Powertap (Shimano) wheel + Wheelcovers + race tyres

[IanM]

If you don't want to swap stuff between bikes, then your only real option at this point is the Brim brothers cleat based power meter - not sure if that's available yet, and DC Rainmaker's first look wasn't hugely confidence inspiring in terms of getting consistent numbers out of it. Oh, and that means you'll have to standardise your pedal system

[Jack Hughes]

[Sorry Ian]

No, you don't need to have a power meter.

I've ending up paring my sessions down to:

1) Intervals where you go as hard as you can (don't need a PM for this)
2) Steady state sessions at race pace (i.e actual TTs)
3) Trying to climb 500m for every hour (aka hard hill repeats, strava segment bagging would come into this)
4) Riding for fun.

I basically have to measure in RPE and times. Strava helps for the outdoors stuff, the time keeper helps for TT stuff.

I'm not sure I would get any _real_ additional benefit from a PM.

But if I did have a PM my sessions might be a bit different.

I really miss the post performance data though - and never quite know if I have improved or not. I have no idea if my 28 minute 10 was better or worse than my 23 minute 10, for example.

[CCS]

If you don't want to swap stuff between bikes, then your only real option at this point is the Brim brothers cleat based power meter

... or, there is the more obvious option of having a power meter for each bike...
Trying to make my mind up quickly on this one... (as since we are both visiting the mecca of all things bike related at various points this week, there might be ample opportunity for the picking up of second hand goods...)
Damn... why isn't Mr Golden Cheetah in the office today - he is always a useful sounding board on gadgetry!

[IanM]

[Sorry Ian]

No, you don't need to have a power meter.

Haha, no probs

Personally, I think the key usage for using a PM is to be able to work out which sessions work for you - sessions that target particular power zones. You can see this by increased power for a given time, as well as decreased HR for a given power. You also know when these sessions stop working, and it's time to either go harder, or try something different. Secondary benefits include tracking fatigue, and more control over taper as you can see your theoretical fatigue drop.

That's the theory, anyway. It didn't really work for me last year, but I think it was very much a learning year for me. It was extremely useful for race pacing though.

Having devoured a lot of articles / forum threads etc, I think I'm in a better position to use it in a more targeted fashion over winter and into next year, and hopefully properly reap the benefits from it, as above. It's basically what a decent coach would do, but in my case I'm going to try and do it myself first, and then consider the option of coaching later.

[IanM]

Trying to make my mind up quickly on this one... (as since we are both visiting the mecca of all things bike related at various points this week, there might be ample opportunity for the picking up of second hand goods...)

I had thought that, but unfortunately it's not really feasible... I'm likely going to order the Vectors tomorrow, receiving them on Wednesday. I then want to do a test session using PT & Vectors, so I can track the difference between them to ensure future stats can be comparable against historical ones. Ideally doing that session on Wednesday, but then on Thursday I'm in the office so wouldn't be able to swing past BTown to drop them off. Sorry

[Ewan]

If your race bike is campag, then you can get a cassette that fits on Shimano splines but has Campag style sprockets - although this would be a bit of a PITA as you'd need to switch cassettes every time you switched between road and race bike. Or alternatively, and possibly a better plan, get a Campag freehub for the Powertap, and you can switch the freehubs with cassette on really easily, as they just pull out, no need to remove the cassette first. £46 from here - http://www.totalcycling.com/en/Cycleops ... tedKingdom

This sounds like a good option. Even if you are changing cassette and not the freehub body then that'll take as little time as changing vectors between bikes.

Am I overthinking all this, and should I just get my head down and ride as hard as I can, as often as I can?

Errr... my understanding is no. And I suspect that this is even more true of longer events. For short events I can imagine it would be fine to hammer out repeated hard intervals at max effort and get a significant gain, however for long sessions targeted at IM racing I find my coach giving me long rides with varying intensity.



Also... Ian do you want my disc?

[IanM]

Also... Ian do you want my disc?

TBH I'm not really looking to buy a disc at this point (Vector + vet bills + impending boiler repair = very empty wallet), but if you've still got it early next year I'll hopefully be looking to buy one then.

[Ewan]

Aye, there is a good chance I'll hold onto it for a while. I'm not in a hurry to sell it. Still I'm wondering if I might be better off with Flo 60/90 combo with Raltech cover... Feels weird to say that because I love my disc (more than anyone should ever love a bit of cycling kit) but yeah...

[IanM]

Ok, I've said it before but this should really be the final final bump (with price drop), on this... probably. £300 for the rear wheel inc powertap hub, or £425 for both wheels, rear disc cover, and super fast Vittoria Open Corsa Evo CX tyres. Details in post #1, and detail on minor cosmetic damage to covers in post #6. Wheel will be available as soon as I've run a test against the power meter that replaces it... should likely be in the next couple of weeks.

[Ewan]

How much for just the wheel?