I can’t run (I did a 56min 10K in my olympic last year) and I can’t bike (averaged 28km/hour in same olympic). I bought a Cervelo One in the fall 2002 (the old style One) and it has helped my biking a lot (largely because my old bike was way to big).
What piece of training equipment will help me more? Powercranks or a Computrainer? I need to prioritize.
Any input welcome.
With those numbers you should work on a solid base. I think you should focus on aerobic training. Put in long miles on the bike and increase the frequency of your running. Do some short runs right after the bike…that will help.
About the training aids…I think they can be beneficial, yet I think too many people depend on them way before they reach their potential.
Instead of spending your money on training tools, rather use it and go on some road trips. Much more fun and definitely benefitial for your results. I spent about $500 for 11 days of “road trip” in december. It got me from LA to SF and back (1020miles, 64’000ft climbing). did I mention all the fun I had and the scenic roads?
It might not be the answer you were looking for, but it will help.
have fun @ training,
daniel
A $150 turbo trainer will do the exact same thing to your legs as a $1500 Computrainer. $1350 will by a lot of CDs to alleviate any boredom
Adam,
I’d echo Swiss’s comments. Frequency and consistency of running and biking workouts will get you the most improvement. Run often; run far. Bike often; bike far. Choose paces that are comfortable and push you just a little bit. It’s not rocket science.
If you do that right, you will come to a point where you want to begin targeting workout effort ranges more precisely. I think there are two important tools for us BOP athletes trying to move up to MOP. First, a powermeter for your bike so that you can specifically target bike workouts to your personal limiters (probably threshold (40k) power). Second, a running pace device (Garmin is cheap and great) so that you can target your run workouts to your personal limiters (also, threshold (10k) pace).
I would forgo the Computrainer and get a Powertap and a Garmin. If you are going to do indoor bike training, get a good resistance trainer such as 1-Up or Kurt Kinetic. Ride that with your Powertap, and you’ve got yourself a Computrainer that can also go outdoors.
Not going to happen here until in season - Average temp for January was about -15 degrees C. But thanks anyways.
I think a computrainer is the absolute best training tool you can buy, bar none. Definitely for BOP-MOPers and probably for FOP and elites as well (not that I’d know). You will ride more hours, get more training value out of each hour you train and get great feedback (watts, spinscan etc).
All that said, there are two relatively new knock-offs, the names of which escape me, in one of the catalogs I get (not supergo, but maybe CC? Performance? Excel? I don’t know). I haven’t used them but they look like they give you 80% of the features of a computrainer for 40% of the cost. Depending on your needs and budget, they might be better for you.
Powercranks and Powertaps are cool and valuable in their way but they are feedback devices that tell you what you’re doing wrong and maybe help you correct it. Neither will make or allow you to ride more. A CT will give you all of the feedback of a powertap, some of the feedback of powercranks but it will also help you train more and train harder. That is the key for most of us.
Like other have said , a computrainer by far is a great investment and training aid. Once you have CT then get the Netathlon software. Its allow you to ride with other people over the web .
I bought a computrainer and I've been putting in about twice the volume that I did a year ago before I had the computrainer when I rode on a fluid trainer. I am not sure if this has improved my cycling yet because I have not been outside since I got the computrainer. However, my running is significantly faster than it was last year at this time, and I am running fewer miles than I did last year. I'm not sure if this is from the higher volume biking, but I have read in several places that biking improves your running. Also, I think the feel of the computrainer is very different from the feel of a fluid trainer.