I decided to give power cranks a tri in the outseason with the goal of increasing both run speed/ power and cycle power…been on them 7 times the past 2 weeks (all on trainer), and increased from a very humbling 15 minutes to a very challenging hour…wondering where to go from here…envisioned increasing time when possible to 90 minutes, and incorporating interval training in a similar fashion to what I do on my road or tri bike…All my riding is currently being done on a trainer…would appreciate any suggestions from those experienced with PC’s…THANKS VERY MUCH
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I’ve got my popcorn ready for this one.
keep careful logs of total training time and intensity for the 6 month period before and after starting the use of powercranks
as well as careful logs of cycling PRs before and after
that way you can carefully evaluate their value.
And….post #1.
I decided to give power cranks a tri in the outseason with the goal of increasing both run speed/ power and cycle power…been on them 7 times the past 2 weeks (all on trainer), and increased from a very humbling 15 minutes to a very challenging hour…wondering where to go from here…envisioned increasing time when possible to 90 minutes, and incorporating interval training in a similar fashion to what I do on my road or tri bike…All my riding is currently being done on a trainer…would appreciate any suggestions from those experienced with PC’s…THANKS VERY MUCH
Registered in 2007…
Patiently waited to plug PC.
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Just ride like you would for your indoor trainer rides trying to get your wattage and FTP up (if you don’t have power, just use heart rate or perceived exertion). No need to do anything differently. Keep your cadence around the same as regular riding (or gradually bring it up to that). 60-90 min is plenty on the trainer. No need to noodle around for hours on end…that is a waste of time.
For run training, work on high cadence moderate wattage and do things like 4 min or 6 min intervals to simulate run intervals.
By the way, starting threads on this forum about powercranks is technically banned. Just don’t start a thread saying you were lifting weights, with Lance and the two of you went for a powercranks ride with Hincapie, and Travis Tygart saw you guys not using blood bags.
For what it is worth, my understanding was that some of the top Belgian age groupers in Kona Sam Gyde and Stefanie Adam train a lot on them:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/The_power_of_Sam_Gyde_3995.html
Sam averaged 278W for a 4:30 Kona bike split. Stefanie went 4:49.
Dev
I’ve got my popcorn ready for this one.
This made me chuckle. We need a GIF now. On my phone so I’m too lazy!
I’ve got my popcorn ready for this one.
This made me chuckle. We a GIF now. On my phone so I’m too lazy!
Just to make sure you use up your ATT bandwidth on useless stuff:
I’ve got my popcorn ready for this one.
This made me chuckle. We a GIF now. On my phone so I’m too lazy!
Just to make sure you use up your ATT bandwidth on useless stuff:
Thanks Dev! You’re always very helpful!
Here you go.
Here you go.
http://i.imgur.com/aVZgT.gif
Can never have too many… 
thanks!
Just ride like you would for your indoor trainer rides trying to get your wattage and FTP up (if you don’t have power, just use heart rate or perceived exertion). No need to do anything differently. Keep your cadence around the same as regular riding (or gradually bring it up to that). 60-90 min is plenty on the trainer. No need to noodle around for hours on end…that is a waste of time.
For run training, work on high cadence moderate wattage and do things like 4 min or 6 min intervals to simulate run intervals.
By the way, starting threads on this forum about powercranks is technically banned. Just don’t start a thread saying you were lifting weights, with Lance and the two of you went for a powercranks ride with Hincapie, and Travis Tygart saw you guys not using blood bags.
For what it is worth, my understanding was that some of the top Belgian age groupers in Kona Sam Gyde and Stefanie Adam train a lot on them:
http://www.slowtwitch.com/Tech/The_power_of_Sam_Gyde_3995.html
Sam averaged 278W for a 4:30 Kona bike split. Stefanie went 4:49.
Dev
Sam is like a …
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CI7qw4Q57e0
If Sam is going sub 4:30 at Kona I’d say he wasn’t drafting - he was the one doing the passing and others hoped to maybe draft off him.
If Sam is going sub 4:30 at Kona I’d say he wasn’t drafting - he was the one doing the passing and others hoped to maybe draft off him.
I am saying he is a Belgium Animal strong as a horse. NOT drafting!!
I happen to know Sam and know he would NEVER EVER Draft , dope or cheat in any manner! If only he could swim though ;0)
By the way, starting threads on this forum about powercranks is technically banned. Just don’t start a thread saying you were lifting weights, with Lance and the two of you went for a powercranks ride with Hincapie, and Travis Tygart saw you guys not using blood bags.
Dev
Ok - I am relatively new around here but is the consensus that people don’t like PowerCranks? Curious as I just bought them too! Did I miss something?
By the way, starting threads on this forum about powercranks is technically banned. Just don’t start a thread saying you were lifting weights, with Lance and the two of you went for a powercranks ride with Hincapie, and Travis Tygart saw you guys not using blood bags.
Dev
Ok - I am relatively new around here but is the consensus that people don’t like PowerCranks? Curious as I just bought them too! Did I miss something?
No, there is no consensus which is part of the problem. Some people hate them, others quietly use them in a variety of ways. Some swear by the great results post powercrank use, others used them and stopped using them, while others have never used them and debate about them. There was a time when 20% of all threads were violent debates about powercranks which is why forum users were asked to not start threads on the topic of their use.
I’ll be using mine for high RPM work on the rollers this winter to help rehab a hamstring injury, while at the same time, I will also be using a regular crank equipped bike on the computrainer for “conventional” bike training.
They appeal intuitively to people because part of the mythos of cycling is that a smooth, round pedal stroke is efficient. Thus it seems plausible that power cranks could force your body to adopt a more smooth, round pedal stroke where power is applied more evenly around the pedal circle.
Unfortunately, reality is that this idea has been thoroughly investigated and there is no evidence that evenly applying the power around the pedal stroke is more efficient, nor do the worlds best cyclist have round pedal stroke even if they think they do. ( lab and real world in agreement in other words)
It is an aerobic sport and pushing down, not pulling back or up, is actually the most efficient way to use your oxygen.
So anyway of course people suggest all kinds of indirect benefits because it is hard to cognitively accept something you have bought into is completely pointless. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Choice-supportive_bias )
I do all my bike training with powercranks.
Some benefits:
- level out strength difference left/right leg (was huge issue for me and main reason I bought them)
- strengthen hipflexors, hamstrings and core muscles with positive impact on running (and biking as well since you can pull all the time)
- strengthen quads (because cadence drops when training on PC, you tend to ride bigger gears - if you maintain same power output - which made my quads much stronger)
- great alternative if you can’t run for a while
Cons:
- it is a controversial product (but all people I know who use them love them so the controversy is usually initiated by people not having any experience)
- the design: all your power is transferred via bearings - it requires a smooth riding style or you might wreck them (they are easily replaced though) / hard to mount them on some frame types
- it is tough (should actually be listed under benefits as far as I am concerned)
- price (depends how you look at it - in terms of ROI they are a real bargain compared to other cycling parts)
As far as I am concerned, I will never ever bike without powercranks…
And before anybody comments: I am sponsored by powercranks (they provide me the cranks) but I started riding on them without them supporting me. Even without being sponsored by them, my comments would be exactly the same.
Sam
samgyde.com
They appeal intuitively to people because part of the mythos of cycling is that a smooth, round pedal stroke is efficient. Thus it seems plausible that power cranks could force your body to adopt a more smooth, round pedal stroke where power is applied more evenly around the pedal circle.
Unfortunately, reality is that this idea has been thoroughly investigated and there is no evidence that evenly applying the power around the pedal stroke is more efficient, nor do the worlds best cyclist have round pedal stroke even if they think they do. ( lab and real world in agreement in other words)
It is an aerobic sport and pushing down, not pulling back or up, is actually the most efficient way to use your oxygen.
So anyway of course people suggest all kinds of indirect benefits because it is hard to cognitively accept something you have bought into is completely pointless. ( http://en.wikipedia.org/...oice-supportive_bias )
…and I agree with what Jack is saying here. Easier to get your recovery leg over the top dead center of the pedal stroke with the other leg pushing down and then pulling back a bit than trying to do it with your hip flexor. Powercranks seem to have a really nice benefit in sports where you don’t have your pushing down leg helping your recovery leg like running, XC skiing, Speed skating. It’s is almost counter intuitive that the tool that is attached to the bike helps all these other sports that have nothing to do with biking! Also, I feel that noodling around on powercranks actually detrains the main cycling muscles because you are working your “lifting muscles” just as much, but detraining the quads, which is why I told the OP if he is going to use them on the trainer, hammer hard so his quads gets a normal training load. For those who were around “back in the day” you might recall Steve Larsen saying that he did not use them or recovery rides…just hard trainer rides.
One angle that I feel is overlooked is the overall additional aerobic conditioning of using powercranks. If we assert that they are less oxygen efficient to go at the same power, then what we are doing is creating more aerobic load on every powercrank ride for the same power output. Then going back to regular cranks you are just in better shape (kind of like my FTP being higher during XC ski season on hardly any biking because I have a massive aerobic load in that sport, that I just can’t do day over day in biking or running…my cardio is just better). The opposite discussion is that you can get just as much aerobic load on regular cranks riding harder. In theory I agree, but in practice, it is like the difference between riding home on a flat ride or on a 6% grade. In theory you can ride both at 90% FTP, but in practice you’re more likely to load yourself into a higher aerobic load on the 6% percent grade ride. It gets even better when your buddies are riding conventional cranks and you have to keep up on PC’s. Add in some 32 mm high Crr training tires, and flappy clothing and you’re likely working 33% harder just to stay in the group