I am new to posting on this forum so be gentle. I have seen a handful of posts regarding Power Cranks though few where people have sensed that there was enough benefit in performance to pay $800+ for a set of cranks. I am considering using them on my single speed which I have set up on a Computrainer. Bottom line: for those of you who own them, does the improvement in pedal stroke/performance justify the cost, or should I just use the spin-scan feature on my CT more?
I am new to posting on this forum so be gentle. I have seen a handful of posts regarding Power Cranks though few where people have sensed that there was enough benefit in performance to pay $800+ for a set of cranks. I am considering using them on my single speed which I have set up on a Computrainer. Bottom line: for those of you who own them, does the improvement in pedal stroke/performance justify the cost, or should I just use the spin-scan feature on my CT more?
Hopefully responses will be limited to those who own a pair per your request but should those be intimidated by the flamers here I put this to your consideration. That is what the 90 day moneyback guarantee is for. You can decide for yourself if they are worth the money. About 2 in 1000 send them back for refund.
Frank
First of all I do own a pair. I love them; however, I am not sure you will be the max benefit by putting them on a ss. Powercranks will give you the most benefit when you are in a really tiny gear, because you have a higher cadence and you are forced to spin or not pedal. At first you will want to ride in a bigger gear just to be able to ride them at all. I think there are great benefits to riding a ss, and there are great benfits to riding PCs, but I am not sure how well they would work together. What I did was to go to my lbs and buy the PCs through them and they put them on a felt 50 that had been around the shop for a while. At that point I only had one bike and just needed a seperate bike. If you have an old bike you rarely use, then I would suggest that bike for the PCs. Buy them, and you will find out which bike you want to put them on…odds are you will not send them back in. The one catch is that unless you are a good wrench, then you will need someone else to install them each time if you decide to play around with which bike you use them for.
“Hopefully responses will be limited to those who own a pair per your request”
No flames from me but your answer is very ironical.
is there anybody on this forum who has been riding bikes a lot for 10+ years, has no connection of any kind to the company or dealers, races tri’s, and uses powercranks and would like to share personal feedback (both positive and negative)?
i am tempted, but the astronomically high price keeps me away so far…
jack… first post ever! I bought power cranks about a year ago, rode them a lot (on the trainer) during the fall and winter. I started having a lot of foot pain at the top of the foot and the front of the shin. Started having a lot of leg pain etc. etc. Quit riding the cranks, and all of the problems went away.
They really work your hip flexers, and I could tell a small improvement in the run. I am sure they have worked out great for some people, but I won’t ride them again.
Hope this helps
Are you one of the 2 out of 1000 who sent them back?
no, they are sitting in my garage
.
Well, I guess that says something about the value of the “only 2 out of 1000 return them” claim. Although it may be true, that claim doesn’t mean squat.
i guess to frank, using evidence based reasoning constitutes flaming.
i guess to frank, using evidence based reasoning constitutes flaming.
No, smart remarks about what they can or cannot do from those who have never used them (or studied them) constitutes flaming. People telling their own actual experiences, positive or negative is not flaming. Per Jern, a few people do experience physical problems, most of them have unstable knees and the rest we think are probably due to overuse syndrome, trying to do too much too fast. For every 100 positive (“you fixed this problem for me”) reports we get, we see about 2-3 negative reports.
I have been told there will be a follow-up review, that contains numbers, by Stephen Cheung published on Pezcyclingnews in the next couple of weeks. Haven’t seen the results but based upon his recent published comments (“they are staying on my bike”) I think he likes them.
Frank
is there anybody on this forum who has been riding bikes a lot for 10+ years, has no connection of any kind to the company or dealers, races tri’s, and uses powercranks and would like to share personal feedback (both positive and negative)?
Uhh…me.
I’m one of the 2 in 1000.
30 minute TT test on C-trainer at start of 8 week test: 192 watts. This was at the beginning of a training cycle, when I would expect power to be on the low side. (I usually start bike training in early Dec. each year. This was in winter of 2002/03.)
8 weeks of 3 workouts per week with PCs. Two on the trainer, one outside ride. Outside ride went from 45 minutes in week one up to 2.5 hours in week 7. Never touched regular cranks for 8 weeks.
After 8 weeks, I freshened up a couple of days and did another 30 minute test on the CT. Result – 193 watts.
So yes, they work. I gained 1 watt of power in 8 weeks of high-quality training. In any other 8-week block of early-season trainng I’ve done before or since, I pick up at least 20 watts.
So I sent them back. Frank is good to his word and refunded my money, no questions asked.
BTW – since that time, I have lifted my 30 minute power to 255, using standard training techniques.
Now I’m sure there will be a follow-on post to mine that I didn’t do it right, or give it long enough, or whatever. But 8 weeks was enough for me.
No, your experience is your experience. thanks for sharing it.
Two questions? Did you do the followup test on regular cranks or PC’s. If on regular cranks, did you keep the cadence and the position the same as what you could hold on the PC’s or the same as you were used to riding on regular cranks?
my gym installed power cranks on a lemon spin bike so I’ve tried them out during the offseason / base training season … it’s very hard to get used to them at first and with regular use you adapt to them and feel more comfortable … however, I found that it did not replace single leg drills out on the road (adding more balancing requirmement and change in road conditions) and with the help of a weight trainer worked out more varied and targeted routines off the bike and off the power cranks that were as / more effective (e.g., resistance band drills, single leg squads on bosu ball etc)
in short you can achieve similar results with single leg drills or a single speed bike and save yourself the money … or spent it on other equipment training gear
also given that you have the computrainer spin scan you can closely monitor your progress and make adjustments specific to your needs
(the foot pain from powercranks btw sounds like a bad fit - and maybe trying too much too fast)
Hey Frank…do you sell those used returned PC’s for cheaper than your advertised price? Like others, the price kills it for me as well.
M~
my gym installed power cranks on a lemon spin bike so I’ve tried them out during the offseason / base training season … it’s very hard to get used to them at first and with regular use you adapt to them and feel more comfortable … however, I found that it did not replace single leg drills out on the road (adding more balancing requirmement and change in road conditions) and with the help of a weight trainer worked out more varied and targeted routines off the bike and off the power cranks that were as / more effective (e.g., resistance band drills, single leg squads on bosu ball etc)
in short you can achieve similar results with single leg drills or a single speed bike and save yourself the money … or spent it on other equipment training gear
also given that you have the computrainer spin scan you can closely monitor your progress and make adjustments specific to your needs
(the foot pain from powercranks btw sounds like a bad fit - and maybe trying too much too fast)
Ms. Evelyn,
I would be surprised if anyone would see any big bike improvements using PowerCranks on a exercise bike in a gym on an occasional basis. I would expect one might see running improvement using them that way but not biking improvement. I cannot think of a single user who has used them that way who has seen any significant improvement anywhere approaching our claims. If there are any out there please let me know. So, with that being said, if one is going to use them that way I agree they can save themselves the money and do single legged drills and see “similar results”.
PowerCranks are meant to be ridden a lot, to the exclusion of regular cranks (or close thereto), for a long period (months to years), if one expects to see any significant cycling improvements approaching our claims. If you are not willing to do that you must expect significantly less improvements than our claims or save your money, they are not for you.
Hey Frank…do you sell those used returned PC’s for cheaper than your advertised price? Like others, the price kills it for me as well.
M~
Yes, when they are available. It isn’t a big discount but they come with a new warranty.
to greg x.
please accept my apologies for the cutting and pasting of the below post, but i think i meet your criteria for input. this is what i told a guy who asked the same question on another forum once. i hope you find it interesting or useful.
"i have/do use them. they are very keen training devices which, IMHO, are about 1000 times simpler than the exceedingly silly debates a fellow reads about them might have you believe. get them, use them, suffer on them like a mofo, get so you do not suffer anymore, observe your legs grow muscles which drive the pedals which were never there before - and feel lower exertion at equal speeds over different type/styles of riding for increased versatility, speed, strength, and decreased effort. or at least, effort which is more spread around instead of wearing you down. not a bad deal. plain as day, if you use them enuf.
there is a 90 day no questions asked return policy on them, which last i heard was used by well under 1% of the users, so that might tell a guy something.
there is also, inexplicably, a never-ending stream of people who have not used them who will pontificate on why they cannot possibly work, despite not actually knowing what they are talking about. odd, that. because of this, many people who have them and enjoy them do not talk much about them, or if they do - soon stop.
the inventor of them is a locquacious, enigmatic personality who, it seems, rankles people. again inexplicably, most if not all of this lovable nutty professor-type’s marketing claims are not really all that different from just about every single other marketing claim a guy reads/hears and ignores every single day. for example, i have a can of endurox that makes all sorts of insane claims on the label. i do not believe a single one of them, and i bet nobody else really does, either. why don’t people get their undies in a bundle over THAT, i wonder?
they cost a lot, it would be better if they cost less. with that said, they are worth what they cost, in terms of them being U.S. made and really pretty slickly so - also in terms of other high-end exotic stuff you could spend your high end disposable income on. exotic sh&t costs money, that is the way it is.
for practical purposes, i sorta think a fellow should really be in a spot where he already has a spare bike ( or three) so he can put them on said bike and leave them there as a dedicated type deal, yet still have a normal bike, before he considers them. i use them as a specialty niche bike - sorta like a fixie or similar - only in this case a specialty bike that really kicks yer ass and, as it happens, actually DOES what is people say fixies ( or single leg ) do. 
.
ultimately, the level of rancor and debate a fellow reads concerning them is silly. nothing could possible live up to that level of rancor/hyperbole, and PC’s don’t. nothing does. they are simply a very simple, very elegant, sorta pricy, completely unique and effective way to improve yer riding. how much i dunno. a noticeble amount, certainly, if you use them.
they are not for everybody. nothing is - for example, i would never use a power device even tho they are unquestionably fabulous for many . . . . . i am not interested in that sort of analysis and hi-tech hooha in anything, really, least of all my cycling hobby. similarly, there are numerous types of riders for whom PC’s would not be so keen. for example, i have friend who recently triied mine - he was unable to get past 90 minutes duration on them over a couple months, and was missing his longer rides . . . it was making him nervous not getting those minutes in, and not being able to plan them out and so on. he is an analytical type guy, and is on the upswing in cycling ability and experience, from a numbers oriented detail driven running background. we thought maybe his $ would be better spent on a power device - he would enjoy the sort of feedback it gives better. i mean, that’s cool. PC’s are more of an analogue, experiential type deal. finally, i reject that they are in some way “gimmicky”, or are in opposition to traditional hammer-six-hours-in-the-rain old school type "JFT’ ideals. indeed those are my ideals, and to me PC’s add to them very nicely.
gotta go . hope this helped.
I am going to be selling mine if you are intersted…
Trisha
I would be interested, what are you asking for them and how can I contact you?