Strange, but I think it’s true! I’ve been riding PCs since December almost exclusively. My average weekly mileage isn’t real high (around 100). I usually do a 50-60 mile ride on rolling hills, a spinervals video, and then a 20-30 mile group ride. I didn’t have much trouble adapting to the cranks, but I never felt any real benfits either. My hip flexers are larger (i can see them in the mirror). My running has improved incrementally, but I think that’s probably due to my higher weekly mileage rather than the cranks.
I’ve done three races so far this year - 1 duathlon, 1 sprint tri, and 1 10 mile time trial. In all three races (which were all moderately hilly) I had severe lower quad fatigue which definitely limited my bike speed. My time trial bike is set up in the exact same position (77 degrees) as my PC ‘daily rider’. My time trial split is somewhat (30 sec) slower than last season on the same course. My fitness is better than last year at this time. Last season I finished top - 5 in local (North Carolina Tri series) races with bike speed around 25mph. So, what I’m thinking is that the PCs really haven’t worked my quads in the same way as regular cranks. I think I’m going to include a weekly hill workout on the regular bike…
Aaron, When you say your lower quads…do you mean right above your knee…specifically on the inside? That’s the vastus medialis, and it is usually the last quad to fully develop strength/fitness (it’s also the first one to lose it!). It does sound like you need to hit the hills or simply ride harder. If you adapted so well to PC’s, it doesn’t make sense that your quads would lose strength/fitness. It’s those people that DON’T adapt well to PC’s that would have to watch for this problem because they don’t push through to get the miles in that they used to do.
Unless you are so well-adapted to PC’s that your hip flexors are actually taking over some of work your quads used to do, this doesn’t make sense. If your hip flexors are doing that much more work, you must ride faster in training than you used to. Your quads could be getting too much of a break. On your group rides, you need to be out front pulling the entire ride…no drafting. On your solo rides, you need to push on to be riding at a faster average speed than last year. Stress the quads like you used to do, and they’ll respond.
100 miles a week isn’t very much and it is hard to imagine seeing much improvement in a 50-60 mile training ride in 3 months on that mileage.
Further, you haven’t said much about what you meant my “adapting easily”. What cadence can you ride the PowerCranks at for 2 hours? What cadence do you ride your regular cranks at? Can you ride the PowerCranks in the aero position easily? What position do you ride your regular bike in?
My guess is you just don’t have enough time on them to see cycling improvement. You probably do have enough time to see some running improvement, which you have reported.
I started uses powercranks on 2/25, so I have been using them for a month. My longest trainer ride is 50 minutes and my longest outdoor ride is 2 hours (A very sad day). The last hour of the ride was into the wind and it just about killed me. The past couple of rides though, I think I am starting to see better results. One thing I am able to do now that I wasn’t in the beginning is focus more on my down stroke. I have notice that by doing this, I am able to go much faster than before. Prior to this, most of my focus was spent just trying to pull up. I am wondering if maybe your putting too much emphasis on the upstroke and not enough on the down stroke.
I have made a commitment to just use powercranks for 3 months and see how things go. This has caused a few problems with friends since I cannot go as far right now and thus cannot ride with them. Most of my training buddies are doing 3-4 hour rides and I can only do about 1 1/2 right now without killing myself.
In two weeks roadie rides start up. Last year I road with the AAs, but I figure at this point I probably will have to ride with either the B or C groups.
As far as running goes, I feel that my legs don’t get as tired on the long runs. I popped off a 2 hour run last weekend and my legs felt great.
Frank, I do have to agree that the quads do lose some fitness on the “push down phase”. After pretty well exclusive use of PC’s for a year, I have to say that the odd time that I did go back to using regular cranks, I experienced this lower quad fatigue a bit earlier than I normally would have in the past and I had difficulty running up hills off the bike, because my push off was with quads that were more trashed.
I know what you are going to say. It is because I was riding at a higher cadence with conventional cranks than with PC’s and going back to “conventional pedalling” pushing more with the quads (and lifting the recovery leg with the push) that my body was not used to anymore. To alleviate this problem this year, I am doing two things:
Ride with PC’s at regular crank RPM (i.e 95-105 RPM) so that when I go to regular cranks, there is no change
Spend 2 weeks per month on regular cranks now that I have 100% adapted to PC riding (or so I think).
Ideally, I would have two bikes and spend 50% time each week on conventional and 50% on PC bike, but unless Tibbs sends me a rig from Team Second Hand Racing, I got what I got
I’ve been thinking about trying PCs for awhile now with the price the only hold up. Now that I know that 100 miles a week isn’t very much, I realize that there is NO reason for me to go this route.
It’s all relative. 100 miles a week is not very high mileage, for someone averaging about 25 mph in a Triathlon, like Aaron, and still run a high-teens 5k afterward.
For someone like me, that can average just over 25mph in a stand-alone flat TT, 100 miles a week is a decent distance. I think my best triathlon bike split last year was in the mid 22’s. If you are more like me than Aaron, maybe your internal arguement isn’t quite as settled as you think. Then again, if you are like Aaron, someone that is in that top tier of racers, you may be looking for that little advantage that can put you that two or three better slots in the results.
I average well under 100 miles per week, longest rides on PC’s usually no more than 25-30 miles, although I’ve done about 3 that are longer…maximum was only 64 miles. I do ride regular cranks once every two weeks, just to keep my race bike handling skills up to a minimally acceptable level. Other than that, I’m all PC’ing.
I think the best cyclists/runners out there, and I consider Aaron to be in that group, probably have smaller gains, because they already have a decently efficient pedal stroke. Aaron did report a faster run split…that’s hard to do when you’re already in the speed category that he is in. He says he thinks it’s because he is in better shape…why is he in better shape? Do his PC riding benefits come into play there? Hard to tell.
Don’t make a decision based on one individual’s “feelings”. Instead, go by the vast majority of individual’s collective results. Ultimately, you have to evaluate them for yourself. That’s the beauty of the 60 day guarantee.
Thanks for the reply - I probably shouldn’t have used the term ‘adapting’ or ‘easily’ in the same sentence. I can ride the PCs for extended periods of time in the road position (but only about 5 min in the TT before I have to sit up). I cannot ride the PCs with the same intensity as my regular cranks. Also my cadence is in the 80s on PCs while it’s in the 90s on my regular bike. I am not going to alter my PC routine dramatically, I just want to mention that it seems that my quads have gotten weaker since I’ve started using them. My quads have always been my limiter, I plan to start doing more leg extensions/hill climbing workouts.
Human legs were built to be “under load” when extending. Leg extensions remove that normal load, and can put some “un-natural” stress on the ligaments, and that can hurt them, as well as make slight tracking changes that can damage the cartilage, too. Instead of leg extensions, how about one-legged squats, or lunges? You need to watch your position as you do these, but, they are motions that your knee joint was designed to perform, unlike leg extensions.
Leg extensions have their place…in rehab. You aren’t in rehab…you’re kicking most people’s tail right now. (Yes, I’ve seen you competing, although I’m sure you don’t know me.) This feeling of weakening vastus medialis goes away…it will go away quicker if you stress it more.
I agree with yacquicarbo (that’s a hard name to type let alone, say)
Aaron, have you read the strength article on here? Addresses the strength issues you have and the exercises to do and the ones to avoid, leg extensions being one.
Your post raises some interesting points not only about powercranks, but also about training in general. I have been using powercranks for about six months now. I now average about 10-12 hours a week training on the bike ( I am only cycling right now) and as racing season is starting, about half the mileage is on pc and half on my road bike. For the first three months, I did only pc’s and saw my time on the bike, cadance, quad strenght drop off significantly. Then, as my hip flexors gained strength, and as I started doing one hard group ride a week on my regular cranks, I found my time on the bike, cadance, and quad strength coming back. I am focusing on peak road racing condition in about four months, so I feel that I am right on schedule. What I can suggest to you is to stay the course. Also, after more than 43 years of regular athletic training ( I am now 59 years old) I strongly believe that the best training approach is a combination of methods. For more than 30 years I was a competitive runner. I survived the Jim Ryan years (ie nothing but track intervals), the Bob Dynes years ( is the LSD years) and finally started thinking for myself. That meant a combination of slow distance, intervals, fartlek, pool running etc… Now in cycling, I am training with the pc’s, my regular bike, slow steady rides, trainer intervals, group rides, and now races. Again, my advise to you would be to stay the course, think for your self, and figure out how to train all of you leg muscles and energy systems, over time…good luck…Bern
Until you can ride the PC’s with the same intensity as you do regular cranks it is premature to think they are “slowing you down”. You just haven’t adapted yet. Keep it up and it will happen.
NO, higher mileage isn’t required, only what you have been doing. However, if one isn’t doing high mileage one can’t expect to see benefit come as quickly, especially for longer rides.
