If I had a fixed budget for bike stuff, I'd buy a Powertap first and spend whatever was left on whatever I could afford. I'd buy a third-hand bike off Ebay before giving up my Powertap.

It (and, to be fair, other powermeters) is the single best bike training and racing tool I've ever come across.

Speaking of Ebay -- there are always little-used powertap wheels on there.

what did people do before powertaps? save the 1000 bucks for your trip to kona.

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"I have no fear of losing my life - if I have to save a koala or a crocodile or a kangaroo or a snake, mate, I will save it. "
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The same thing captains did before Compasses and GPS... Used the sun, stars...

Sometimes it worked while others.

Of course... you can still wreck and crash using GPS :-)

LODD

Don't think Kona is in the picture unless I get the PT.

If I had that kind of money to spend I would buy a new mattress.

So we can conclude that your bike time is routinely MOP or worse? If so, you definitely want to get the PT. However, you will want a configuration that allows use on the road and on an indoor trainer - regardless of where you live. So add on the cost of a good trainer ($250+). The fall is a good time to hit e-bay for a deal on used PTs. Give yourself 6 months to really see results.

Do you have any good resources\workouts\suggestions on how to train correctly using a Powertap?

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It's ALL about the bike!

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Lots of coaches (most all, nowadays) have adopted power devices to one degree or another. Among many others...

Rich Strauss offers very well-designed triathlon training plans specifically for power meter users. www.cruciblefitness.com

Mitch Gold also uses power as a core element of his plans. www.counterpartcoaching.com

Almost all of the Friel/TrainingPeaks-affiliated coaches use power info: Kevin Purcell, Mike Ricci, Marty Gaal, Brian Stover, etc. See www.trainingpeaks.com for a full list.

What did people do before the pneumatic tire? Or caliper brakes? Or running shoes?

Why ride a bike at all? It just makes it easier. We should run the whole 180 kilometers!

Powermeters are making the weekend warrior athlete better.

My powertap pro has caused me a lot of hassle since I bought it in 03, including having to send it back on four seperate occasions including one time immediately following its return.

That said, I can imagine training without it. Power is one of the best tools I have used in training.

Mine has been reliable for the last year when I have learned to regularly lube the bearings and to keep it away from any and all water.

I would probably reccomend getting the SL if possible, the sealing does seem better although my wife's SL had some water penetration issues and had to be returned.

KR

You have to be willing to do the research and educate yourself on how to use it. You can also get guidance from someone that does, like maybe a coach.

I bought one this year and moved from my plateau of 22 mph for 2 years to over 23 in most of my races in a couple of months with better run performance too.

jaretj

i have 2 PT SL's, one for training in mavic open pros and one in 808's.

with cycling peaks its ALL making sense now.

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ishi no ue ni san nen | Perseverance will win in the end. | Blog | @nebmot | Strava | Instagram |

I just talked to one of my friends about PTs tonight. We both were hard core runners who turned into hard core cyclists. He goes by heart rate and perceived exertion alone, I focus on power and perceived exertion. Going power really aided me. I guess riding the CT convinced me to get a PowerTap SL.

What we've both noticed is that our legs max out on power before our hearts do (I guess too many years of running). Thus, power has helped me gauge improvements in my fitness and pace during hard workouts and TTs. If I had gone by HR alone, I'd probably get frustrated.

Personally, I think getting a PT SL with a disc cover is a much better investment than getting a Zipp wheelset. The feedback from the PT is worth it, especially if you have a coach.

Good luck!

-Pete

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Blog = http://extrememomentum.com|Photos = http://wheelgoodphotos.com

http://www.ibikesports.com/

Best of both worlds.

++++++++++++

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My shiny, new Powertap SL just arrived today. Did a lot of research before buying. The PT SL seemed like the most economic blend of accuracy, reliability and utility with two bikes. Watched eBay for a while, but eventually found a bike store out of Michigan that offered the system for a little more than used units were going for at auction (just under $1000 built up on a DT Swiss 1.1). I'll probably order up a wheel cover to start, then evaluate from there. The consensus seems to be that training with power, but not racing with it is a waste.

The iBike is interesting to me, of course because of the cost and the fact you don't have to have a separate wheel.

Anyone tried the iBike?

looks interesting to me as well and Richard is a stand up dude who knows his stuff. I can't imagine he would be endorsing something that doesn't work properly.

Hmmm.....Quality WheelHouse wheel. Sometimes it is not the rim, spokes or hub used to build the wheel. Its who or what that built the wheel. I heard some bad stories about them. I hope you have have better luck.

I've followed some threads on the wattage forum and I also have a good friend that's been testing one out for a couple of months. So far, not impressive at all, imho. On rough roads it's useless -- real-time power either shuts off completely (no display) or fails to provide any sense of accuracy. To give you an idea of how rough the road needs to be... Think of the roads at WF. Btw, this issue has been reported by many people. My friend has also had issues in bad weather -- just shuts off completely. Seems like my friend has also had to recalibrate often enough to be a pain in the butt too. Some other complaints that don't come to mind right now...

Personally, I'd wait to see how the iBike pans out over the next year.

Thanks, Chris

as someone's sig line states, "the secret is that there is no secret."

PM users swear by them, but they are a self-selected group that will go the extra mile and justify it, as they do CT's...if you want to get better, simply invest in the time it takes to get better, which is a lot, both in weekly hours and years to improve. Certainly a PM or CT is a good addition, but comparing post-PM performance with the invention of the compass is ridiculous. None of the legends in the sport, who's records still often stand, used PM's. And from what I gather, most pros today don't either, since I don't see them on many pro bikes and pros don't seem to either be able to afford a PM or CT and they travel so much that a CT is not an option. Also, read all the threads on "help, my PM doesn't work"; it seems they can add significant time and hassle to training.

Had mine for 6 months and I too would start with the powertap and buy a bike with whatever was left over. Got it built into the DT Swiss 1.1 by Cadence bicycles in Philly. Got a disc cover by wheelbuilders that fits perfectly. I bought the SL model and have had zero issues with it, mostly ride on a trainer but have been in rain several times. No issues with bumpy roads.

The ONLY problem I had was compatability with my usb port which was solved by an aftermarket USB-serial adaptor. So for the first 3 months it was basically an expensive bike computer as I had no ability to download. It was still an invaluable training device and race pacing control.

Now that I can download my data, examine intervals, cadence vs power, training stress scores, etc etc it is truly the most awesome tool. In conjunction with Coggins book, I have increased my FTP by almost 25% in 6 months, mostly in the last three as I have been able to download rides as well as view the data with a more critical eye.

I could go on but let me put it this way, I'm having a 2nd built into my newly purchased Blackwell 100's...and I'm f'in broke.

What are you talking about? There are many pros that use use power meters. You may not see them on their race bikes due to sponsorship issues, but you will see them on their training bikes.

"And from what I gather, most pros today don't either"

ROTFLMAO

Here's your sign.

Can you name which pros are using PM's? I do a lot of races with them and I see very few on the course.

Why would having a PM conflict with sponsorship on a race bike's wheels? I would think that if they were so good, they'd simply build them into their sponsor's wheels.