for your buck is probably not there with a new aero bar, but getting your position dialed in definitely is. To me: Position > PM

You can't go wrong with the PM . . . as long as you use it.

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Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [Runner Rick] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 10:39

Post #18 of 38 (2904 views)

Runner Rick wrote:

JasoninHalifax wrote:

So what you're saying is that the OP should get the PM and also (maybe) fork out an additional $30-60 on a stem.

For me, on that bike, it was more than the stem. The pads sit pretty high on that Felt Aluminum bar. Obviously, the bang for your buck is probably not there with a new aero bar, but getting your position dialed in definitely is. To me: Position > PM

You can't go wrong with the PM . . . as long as you use it.

And the power meter is actually working properly.

Not all brands of power meter are reliable, so yes you can go wrong with one. It's a big investment and reliability is not guaranteed, people should consider reliability before parting with their cash.

Last edited by: Trev: Apr 16, 15 10:54

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [Trev] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 10:51

Post #19 of 38 (2883 views)

Anyone have experience installing the classic FSA Gossamer from Power2Max? I don't have too much experience bike maintenance-wise so I'm almost afraid to try if it's difficult. I could get the local bike shop to do it, guess it depends on how much they'd charge.

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [Runner Rick] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 10:54

Post #20 of 38 (2878 views)

negative rise stem

adjustable stem

lots of options for getting the position in aero right.

personally, I never cared where the base bar is, as long as it is reasonably OK. shouldn't be in them much anyway...

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Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 11:06

Post #21 of 38 (2863 views)

jmk1538 wrote:

Anyone have experience installing the classic FSA Gossamer from Power2Max? I don't have too much experience bike maintenance-wise so I'm almost afraid to try if it's difficult. I could get the local bike shop to do it, guess it depends on how much they'd charge.

If you have an FSA bottom bracket it should be pretty painless.
slide it in, set the preload by gently tightening the preload bolt, the tighten the pinch bolts.

If you do not have an FSA bottom bracket, you might want to get one as FSA spindles are a tight fit in other bottom brackets.

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Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jackmott] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 11:14

Post #22 of 38 (2847 views)

jackmott wrote:

jmk1538 wrote:

Anyone have experience installing the classic FSA Gossamer from Power2Max? I don't have too much experience bike maintenance-wise so I'm almost afraid to try if it's difficult. I could get the local bike shop to do it, guess it depends on how much they'd charge.

If you have an FSA bottom bracket it should be pretty painless.
slide it in, set the preload by gently tightening the preload bolt, the tighten the pinch bolts.

If you do not have an FSA bottom bracket, you might want to get one as FSA spindles are a tight fit in other bottom brackets.

I have an FSA Omega Mega Exo crankset and was told the bottom bracket would work, but that I would need to get different chain rings.

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 11:32

Post #23 of 38 (2826 views)

An advantage of having aluminum bars is that they are more durable. I had a crash a few years ago where my bars took a big hit - probably wouldn't have survived if carbon. Also agree on the PM vs bars issue.

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Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 11:32

Post #24 of 38 (2824 views)

jmk1538 wrote:

jackmott wrote:

jmk1538 wrote:

Anyone have experience installing the classic FSA Gossamer from Power2Max? I don't have too much experience bike maintenance-wise so I'm almost afraid to try if it's difficult. I could get the local bike shop to do it, guess it depends on how much they'd charge.

If you have an FSA bottom bracket it should be pretty painless.
slide it in, set the preload by gently tightening the preload bolt, the tighten the pinch bolts.

If you do not have an FSA bottom bracket, you might want to get one as FSA spindles are a tight fit in other bottom brackets.

I have an FSA Omega Mega Exo crankset and was told the bottom bracket would work, but that I would need to get different chain rings.

The Omega takes a BB-4000 and the FSA gossamer takes a BB-6000. They are similar to eachother and can probably be interchanged sometimes. Personally I'm running an BB-8681 with my P2M FSA Gossamer but I know the BB-6000 is the exact specified one.

If you are buying the P2M now, buy the Praxis rings from them, they are really good rings and that's a good price.

jaretj

Re: Power Meter or Carbon bars upgrade? [jmk1538] [ In reply to ]

Apr 16, 15 12:14

Post #25 of 38 (2796 views)

for vibration you might want to look at tire pressure, tire width and the stiffness of the wheels. Bars don't matter much for that

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