What gives you the biggest benefit per dollar? Keep in mind the hassle that each of these brings, in terms of maitenence, setup, warranty, etc.
per dollar… probably the goes something like this:
- Q-rings
- Powercranks if you really really train on them
- Power meter if you really really learn how to use it
yeah, i know that there’s a tie there, Q-rings win simply by the fact that they are awesome and waaaaay cheaper. I have q-rings and an Ergomo on my tri bike…
oh, and i’ll get back to your decal order shortly, sorry just finished some advertising and am running decals here at 10pm friday night:(
I would tend to agree with Tai except for one thing. I don’t think he was taking into account the running improvement most see with PowerCranks. No other product that I know gives most users both big cycling and big running improvement. That one “little” thing adds a lot to the cost effectiveness.
No question…a Power Meter!!!
I’ve used Q-rings and saw no improvement in my bike splits.
I have no personal experience with Power Cranks, but I have friends that have.
I’ve used a Powertap for 2 seasons now. It keeps every workout very focused.
I was intereted in the results of your question as well…but now you have 3 replys and 3 different answers!! : )
Guess the answer is like most answers we see here…“It all depends…”.
There are 6 possible permutations, so, I’ll wait for all them to come up and I will stop the thread 
.
Tai - take your time I’m in no rush
As part of a collabrative thread I’d also like to get a few newbie questions (which have most likely been answered before) answered on one thread.
Power Meters -
- Which has proven to be the most accurate? What do YOU recommend?
- Considering the average Joe of triathlete (who knows basic bike mechanics like minor tweaks, tube replacement, cable tension), how hard is it to set these up? Is it something Joe will have to take into the LBS?
- Are they fragile or resilient to weather and random beatings?
Q-Rings-
A) The average Joe triathlete will own 1 training/racing bike or a training bike and a racing bike. If Joe owned 2 bikes, would you recommend getting Q-rings on both?
B) Again, is setup difficult? Will the LBS even know what they are doing when they install them (assume they’ve never dealt with them before)?
C) The most common problem seems to be of the chain falling off. How often does this occur and is it a pain in the *** to be conscious of this all the time?
Powercranks-
i) Again, Joe only has 1 or 2 bikes. Would you recommend him putting it on his 1 bike? That would mean he rides Powercranks all the time, or would have to switch every time for a race or whenever he felt like riding a normal bike.
ii) What if he had 2, would you recommend him putting it on his training bike, then whenever he wanted to go riding on a normal bike use his racing bike?
iii) Is changing from Powercranks to regular cranks on a bike a pain in the *** or is it a quick change for Joe?
Thanks for wading through that crap 
Q-Rings-
A) The average Joe triathlete will own 1 training/racing bike or a training bike and a racing bike. If Joe owned 2 bikes, would you recommend getting Q-rings on both?
B) Again, is setup difficult? Will the LBS even know what they are doing when they install them (assume they’ve never dealt with them before)?
C) The most common problem seems to be of the chain falling off. How often does this occur
yeh and 7 days til imcda…falls off every 150miles…should i take em off for imcda???
Powercranks-
i) Again, Joe only has 1 or 2 bikes. Would you recommend him putting it on his 1 bike? That would mean he rides Powercranks all the time, or would have to switch every time for a race or whenever he felt like riding a normal bike.
ii) What if he had 2, would you recommend him putting it on his training bike, then whenever he wanted to go riding on a normal bike use his racing bike?
iii) Is changing from Powercranks to regular cranks on a bike a pain in the *** or is it a quick change for Joe?
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We recommend that Joe, or anyone, ride them as much as possible. All the time is the best choice for the most benefit. Switching to regular cranks occasionally for a race is acceptable practice.
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If he has two bikes, we recommend he put them on the bike he rides the most.
-
Changing back and forth under the worst circumstances usually takes less than an hour. Most of that time is changing the pedals and chain rings. If one has separate chain rings and pedals on the two sets of cranks the change should take less than 5 minutes. If one has lock-up PowerCranks, going back and forth between “regular” cranks and PowerCranks will take less than a minute.
Remember, everything Frank says is totally biased.
Right or wrong, he is in no way impartial.
Installing the Qrings is not that much harder then installing a normal set of chainrings. You will need to move the FD up though and I also had to turn my in just a hair. I am by no means an expert mechanic and it was very simple to do.
I have around 1000 miles on them and I have never dropped my chain.
Running more and it’s free.
Running more and it’s free.
It is not “free” if you count your time as being worth something (most people do). And, exactly how “effective” is it? Might be very effective if you are a beginner. Might be pretty ineffective if you are already at 100 miles per week and aiming for the Olympics.
Running more is USUALLY a great suggestion, I think.
I own q-rings. Simply because I needed to replace worn chainrings.
Haven’t worn out a set of chainrings yet?
Then you haven’t ridden enough… stop spending money and get your ass in the saddle.
I really love my Powercranks. I figured I could always send them back within the first 3months of trial use but didn’t. It’s actually that policy that made me order them as I figured I didn’t have anything to lose.
I know many don’t agree with me on this one, but if I had the choice between a Powermeter and a Computrainer I’d would choose the latter because I love going hard on the Computrainer courses and it changes things up. I also like to do intervals on multiple short course loops. And you quickly learn how power can spike on hills. Having power during a race is nice and analyzing it afterward is fun and helpful, but ultimately I believe you know your body well enough to pace accordingly during a race. At least you should. I’m a strong believer of listening to my body and during racing I barely look at my PM because I don’t want to limit myself by it. Of course it’s nice to see the numbers, especially on hills, but I can easily do without.
Don’t have any experience with Q-rings but I did ride Rotorcranks for a while on my race bike before switching them from my road to Tri bike so that I could start racing on them. From what I hear many people like them.
But I favor PC over CT because it also helps my run. Let’s not argue about that one, simply my opinion.
I don’t see how anything said by Frank in this thread is “fuzzy”
First he said that PCs have a running benefit not considered by the first response, then he described the different circumstances of installation/uninstallation of PCs.
Just because you disagree with him, isn’t cause for discounting something he says out of hand.
Tai - take your time I’m in no rush
As part of a collabrative thread I’d also like to get a few newbie questions (which have most likely been answered before) answered on one thread.
Power Meters -
- Which has proven to be the most accurate? What do YOU recommend?
- Considering the average Joe of triathlete (who knows basic bike mechanics like minor tweaks, tube replacement, cable tension), how hard is it to set these up? Is it something Joe will have to take into the LBS?
- Are they fragile or resilient to weather and random beatings?
Q-Rings-
A) The average Joe triathlete will own 1 training/racing bike or a training bike and a racing bike. If Joe owned 2 bikes, would you recommend getting Q-rings on both?
B) Again, is setup difficult? Will the LBS even know what they are doing when they install them (assume they’ve never dealt with them before)?
C) The most common problem seems to be of the chain falling off. How often does this occur and is it a pain in the *** to be conscious of this all the time?
Powercranks-
i) Again, Joe only has 1 or 2 bikes. Would you recommend him putting it on his 1 bike? That would mean he rides Powercranks all the time, or would have to switch every time for a race or whenever he felt like riding a normal bike.
ii) What if he had 2, would you recommend him putting it on his training bike, then whenever he wanted to go riding on a normal bike use his racing bike?
iii) Is changing from Powercranks to regular cranks on a bike a pain in the *** or is it a quick change for Joe?
Thanks for wading through that crap
I have no experience with Q-rings or PCs, but my opinion is that if they gave
improvements as claimed then they would be used by nearly every pro cyclist/triathlete.
I have a powertap. There is no maintenance other than changing the batteries every
1000 miles or so. I have had to send mine back once in 5 months, and got it back in
10 days. Simply putting it on the bike will not make you faster. However, it has significantly
changed the way I train, which has resulted in me getting a lot faster with the same training
hours. I just did a HIM for the second year in a row (Mooseman, which is relatively hilly) and my
bike split went form 2:42 to 2:31. YRMV.
None of these devices, even assuming that they work as claimed will deliver performance increases that can match those that will come from a well-planned and executed training plan.
BTW, you forgot arch-cleats.