I ws gone for a few days and am now back on the Computrainer and the Powercranks. After being on the Powercrankis pretty consistently for 3 weeks they feel like regular cranks. The transformation has been noteworthy. At first (about two months ago for truly regular use)it was extremely difficult to use these. I could barely go three minutes. Now I’m riding an hour at an average cadence of 84 rpm (tonight). My speed is where it was before the Powercrank switch but my running is awesome right now. It is like doing an hour on the PCs is also like doing a one hour run… Interesting. I haven’t been on regular cranks in a while but will be soon as I am getting some new bikes and will be riding them for reviews, etc. I continue to be impressed with Powercranks as a training tool. Yes, we are a Powercrank dealer and I do recommend them. If I didn’t think they worked, I’d just try sell people something else instead…
Tom,
If you can ride an hour at a cadence of 84 (you didn’t say anything about effort or HR but I assume it feels pretty normal effort) you should be able to just put the bike in a couple of smaller cogs and see the speed increase without much difficulty. How about it?
Frank
My average heart rate tonight was 170 bpm. A little harder than I wanted but I was racing Calvin (a fast 16 year old kid)on the computrainer and wound up going a bit harder than I wanted. I’ll try your suggestion. I can tell you there has been some impressive new muscular development in my legs. When I was skiing over the weekend I was very strong. My legs feel super good.
Tom,
What was your average cadence pre power cranks and what in particular are you experiencing in your running?
Good questions: My average cadences on 13 rides (regular cranks)(computrainer) where I was trying for a “best” performance was 88 rpm. I have never been a super high cadence rider. I have done (pre-powercrank) cadence specific workouts where I maintain as high as 109 rpms for up to 42 minutes on the computrainer. In running I have been able to do longer miles with NO muscle soreness. That is incredible for me. I go out the door, run and hour, and the next day… nothing. Awesome. I had a lot of excessive muscular soreness following running over the past eight weeks. That’s gone now. I am a little bit faster running. It is pretty easy to go 7:30 for a while. I would say that pace is slightly high of moderate for me right now. I hope that answers your questions. I feel the results have been pretty interesting and substantial- somewhat similar to weight training.
My wife commented on the appearance change in my legs yesterday…specifically; my hamstrings are larger. My anterior tibialis is larger too, but she didn’t notice those.
I’ve had the flu this week, but the first workout I’m going to do (hopefully today) will be on the Powercranks. I’m somewhat disappointed that they didn’t prevent me from getting the flu, otherwise, I love what they are doing for me. Running is my biggest improvement so far. I think my cycling will be faster, but I don’t know to what extent. Time will tell. I’ll take the run improvement as payment in full for the price, but I expect I’ll have much more improvement…I’ve only had them two months.
on a related note - PC’s have caused me to rethink going out and “riding easy” or “spinnining it out” when sick or coming of the flu or something. contrary to the commonly held view that PC’s are a shortcut or toy, riding them when mildly sick drives the point home very clearly that they are neither. there is no such thing as an easy spin on PC’s - they will kick your sick a$$ up and down the road and twice on sunday. no more bundled up rides for me when ill - the PC’s have sorta convinced me that they were not helping one bit - i stay at home and go to bed.
thanx for the updates, tom.
I am curious if you guys have altered your running workouts since you’ve been on the PC’s and if so, how?
Also, how long did it take before you noticed improvements in your running?
Okay, I’m a sucker, new to the sport, not familiar with all of the technologies…confused as HELL by the PC Web site (too busy)…what I want to know is:
What are Power Cranks
How do they work? Benefits? Etc.
Matt
I coach a number of IM athletes around the country and many of them including myself are on the PC’s. I can not say enough about them and what they provide to anyone that uses them in terms of bio-mechanical development. Yes they are difficult to ride early on because you have to train yourself to apply power on the pedals all the way around the pedal stroke. Remember with endurance sports we are training the muscle for the movement. This critical factor is why PC’s are key to really re-learning how to pedal a bicycle.
Steve Fluet
Head Coach- ESTS/Associate Coach-Mark Allen coaching
USTS Level 2 Expert Coach/Ironmanlive- Tri Tips
Sorry the web site is too cluttered but, unfortunately, PC’s are “impossible” to explain which accounts for some of the clutter - a feeble attempt to try. I think there are two best ways to understand what they really are; 1. downlaod one of the videos on the web site that shows them in action or 2. the best way, ride on a pair either at a bike shop that carries them, a friends pair, or at an expo. PowerCranks will be a sponsor of the Timex Multi-sports team and the ProCycling Tour this year and will be at a large number of expos where people can try them.
Maybe someone on this list who has a pair near you will volunteer to let you come by and see them.
Expected benefits are also on the web site but I will let others talk about the benefits they have experienced so it is not so much me “hyping” my own product.
Frank
asd99, I have no idea what others are doing with their running, but I can tell you what I did with mine. I cut back. In the meantime, I got faster on the run. Faster in shorter distances, longer distances, uphill, downhill, and, oh yes, on the flats. I don’t know if I am faster at altitude though 
In training for my first half marathon, I rode PC’s for a month and ran only a couple of 8 mile runs. I ran a 1:38:40 in weather in the teens. I should have run faster, but I talked to fellow runners too much from mile 7-10 and went too slow then…I was afraid I’d hit the wall because I haven’t run much long distance work prior to this race. I just couldn’t make up the time lost for running a few miles in the 8:30-8:45/mile range. I’ve only run one other half in my life, and that was 15 years ago…i.e., I’m not a long distance runner. I’ll run some 10k’s, but that’s about it. The neat thing was, my last few miles were all just barely above 7:00/mile pace. Knee-lift was very much the reason for the speed…my calves were tight, as was my right hamstring…but knee-lift will get you speed when nothing else will. I attribute this to PC riding…for only a month!
I ran a 5 k in just under 21 minutes the week I got PC’s. That’s about as good as I usually do. Not bad for the winter. My few training 5k runs now put me at just over 21 minutes…that’s just TRAINING speed, not racing speed. I usually would run these training runs at about 23 minutes.
I’ve cut my running mileage to maximize my time on PC’s, I know I’ll have to “harden” my running muscles in my calves in order to keep from injuring them, but, I’m also not beating up my legs by having to run a lot. I’m not sure what the ideal mix will be, but I’m supposing that it will be to make sure I get one long run in each week, maybe one running speed workout, and that’s it. The rest of the time on PC’s.
There are many others (Francois, for example) that probably have this figured out much better than I do. But, that’s what I’ve been planning on doing. And it didn’t take long at all to see running benefits. PS, I’m 45. Youngsters may see faster improvements, I don’t know!
I’m sold on the concept of PCs. Heard varying reports on the weight from 2-4 pounds. Please confirm.
It would be difficult to race on something that heavy if your a weight freak like me.
Cheers.
Hmmm, I don’t know the weight: They’re heavier than most other conventional cranks. They seem to have to be, there is more “stuff” there (the clutches, etc.). I know Frank will disagree with me, and I will conceed that my opinion may be changing, but I see their primary benefit as a training device that does make you faster cycling and running. I would consider racing on them, but at this time would more likely use my standard cranks. I have been riding Powercranks exclusively for several weeks now and seen some interesting and significant improvements. I feel they really help.
Tom,
Thanks for the report. Question (for you, Ktalon and other new pc’rs). Are you riding in the aero position? I am working on transitioning to this, but am having a very tough time doing it (as Frank said I would). Just wondering what others are experiencing on this. Race season is approaching, and most of my races are flat, fast and windy, so aero positioning is very desirable.
They weigh a little more than 3 pounds, but they point out the fallacy of worrying too much about weight. Speed promarily comes from the engine, not lower weight. Anyone can shoose to race on regular cranks and that was how they were designed but people are starting to race on them because they keep the power up the entire race, they won’t let you revert to old pedaling style when you start to get tired.
When people see the race results of those who choose to race on them I suspect more and more will choose to race on them.
Frank
Can anybody state unequivocally that they make more power (SRM, Powertap) or go faster (time trial) now that they’ve trained on PCs for a while? Don’t get me wrong, the anecdotal reports are interesting, but it sure would be nice to have some objective data.
- endurance
- cadence
- position
but it is a big guess. Other ways seem to work fine also.
Frank
Frank,
I decided to work on position before cadence (although still doing some spin up drills–not ignoring cadence). My thinking is that if you have to race in the wind, you pay too much of a penalty due to wind resistance if you don’t get aero. Cadence improvement, on the other hand, seems be more of a long term goal. If new pc users are already noiticing improved ability to run off the bike, even while pedaling big gears at low cadence (as I certainly am), I don’t see the rush to increase cadence. What is the rationale for working on cadence before position?
Simply because i think it is a better workout if you are doing 5400 repetitions per hour over 4000 reps per hour. The better the muscles are brought up to shape I think the “easier” it is to get into aero position.
i wasn’t thinking about getting “race ready in headwind conditions” ASAP. Thinking more about the best “training” environment and most rapid power improvement. Power isn’t everything and your approach makes sense also.
Frank