The idea of Powercranks is to make YOU faster, not to make your bike faster. So to answer your questions:

NO, you wouldn't want to race on them, at least not if you wanted to be competitive.

I see no good reason to make them out of carbon. They're not for racing on. The market for Powercranks is not huge, so they can't be as cheap as regular cranks, even before you consider the extra engineering that goes into them. Making them out of carbon would appeal to a small percentage of a small market.

The fact that you found it tough on Powercranks could be a good thing, since I'd suspect it proves that your technique has scope for improvement, and Powercranks should help you make those improvements. I'm a pretty accomplished cyclist (Half Ironman bike PR of 2-09), and on my first time on my Powercranks, had little difficulty and no pain. This was slightly dissapointing, since it suggested to me that there were few faults with my technique that Powercranks could improve, but it still wasn't completely easy. However, it got easier as my technique further improved. Hope it does the same for you, I'm sure it will.

 
I'm a pretty accomplished cyclist (Half Ironman bike PR of 2-09), and on my first time on my Powercranks, had little difficulty and no pain. This was slightly dissapointing, since it suggested to me that there were few faults with my technique that Powercranks could improve, but it still wasn't completely easy. However, it got easier as my technique further improved. Hope it does the same for you, I'm sure it will.[/reply]

This is the first time I've heard someone say that the PCs didn't completely, utterly annihilate the legs. I have to admit that riding the PCs has been pretty straight forward for me too...I'm not a 2:09 1/2 iron split however - last season I was around 1:00 for the 40k portion of olympic distance races. I don't feel much faster or stronger on the trainer riding the PCs, just smoother.

I haven't done any really fast TT stuff on them yet, but the only time I've been able to trash my legs was doing spinervals with lots of out of the saddle in small ring stuff.

What sort of drills do you guys do?

Aaron

Bigfella,

I am really surprised also that the Powercranks didn't effect you much after the first ride. A 2:09 PR for a half is pro-level riding. In most halfs that I have seen only 1 or 2 pros have managed to go under 2:10, with the occational powerhouse age grouper. Still I am amazed. I consider myself to be a good cyclist/runner averaging over 24 for an olympic and running under 35 for 10Ks.

Last night was my second ride and it was still painful. Part was due to the previous nights ride. My muscles still hurt. I managed to do 30 minutes. The upper part of my legs this morning are still feeling the effects.

the set screw keeps the dust cap from unscrewing and falling off.

the best thing to use on the large dustcap threads is a healthy dose of beeswax. for that matter, same for the set screw. holds tight and breaks loose smooth. nothing better. the world and bikes in particualr will be better with more beeswax. get a clue, tri-heads! :)

i got mine almost a year ago. i have the adjustable ones as well. as far as what length you are set at, the manual has a detailed description of crank length based on what notch you are in. if you don't have a manual, there is a pdf on the website. also... regarding the dustcaps, i think they were changed from both regular threads to one being reverse threads, so be cautious of muscling down on the dust caps until you know which direction they turn (again see manual). the set screws are meant to keep the dust caps in place.

my first time on them was a similar experience. very tough. but.... they are set up on my bike on the trainer, and i have become used to them. they are now no more tough than normal cranks (for any distance).

i have not been diligent enough to determine if they have helped at all. but, i do have one anectdotal data point.... 2 weeks ago i went for a long run with my run partner. he is a sufficiently better runner, although we are well matched on training runs (15 mins faster in the marathon). the long run was 21 miles over snow trails and icy walks. if you have run on terrain like this, you know that it recruits entirely different muscle group than normal dry terrain. he could hardly walk the next day because of sore hip flexors, and for me, it was just another run. 2 years prior (before pc training), i had sore hip flexors after an ice run, and i know something has changed.

so..... one thing i KNOW, is that if you want to be better at running on ice, pc's will help you. whether or not conditioned hip flexors will help my race times, is TBD.

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It's not easy to juggle a pregnant wife and a troubled child, but somehow I managed to squeeze in 8 hours of TV a day - Homer Simpson

I remember when I first began on Powercranks, I had a hard time washing my feet....couldn't raise my foot up high enough while standing in the shower!

There actually is a reason to race on PC's...I'm talking time trial-type stuff, not mass racing. Probably only those of you with PC's will understand this: Look at position of the little chain-catch peg on the big chainring as it relates to your crankarm...adjust your pedalling until that peg lines up exactly with your crankarm. As you pedal, are you able to keep that relationship for a long time? Or, do you find that the peg "creeps" ahead of the crank (actually the crankarm is slightly falling behind the peg). If this creep, or fall-behind, or whatever you want to call it, is happening to you, like it does to me, it means that you still aren't quite picking your rising foot up as fast as you are pushing down. If you were on regular cranks, you would still be wasting a tiny little bit of pushing down force to lift your slower moving rising foot. So, you'd be faster on PC's than regular cranks....assuming you can pedal the entire race while riding on PCs. So, if your pedalling is like mine, there IS a reason that they could be used in a time trial.

As far as a sub 2:10 rider during a half...you are apparently one of the people that does actually pick up with your hip flexors. To me, that's not really surprising that someone with that speed has this techique at least partly mastered. He says he is still improving his technique by training on PCs. So, even people in his class see a benefit to their use.

It really isn't rocket science, although some very smart rocket-science types get lost in all the math and models and "conservation of energy" equations. The problem is, the theories apply to rockets, engines and motors, not to kinesiology, physiology, neuro-muscular efficiency in humans. Even some of the physiologists seem to get lost and muddled down in the problem of explaining why or why not PC's do or don't work.

To the scientific-type naysayers I say; quit looking at the chlorophyll in the bottom side of a leaf on a tree, and ride on PC's for as long as you can for one training session. Do it again the next day. Try it for a week or two. Go for a run. The forest will soon be appearing before your eyes....I bet you'll even be able to figure out where your initial equations were faulty. Until then, you're only torturing yourselves trying to say the sun isn't going to appear in the eastern sky tomorrow morning.

If that's still not to your satisfaction, answer this one question. If a one-legged rider didn't pick up his rising foot with his hip flexors/hamstrings, would he ride as fast as he would by only pushing down? Does that clear things up for you?

It simply isn't as complicated as some people try to make it. With PowerCrank adapation, you stop using extensor power to push up the rising foot, and this frees up that power to now go to the crank. With PowerCrank adaptation you're recruiting other muscles that can do the job of picking up the rising crank/pedal/foot/leg. These other muscles are the hip flexors, the biceps femoris, and to a lessor extent, the anterior tibialis (again, unless you ride PC's you may not believe the anterior tibialis role, and some people don't use it more on PCs than on regular cranks...but, I do). Don't worry about "conservation of energy" theory nor heartrate nor anything else...these don't matter...your cardiac output can adequately supply the blood the hip flexors need to do this work, in addition to supplying the normal blood flow to the extensors. Really.

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

The set screw is a feeble attempt to keep everything together. It is imperfect. Listen to TTN, beeswax (or loctite). It is not an issue when you are on the trainer. It is if your cranks fall apart 20 miles from home. this doesn't happen often but if it happens to you ...

People race on PowerCranks for two reasons. 1. It is a training race, and PC's are for training. 2. Their muscles are trained but the brain isn't completely such that if they are on regular cranks and they get tired they might (read, probably will) revert back into old habits and slow down. The PC's keep you honest. Just heard of one of my pro's who just used them in a TT and averaged 385 watts, although i am not sure of the distance.

Marking the adjustable cranks is something I need to do. I keep forgetting to tell the mqachinist to make the modification whenever he does a new lot.

The dust cap tightening problem defies logic when it occurs. It only happens rarely. No one has a 12 mm hex wrench, nor would they want to carry one on a ride, just in case, but most people have a coin with them so what I have is probably best until I can come up with a better solution.

I currently have some "light" racing crank prototypes out there. Several have asked for them. They will be made out of aluminum at first as my first attempt at carbon didn't work well (carbon doesn't give adequate support for the clutch). Don't worry, you are at least a full season (or two) away from being ready for them.

I suspect you will be surprised a week or two from now as to how much better you are compared to that first ride. People usually adapt pretty quickly.

Frank

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

The vast majority of first rides last about 10-15 minutes. About one percent of new users report being able to ride them for an hour or more first time. Some of them are cyclists, many of them are XC skiers. I am not aware of a single one who sent them back saying they didn't need them.

Frank

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Frank,
An original Ironman and the Inventor of PowerCranks

Frank, keep me a set of the light ones for what we discussed last time.

Well I have done 4 sessions so far on the Powercranks

Day 1: 20 minutes - felt sad (Not emotionally, just physically) , muscles hurt (Good hurt)

Day 2: 30 minutes - muscles hurt from the previous workout. Had to glide every now and then because my muscles were burning.

Day 3: 35 minutes - muscles were still hurting.

Day 4: Hour+ ride - Took the bike outside. It was the first warm day in like ever. A few things that were really weird. 1. When your gliding with power cranks usually both feet are down, it looks and feels strange.

2. Going over bumps can be a pain since it is almost impossible to rise out of the seat like you would with normal cranks.

3. You have to force a leg up if your going into a turn. With normal cranks it is much easier. I couldn't take turns as fast.

4. I lost one of the bolts that attach the adjustable crank arms. There are a few bridges that are really really bumpy and it must have worked its way loose. Also I didn't check them before I left. It made for a clicking noise since the adjustable plank was not as tight. I fixed it when I got home by finding another bolt. Bees Wax or Lock Tight would be good on these.

5. Starting up after stopping was a little difficult, but manageable. Your basically doing a one legged drill to get up to speed, before cliping in the other foot.

6. I was a lot slower than I normally ride, but I figure that will come in time. Most of it was do to the fact that my muscles were burning so much that I would have to glide just to rest a bit.

7. Oh and I was able to stand up for about 10 seconds when cresting a hills, that is about it. Trying to stand for any length of time was extremely hard.

Doing good! Keep doing it....how are your runs going now?

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)

I started using powercranks about 5 months ago. Only now am I getting back to my usual training hours on the bike. It took that long for me to develop my new muscle groups, balance out my legs etc.. I do my fast group rides ( and will race) on my normal cranks, and plan to use powercranks the rest of the time through the season. The last few weekends I showed up at fast local group rides. What I notice is that now my hip flexors and hamstrings are part of my pedal stroke, instead of coming along for the ride. Where as before my quads would be stiff and sore after really hard rides, now my whole leg feels pleasantly tired, but no specific muscle group soreness. For a very long time, my cadance dropped most of the time. The last few weeks, however.I have been able to go out and "spin" a small gear, eg 39/16/15 for two hours at 90 cadence. Now during intense race efforts, I am able to focus on my pedal stroke and power through any situation. Yesterday I "effortlessly" rode my teammates off my wheel on one especially hard intensity climb..Hope springs eternal, and my racing age this year is 59..:-)

You make me sick. I want to puke. 2 hours at 90 rpm's? I can't approach that, and I've been on PC's for 14 months....although the last 5 months have seen a LOT less riding d/t work situation. Good for you! Why is it that I always feel good to ride off and leave younger riders, but, when an older rider leaves me in the dust, it simply makes me in awe of the older fellow's atheticism....I'll let out a big whoop for him to let him know I appreciate the skill and effort he's making. You must be one of those guys.

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Quid quid latine dictum sit altum videtur
(That which is said in Latin sounds profound)