I have about 3 months of near exclusive use of my fixed gear (FG) bike and love it. I believe my pedaling action and AeT power have increased significantly. It seems to me from a laypersons perspective that a FG provides the same stimulus as PowerCranks, although not as intense. Like the PCs, FG requires perfect form, it teaches you how to “rest” or “relax” while still cruising and also strengthens hip flexors and other muscles that deliver power through dead spot. So with my ghetto FG that cost less than $400 I no longer feel the need to spend $800 on PCs, even though I think they would be an excellent training tool.
Are there any PC users out there who have also tried FG and find that PCs deliver results far beyond regular FG riding?
I have about 3 months of near exclusive use of my fixed gear (FG) bike and love it. I believe my pedaling action and AeT power have increased significantly. It seems to me from a laypersons perspective that a FG provides the same stimulus as PowerCranks, although not as intense. Like the PCs, FG requires perfect form, it teaches you how to “rest” or “relax” while still cruising and also strengthens hip flexors and other muscles that deliver power through dead spot. So with my ghetto FG that cost less than $400 I no longer feel the need to spend $800 on PCs, even though I think they would be an excellent training tool.
Are there any PC users out there who have also tried FG and find that PCs deliver results far beyond regular FG riding?
The only person I have heard of who wasn’t going to receive any benefit from PC’s is a fellow who rode a FG. However, he rode his fixed gear exclusively in ultra distance bicycling races. He was the fellow who rode the PC’s on day 3 from Seattle to Portland.
The typical trackie, who generally ride fixed gear a lot, still don’t ride it enough to get the full benefit and they still see substantial benefits of using PC’s.
Unless you are willing to put in 10,000-20,000 miles a year on your fixed gear you are not getting anywhere near the full benefits that you would see if you did those miles on PC’s. People like the fellow mentioned above are so rare as to be almost “non-existant”. If you are one of them do what he did, send them back for a refund.
IMO riding PCs is nothing like riding a fixie. I think PCs are a harder. That said, I think riding on the track does great things for your pedal stroke and form and I prefer it. They’re different and not mutually exclusive.
I agree with Pooks, although some benefits are similar, they are totally different. A Fixed gear allows you to just pound on the downstroke without really worrying about the upstroke as your trailing leg automatically comes around. Over time, you learn that it is easier if you just unweigh the trailing leg. With PC’s, while you pound with your quads you have to actively lift with hamstrings and hipflexors. I have done 180 K rides on both and by far, PC’s are tougher. That being said, riding downhill at 150 RPM in a fixie is certainly a challenge.
For this winter, I was just considering converting one of my bikes to a fixie for trainer use, while keeping the other bike with PC’s for rollers.