Another desperate go at it (after a failed attempt at gaining exposure through malevolent misuse of a bikini-tainted title ;-))
What I have:One training bike + One race bike.
What I am: mainly a roadie.
What I believe: Powercranks + Rotorcrank may be the killer combination to maximize one’s use of training time and gain race-day bike speed.
What I should be able to do with some luck: convince my wife that I need and should buy either PCs or RCs this year. (I will not be able to by both RCs and PCs this year, that is for sure)
My question: what would be in your view the best option, considering I reckon I’ll buy both PCs and RCs within the next two or three years: shall I first put PCs on my training bike or rather put RCs on my race bike?
I want to make the best out of my limited training time and lifespan, and do not want my wife to file for divorce.
Last year I posted a hypothetical question along the same lines. If I had $1000 or so dollars to spend on gear (hypothetically, I’m a broke SOB) which would benefit me more, PC, RC, or a Computrainer. the over whelming answer was the computrainer with new race wheels a close second and that wasn’t even on the list. I think both PCs and RCs have a lot to offer but the best advice ever has to be one of the STers signature tags “ride lots” Eddy Merck.
Hey Frenchie, are you the one who trains only 1 hour a day in the mornings? If so, defintely go with the powercranks. Then that hour is going to help both your cycling and your running. Then next year get rotors and race the hell out of your new legs!
See my post from a couple of weeks ago titles “My 3-month PC test…”
I read your thread and its very interesting. My running is not a great concern, for my only races will be roadbike races. Would you still advice PCs first RCs newt year with a view to improving bike speed alone?
Yeah, I might need to agree with Jim on this one. I have yet to use RCs (they are in the mail), but I think the real benefit of PCs are to use them a ton over the offseason (as I did). My plan now is to use the RCs on all the races and key workouts, and ride the PCs for recovery rides to keep the motion in my head. RCs will definitely give you quicker results; long-term, I don’t know. I really think that the PCs have had a huge impact on my run; not just speed, but also style and ease.
Everyone thinks that Rotor Cranks are the Gods gift to cycling, if you can’t train. That is not true. I’ve beaten many people that are using RC’s before I bought mine. You still must train. You can’t rely soley on the RC’s to go fast. Its the body not the bike that goes fast. I think the RC’s made me much faster since they fit my riding style and natural pedal motion, not because I don’t train, I train alot on the bike. They helped my run alot as long as I don’t go too fast on the bike, keep the HR in check and my cadence to a more natural slower pace. I bike faster this way and can still run faster then last year.
IMO - RC’s don’t MAKE you faster, they either fit your style or not. If they do - you win…but you still must train on them. I love mine and have set a 3 PR’s this season already after only 3 races using the RC’s…and thats tough to do after turning 50 last week. BTW - I threw the AARP application in the trash!!! : )
I am curious about the “they either fit your style or not” part: what do you mean? Do you consider yourself a spinner or a masher?
As for me, well, i don’t know, i ride between 80 and 100 rpm on the flats, 70/90 on the climbs, and the more i get tired, the more i tend to be a masher…
PC’s are a several year project. You will see benefit right away (first several months or year, not first week) but improved performance will keep coming for years. RC’s are a get benefit right now but there is no further benefit that comes from the product (sort of like aero wheels).
If you are in these sports for the long haul and have long term goals I suggest you get the PC’s first as you can get the RC benefits anytime. Delaying the PC purchase simply delays the PC benefits and getting them next year simply means you are a year behind the PC learning/improvement curve. If your main need is to improve your time in a race coming up the end of April, RC’s would be the best choice.
Oh, and the running benefits seem greater to most users simply because they seem to come faster. The cycling benefits are just as huge for most, just take longer to attain.
For years (15) I’ve worked on my pedaling technique, doing one leg drills, etc. I tried to train and race at 95 to 105 cadence. I figured thats where I was most comfortable and therefore the fastest. Since I purchased RC’s I’ve found the I have a lower HR at a slightly slower cadence, yet I’m going faster. At this point I have to be very careful not to max my HR by going too much faster. I need to watch my HR when using the RC’s or I’ll actually end up killing my run. I’m still experimenting with cadence, HR v speed. I found last week, at our weekly duathlon, that I slowed my cadence, kept my HR 8-10 beats lower, lost only 10 secs in 6 miles BUT ran 1:40 faster over 1.5 miles. I’ll be trying to duplicate this same result in the coming weeks.
I’m tall, 6-3 and weigh in at 172. I have very long (37" inseam) legs. I run with a very long, slow gait. Therefore…I think…the rotor cranks are a better match for my running and biking style. Slightly slower bike cadence then normal, which relates to slow cadence in the run. There’s not a huge difference in my RC cadence and my running cadence like there was before, its helping me bike and run faster.
I’m not a spinner but not a huge masher either. I’m kind of in the middle, yet slightly slower then I was before…I may be about 85-90 when I’m careful not to get into the old habit of 95-105. I have a very good pedal stroke already and work on it weekly during training.
Hi cf, I can’t guarantee your wife will not file for divorce, however I can take a shot at explaining the differences between the systems, as I see it.
How Rotor Cranks work - and the benefits:
Rotor Cranks work by increasing the force required on the drive side crankarm which propels the non-drive crank are past the 12 o’clock point … also known as the dead spot/point. This happens 180 times a minute in a 90RPM ride. Or about 10,000 times an hour. The cyclist is now “permanently pushing” the cranks as there is no gap between when the legs take over push/recover duties, otherwise known as the dead spot/point. This elimination of the dead spot/point reduces the accumulation of lactate in the blood by 13-15%, and allows the rider to raise their level of wattage output before reaching lactate threshold. For many riders the increase in speed speed is in the amount of 2-3 minutes per 40k. Rotor Cranks also reduce cardiac effort (for the same level of effort with traditional cranks), and improve the health of a cyclists knees.
How Powercranks work - and the benefits:
PowerCranks teach your neurologic system to unconsciously “pedal in circles.” By pedaling in circles, more of the energy you are now expending actually gets to the wheel. For the same overall effort, the more efficiently you pedal, the faster you go. So the cyclist gets more efficient use of the muscles he/she has already trained and, as noted above, the ability to incorporate new muscle mass into the now unused portions of the pedal stroke. Powercranks are based on “pulling” up on the pedal stroke using the weaker hip flexor muscles. Unlike normal cranks, each crank arm spins independently of one another.
Difference between Rotor Cranks and Powercranks:
Rotor Cranks eliminate the dead spot, allowing for “permanent push” to the pedals, making legs efficient at what they do best: pushing. This allows for lowered lactate levels and increased wattage at LT, which translates directly to the 2-3 minute per 40k speed increase. They are scientifically proven to reduce lactate levels, reduce cardiac effort, and improve the health of a cyclists knees by eliminating the dead spot.
Powercranks gives you an immediate feedback system as to when you start to pedal improperly so you can retrain your neurological system to fire your muscles in a different coordination changing the pedaling dynamic to improve pedaling efficiency. They are great for developing a smooth and efficient spin and are a much better alternative than one-leg pedaling drills. They improve the strength of hip flexor muscles which benefit running and “lifting the leg”.
I can only speak from a PowerCranks point of view. If you want a long term project that is going to keep kicking your butt for years to come then buy powercranks and ride them 99 percent of the time.
I was a bike racer long before I did triathlon and I think there is a great benefit to developing the extra muscle mass from being able to pull up all the time with PCs. The easiest way to describe it is that you will have a “turbo boost” when you need it. Let me describe it this way. When you switch from PCs to regular cranks you will immediately slip back into your old pedaling pattern. Which is not necessarily bad as you are cruising along in the pack. However, when you come up to a climb or sprint and you begin to think about pulling up then suddenly you power will jump off the chart and you will be flying. This would be particularly useful for breaking away or bridging a gap. Once you are back in the train then you revert back to normal pedaling. You can’t help it really, since you can’t spend all your time in a race concentrating on pulling and pushing at the same time. However, when you need it, the extra power is there.
I’m not just guessing here. I have been riding with a power meter for more than a year and when I switch back to regular cranks, I experience the above accelerations all the time. I would never race PCs in a road race because you could pop a clutch or have slippage issues, but I would certainly train on them 100 percent. Since you have two bikes this works out fine.
Chad
P.S. I envy you riding in France. I was going to make my third trip there this summer, with my wife, but found out I get an all expenses paid trip to Iraq instead. I may get a chance to start over from scratch with PCs and see what happens.
Let me confuse things a bit…I really appreciate your breakdown of how RCs and PCs work, the differences etc…I have been using PCs for a few years now and appreciating the benefits. I occasionally look down and have noticed that my natural sequence of pedal revolutions using the PCs closely mimics the fixed RC positions…ie the natural tendency on the PCs is to very slightly bring the pedal around quicker than the power part of the stroke. Does this make sense?. Does this mean anything?.I think when I use my regular cranks that, because of the PCs I am doing a better job of pushing through the 12 o’clock position, at the same time that I am pulling up. The resulting big gear power seems noticable.
Thank you guys for all your answers. And apologies for responding a bit late, but I live, (and sleep ;-)) on the other side of the pond.
I think I will go first for PCs, for the following reason: I train alone every day between 5:30 and 6:30/7:00, but every WE I need to spend some time with my significant other. She does not train regularly, and enjoys easy rides in the French Hilly countryside near Lyon, France.
This means that we climb at say 10km/h what I usally climb at 20+km/h (sorry, too lazy to make the miles/km convertion): if I install PCs on my training bike, from what I read, I’ll be happy hanging to my wife’s wheel at 10km/h, which should prove a nice workout. What do you think?
Of course, when she realizes how happy a man I am with the PCs, I might try and put RCs on my race bike next year…
And Chad, best wishes and take care of you in Iraq, God bless.
