I recently purchaced an Axiom Powertrain II trainer and will be using it to track my progress on the Powercranks. It measures power, HR, speed, time distance and calculates efficiency Watts/HR. Some quick feedback on my Powercranks so far:
Pre Powercranks:
Speed HR Power Watts/HR(efficiency)
23.4 117 265 2.3
22.8 121 252 2.1
24.6 122 298 2.4
Powercranks:
25.8 120 313 2.6
25.1 114 295 2.6
The second Powercranks ride felt much easier than the first. I could have gone harder for sure. Note the instant increase in efficiency and speed. My technique is very sloppy so I expect much more improvement in both. Especially power… I will post again when I have more data. I plan to ride them throughout the year and keep tabs on my progress using the trainer. I will probably ride them in the Gulf Coast 1/2 this year as well.
You posted averages of 18.6mph in last years Gulf Coast, and 17.6 mph in the 1/2 Great Floridan just 3 months ago. How are you now putting out 300 watts for any length of time, much less at 120 bpm? How long did you ride to get those numbers.
Mike, somethings amiss here. I was going to ask you how you liked the Axiom II but from the figures you’re showing, I don’t believe it’s calibrated properly. I’m getting some PC’s shortly but I don’t think that I could get that kind of performance enhancement in my wildest dreams.
I’m not surprised by your results, these things (Power Cranks) really work, although in my little world I see them mostly as a training tool. Good data- thanks for the info.
I also question the calibration of the machine. While I expect such improvement eventually I don’t expect to see such on the second ride unless these measurements were done very early in the ride or you are one of these ttn types with pretty good hip flexor abilities from ILT pre PC. How long did you sustain these numbers? were you stabilized? I know you know how to do studies so I am sure you have taken this stuff into account. It surprises me as much as everyone else.
Congratulations if they are real. Gulf coast should be a hoot for you.
Didn’t want to start a new thread…I got my PC’s on today, and made it about 30 minutes of total riding time. It took me about 40 minutes to do that, though! I didn’t realize how much my left leg was along for the ride and didn’t clear the top very well. My right leg was better, and I thought I was clearing the top well, but, I wasn’t. I was just cheating more smoothly on the right side.
I can tell this because of the peg on the outer chainring…I would position in right on the right crankarm, and if that peg didn’t stay right there, I knew I wasn’t picking my right leg up or clearing the top with it…even if it was so smooth I didn’t feel it.
I look forward to working harder on these over the next few weeks!
I know that the watts are too high. The device is probably out of calibration. However, it is consistent, and thats all that matters. For example, same gear and same rpm = same power output, every time. I am only concerned with the delta here and not the actual numbers. I don’t really know what the actual power is.
Having said all of that, my cycling heart rate is much lower than my running heart rate. I couldn’t hit 170 on the bike if I tried. Sustainable HR for a 50 miler would be 135ish.
Yep, I did 18mph at Gulf Coast last year but by the end of the summer I was sustaining 21 mph no problem for distances greater than that.
All that I am concerned with here are the changes in power and heart rate. More power is good and a higher power/heart rate ratio is good as well (indicator of efficiency). We will see how it works out.
is more important than the “actual” number. Based upon your background I was sure you had taken care of potential variables. The delta is the important factor from an “experimental” point of view. The delta is also the important factor from a racing point of view, just delta t.
For some experiemnts it is not necessary to use an atomic clock to measure time while in others it is. In this “experiment” actual power numbers are irrelevant, relative power numbers are very relevant because they go to the claim.
Good for you for making the decision to purchase powercranks. Stay with it as it will make a HUGE improvement on biking & running. I used them all winter on my trainer in Canada & now use them on all my training rides. Having done that I laid down a PR on the Bike & the Run at Ironman Arizona on April 9, 2006.