I have seen several posts concerning powercranks and while I understand them in general I could use a more indepth explanation. I would prefer to get this from a user of the product and not the manufacturer. They sound like a great training tool and I would apprreciate several opinions.
Jim S.
Jim,
Powercranks allow you to independently turn each crank. This forces other muscles, namely your hip flexors to be more engaged, which is a good thing. When I am using them I feel the pain (Good) in the upper part of my thigh and in the upper part of my hamstring.
The Good
Powercranks really work muscles not used to being worked for most people. Given time these muscles should help you become a faster cyclist/runner (Not sure yet since I have only used them 4 times). The theory though sounds good.
The Bad
You have to stick with the Powercranks for your cycling so as to develop good form. In the beginning this means that your cycling is going to be limited, since you will not be able to stand the pain delivered by the Powercranks. 
Your just not going to be able to ride as long as you normally could. I guess this isn’t a bad thing, but it is a change.
Thanks for the reply, the turning independently part was what I didn’t get. Are they hard to install or swap out to switch to regular cranks for racing?
Pretty much like a regular crank. There are some minor deviations, but still very easy.
I’ve found that my hammies get worked even more than the HF. Keeping the cranks in “rhythm” i.e. on opposides of the chainring is a tough trick at first. I’ve found that even after only using them for a short while, I can pedal much better circles on my regular cranks.
Do you recommend using them on the trainer first?
I did/would. Took me about 3 sessions of about 30 minutes each (broken down into 3-5 minute bursts) to get to the point where I would feel comfy on the road. Check with Frank Day (owner), he’ll give you an honest overview of the adaptation process.
If you are one of the people that think pedalling in circles is a good idea, and especially if you think one-legged pedalling drills are a good idea, there is simply NOTHING better to use than PowerCranks.
You have to pick up the rising leg (and everything to which it is attached) on EVERY pedal stroke…true for both legs if you have two legs…before you can push down. It trains your hip flexors and hamstrings to fire sufficiently and at the correct time in order to do this manuever. Once you have adapted to the basic motion, it’s time to learn to pedal when standing! You will be amazed at how pitiful your previous standing pedal stroke was…even more amazed at how pitiful you found out your seated pedal stroke was! You will really move up hills more quickly without the counter-pushing wasting forces that PC’s dis-allow.
If you’ve had knee pain pushing big gears in the past, take the initial adaptation phase easy, but, be prepared NOT to have knee pain. PC’s erased my knee pain problems that I had when time-trialling in bigger gears.
If you really feel like you cannot keep your mileage up when first getting on PC’s, I don’t know what to tell you to alleviate your fears, except, it didn’t bother my speed at all. It didn’t help my biking speed for a couple of months, then the gradual speed increase continued for the rest of the season. However, it helped my running speed almost immediately…especially my running speed when coming off the bike.
Usually, I rode 5-7 ten mile time trials on a club course per year. Last year, I was only able to ride the course once (after being on PC’s for 7 months) and set a PR by over 1 mph average speed (if I’m remembering correctly…don’t have my training log at my side).
I’m hooked on them because of the results I had. After years of declining run speeds, I now can run a 5K faster during a triathlon than I used to run a stand-alone 5K. I run training 5K’s at the speeds I used to run in a 5K race.
I asked Sonni Dyer, of Tri-My Coach, last May how his athletes that were training on PC’s were adapting. At that time, I believe he said he had 32 or 33 athletes on PC’s, and EVERY ONE of them set PRs on their runs within a few months of PC training. He had 170 athletes at the time…the other 138 athletes weren’t setting PR’s like that! Same coach; same basic workouts. Different results depending upon who had PowerCrank training.
It isn’t a fad or a ploy or a hoax. Even if it were, you have 60 days to make up your own mind, or get your money back. I’ll bet you won’t send them back if you train on them.
see my message in thread “I did a bad thing-powercrank related” reply #13…BBB
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