I need help w/ a super tough upgrade choice.

Triathlon Forum
1

I am a collegiate cyclist who is about to start his racing season (UF crit in 8 days), and I also work at a bike shop. I am a category 4 racer, who hopes to move up to a three by the end of spring. With my tax rebate, I can afford to upgrade one thing on my bike, and i have it narrowed down to two very significant, yet seemingly opposite routes.

First, my bike is a 19.5lb Specialized tarmac. This weight is a bit inflated, as i am using a Specialized Armadillo tire in the front (the 400gram version with the red sidewall) and a Continential 4 season in the rear (240 grams). My wheels are also on the heavy side (campagnolo Khamison, 1900 grams).

My first instinct was to upgrade the wheelset. I found a very good deal on some Reynolds soloists, or some Eastons (1350 / 1290 respectively). Also, Vittoria makes a flat resistant tire that weighs in at 180 grams. If I went this route, I could save something like 750 grams, making my bike a wopping 17.7 lbs and doing it all in rotational weight.

I had pretty much chosen this route, until a slow day at work had my looking at our EP pricing on CycleOPs products. I wont go into exactly what the discount is, but with this tax refund I am now in a financial position where i can purchase the wireless PowerTap, laced to a Mavic Open pro with the heart rate strap, usb and computer.

There is no way i can afford both options, as once this season starts, i will be traveling and racing pretty much every weekend until April. I need to choose between the instant gratification of nice, light wheels and the acceleration they allow, or the benefits that come with more exact training.

I dont have a personal coach, and follow the schedule our team coach emails to us from Road Island. I now have a heart rate monitor, though I rarely do workouts that require me to stay in specific zones. I mainly use it to check on my physical status in races and longer intervals. I do however take my training very seriously, and as i am an engineering student, i am intrigued by any data I can find about my progress and status both in the short term and longterm. I would almost rather have this info and go slower, though the competitor inside of me disagrees.

really, I have no idea what i am going to end up going with, and i can use any insight i can get.

Thank you guys for the advice,

-Chris.

2

Powermeter. No question.

3

Powertap is a nice tool. Meaning it won’t make you faster. Save your money and follow your coaches training program.

4

Absolutely get the powertap. You won’t find more agreement on ST in a long time :wink: you will see the rest of the posts …

5

Powertap.

I’ve had one for just over a month now and have thought numerous times - why didn’t I get this sooner?! You won’t regret it. Also, if you are an engineering student, a new techno-gadget will likely be some instant gratification.

Make sure you at least check out the demo version of Cycling Peaks and/or Raceday as the powermeter alone is only a tool.

6

pt for sure, especialy because of how good the ep price is :wink:
.

7

Powertap

Just save some money and you can build up a beefy wheelset for yourself using the shop pricing - Open Pro to DA Hubs. Cheaper than any prebuilt wheels and bomb proof

8

Get the PT, and spend $20 on a 200g front tire (there are plenty).

9

Neither.

Seriously. Lace up a good traditional set of tubulars (Dura Ace, Record, or Tune Hubs will cost less than Chris King). Lace them to some quality lightweight box rims (32 spoke 3-cross with quality spokes… DT or Sapim). These will cost you about 1/2 the price of some pre-built wheels and will ride much more nicely. There’s a good article over at www.pezcyclingnews.com about this right now.

Further, Power requires a REAL COMMITMENT to testing/tracking and a deep understanding of what you are looking at (just chasing power numbers won’t do a thing that you can’t accomplish with a watch and a hill). Can you learn this? Of course. Should this be your focus as a Cat. 4? I don’t believe it’s the best ROI.

I’d buy the handbuilt wheels (or better yet, learn to lace your own wheels) and then use the money saved to RACE MORE FREQUENTLY. Seriously. As a CAT 4, the BEST thing you can do as a BIKE RACER is race frequently as it will help you understand/internalize positioning and tactics. 15-20 additional races will make a bigger impact on your road/crit development than a power meter for the next season.

Leave the Power Meter stuff for those doing real focused steady-state effort events and top-tier (Cat 2 and above) riders.

Just the opinion of a guy who’s been racing bikes for 25 years, capped as a Cat. 2, and raced in Europe. However, feel free to follow the advice of the ST Triathlon crowd if you’d like good TT/Tri feedback for your road racing/crit development.

Feel free to hit me offline if you want my unvarnished opinion:-)

Cheers,
Puskas

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x2 with puskas. The tri crowd is the wrong group to ask for info on crit training and racing. More racing is what your tender young legs and mind needs right now. This, also, from a former 25 year USCF warrior.

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By the way, another great way to improve your road/crit racing… Get to the velodrome.

Most tracks will rent bikes. If not, you can also build a really cheap aluminum track bike (or buy a used one). NOTHING will improve your racing more than time at the velodrome. Don’t you have one within a few hours drive (Baton Rouge)?

Points races, Kilo efforts, Pursuits, Flying 200m… ALL of them will improve your racing (physically and tactically).

Cheers,
Puskas

12

youd probably get noticeably faster with just a decent set of tires.

save the powertap money for a rainy day
of which there may be many in the next few years =0

13

I recommend a new pair of wheels, like the Bontrager race lites, which you could get off EBay for about 300, probably with tires even.

14

I purchased a PowerTap SL last year, and saw the biggest increases in my cycling ever…the PT is a long term commitment to your cycling career, while wheels are only for today. Last year, I raced road, Tri’s, TT’s, CX, MTB but no crits, and all saw an improvement, and all I changed was the training with a PT.

As far as the wheels, the weight saving on your choices, may be in the hubs, and not at the rim, and so your rotational weight saving may not be fact. If you build your PT around a DT Swiss R1.1, you don’t get much lighter, and overtime you could build a matching front - you’ve already determined the tire choice. I pur

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x3 Puskas

I was once a frugal college student, working in the bike shop and racing. The key there was FRUGAL. You need to have a direct benefit for your money spent. IMO, new tires… Pro Race 2 or 3s. I’ve personally found 2s to be a bit more durable, but it’s rather moot. Judging from what you’ve written, that saves you around $600ish or so. Keep that for a rainy day. Now is the time to be frugal.

While the PT is all the rage, I think it’s rather useless for you at this point of the season on a college cycling team. While you want to train “in the zone”, you’re going to have to deal with guys who are both stronger and weaker than yourself. The “restraint” of the PT will simply bug the crap out of you on your training rides with the team. Conversly, your internals willl leave you riding solo. Using a PT is NOT a team training tool and it’s value (IMO) for your racing season is next to nothing…esp at a college race which can be brutal. Lots of very fit guys, yet many ride beyond their fitness…so it’s any guess what happens at the finish/tail end of the race.

If you’re hanging around the bike shop, you can easily pick up deals on wheels. Of course some wheels are better than others…but use this as a time to test out equipment rather than buying it. No doubt that an Open Pro/Ulegra wheel handmade is a nice crit/training set-up.

The PT isn’t going to be the factor in your upgrade this season. Hold off until you have money to burn. In the meantime, go chase after some upgrade points. IMO, you’re best off going for the points rather than the wins…if you’re looking for an upgrade.

16

Never raced except tri’s. been doing for three years. Last year got a heart rate monitor and have been using that to guage training. Plus upgraded to a nice set of wheels. FP60’s all I could afford. My average went up in a sprint and oly. like 4 1/2 - 5mph in a year with alot of focused training I might add. So I would say leave the power tap till next tax refund year . Use your HR monitor, new wheels and move up a cat. first. Time in the saddle is what you need.

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youd probably get noticeably faster with just a decent set of tires.

save the powertap money for a rainy day
of which there may be many in the next few years =0
Why do you hate America? All money must be spent or the economy wil never get better.

18

Buy the PT, then turn around and sell it for more than you paid for it. That, my friend, will net you the best ROI

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However, feel free to follow the advice of the ST Triathlon crowd if you’d like good TT/Tri feedback for your road racing/crit development.

Wow! But sarcastically, right on!

20

Bingo!

Spend some money on a decent set of wheels and tires (do not go all carbon super light, since reliability is worth a lot more than a few saved grams) and spend the rest of it for entering/going to races.

nough said…