If there is one thing that I really love about the sport of cycling, it's the continual need for industry to keep pushing itself further in to new realms of advanced technology and lightweight materials. Manufacturers and consumer alike will never be satisfied with what is currently available which means that the arms race will keep going and going and going, who knows what will be released next week, next month or next year. These advances in technology have opened amazing new doors for cyclist of all types, we can cycle further thanks to 5 panel, multi density, anti-bacterial, contoured bib shorts, we can shave seconds off of our 25 mile PB thanks to sub 1000g full carbon 58mm deep section wheel. Most importantly for coaches however is the ability to quantify and accurately monitor acute and progressive training load whilst having the ability to train without the influence of external factors and uncontrollable variables thanks to the advancements and developments in the very competitive world of on board power measuring devices, this is the thing that really gets my blood flowing and always looking forward to the next update from the newest power measuring company on the block. It really has turned in to a race to see who can develop the most accurate, reliable, repeatable, user friendly, lightweight and indestructible power meter on the market and now it's really hotting up.
Like many, when I first started training with a serious attitude, all I had available to use was my trusty polar heart rate monitor. Don't get me wrong, this proved to be an invaluable tool and allowed me to train with much more accuracy, I don't intent for this to become a power vs. HR debate so wont provoke one. However, I soon learned about the newest training tool on the block and was now being used and endorsed by many of the sport top cycling teams, power meters were now moving in to the eyes of the public and soon everybody wanted one. SRM's the company that most people knew about and although they mass produced units for the consumer market, they were still hideously expensive and out of most peoples reach.
Soon, other companies were getting involved and more affordable power meters were being produced. US company SARIS produced the powertap hub which was less than half the cost of the SRM system, at the time I had been looking in to how power meters worked and what they could do to enhance your training. I pretty much knew the basics as I had been using a TACX I-Magic turbo which has a power function and can provide a fairly decent power training experience, soon the temptation began to over whelm me and I knew that I had to get the real thing and I had to get it soon.
Luckily, at this point I had been working at my local bike shop which had a few nice perks, namely getting things at a trade + VAT price. One of our main stockists were Trek and Bontager and Bontrager had recently released a powertap hub option for their Race X Lite Aero wheels, a wheel set which I already owned, so this was the most obvious choice for me and I pounced on it. It would be carless for me to say how much the 2.4 wireless powertap wheel cost me but let's just say that trade saved me a fair bit!
After fitting the wheel and setting up the head unit at work, I rode the mile back home looking at my power on the road for the first time and the first thing I did when I got home was panic! In the 2 minutes it took to ride home I was sure my power meter was broken, the power being displayed was so jumpy and unstable compared to what I had experienced with my TACX I was adamant something wasn't right. Newbie Statement no. 1: Power on the road is highly "stochastic" or variable, every pedal revolution produces a slightly different amount of power which is continually displayed and updated on the head unit. Tis can make it very strange and quite difficult to adjust to at first, especially when trying to ride with in a narrow range of power but persevere with it and this is where you will begin to see your first performance improvement; efficiency and suppleness. I found that after a few weeks of trying to hold my power more steady whilst riding on the road, my overall pedalling style changed completely, I was much smoother and my cadence increased which allowed me a more controlled application of power. I learned not to stab the pedals but to evenly drift my foot through the pedal stroke. Friends began to notice the difference in the way I rode commenting that I pedalled like a continental pro or looked like a rider who had been cycling since the day he was born, how kind!!
I brought the powertap in 2008 and used it through the next few seasons, it ever left my bike, I used it every time I rode my bike just like Hunter Allen suggested you should in his book "Racing and training with a power meter"; this was my bible and still is today. I continually learned how to use my power meter more effectively and with the addition of TrainingPeaks WKO+ analysis software to my armoury, I was really getting to know myself as a rider in much more detail. The software not only allows you to review your ride data but compare all of your training data to date and also quantify your training and plan for peak performances in the future. I'm still learning new things today which show just how deep this stuff can go. Newbie Statement No. 2; Download and analyse your ride, a power meter is nothing if you don't understand the information I provides and is the whole idea behind training with one. If you aren't bothered about reviewing your training and racing performances then don't waste your money on a power meter!
As you can tell, I adore my power meters and don't think I could live without one but don't get me wrong, I have experienced the down side to owning this amazing piece of tech. The first thing that you will find after using a PM for a while is how addictive the numbers can be and I soon found that every time I went out I wanted and expected to hit bigger numbers, a few times this lead me down dangerous paths towards overtraining and I really had to think about what I was doing and look at the bigger picture, all I wanted to do was make the graphs and the numbers go up and I wouldn't stop until they did. Newbie statement No. 3; don't get hung up on the number. Even with a PM you can still have bad day and like always you must respect this and know when to ease off. Don't expect to get a new 5 minute power PB every time you do a max 5 min effort, it just doesn't work like that and if you think like that you will end up mentally and physically destroying yourself. Remember, "all's you can do is all's you can do!"
Another pain of owning a power meter is possibility that it will need some kind of maintenance or repair during the time that you own it; this can cause some riders real grief. I had to send my powertap back for a service once or twice, once to have the bearings replace and once to have new, updated internals fitted. The first time was a real nightmare as I was about to start a hard training block so decided to get it done so I would have it back before I started, as it was I ended up being without it for 5 weeks due to various complications and I found the whole thing utterly devastating. I had come to rely on my PM so much I was getting serious withdrawal symptoms and almost becoming depressed. Going back to the old ways of training is horrible after using a PM and not one that am prepared to do again.
My initial impression of the Quarq is one of marvel; its lightness is the thing that impressed me the most with it only adding a few grams to the existing chainset. Set is simple, as simple as putting on any other chainset; bearing in, greased up, chainset popped through the frame, other crank arm on, torqued up, job done. The only extra thing that you have to do with this chain set is to fit the cadence magnets to the bottom bracket area, this is what triggers the reed switch and wakes up the power meter. There are 2 options for this with the first being the easiest; the cranks come with a bottom bracket mount with a magnet attached, simple put this behind your external BB before tightening it up. The second requires a bit more creativity and is the option I had to use due to owning a Trek which used push fit bearing. For this they give you a poxy which you use to stick the magnet to the frame but would also suggest the use of super glue and gaffer tape just to make sure it is nice a safe.
The Quarq claims to be very weather proof which it looks as though it is after various washes and rides in rain, it is also very owner friendly with a battery that can be replaced in about 5 seconds flat and not real maintenance issues. There have been some initial concerns over some of the Quarq that have been sold recently with some customers complaining about inaccurate power figures and inconsistent readings. It turns out that due to the unexpected popularity with the Quarq, the manufactures had to send some of the units to an external factory to have the soldered, this meant that quality control could not be maintained and some of the units went out with various internal faults. Thankfully, Quarq now say that all of the manufacturing has been moved back in house and the power meters undergo various quality control checks before leaving the factory. Good stuff.
The Quarq again has similar things going for it; easy to set up, user friendly and currently the cheapest crank based option there is with the basic model costing around £1000. However, keep in mind that the Quarq does not come with a head unit so you will have to factor this in to the price as well but even if you brought a Garmin which is around £300, you are still looking at a quality set up for an awful lot less than an SRM. Also as I have mentioned this is the better option for race day as it means you can use whatever wheels take your fancy and it won't add much weight to your bike unlike the PT. The actual downsides to the Quarq are quite hard to come by, there is nothing drastic that comes to mind that would put you off buying one. Switching t from bike to bike is a bit of a longer process than the PT but still possible and only if you happen to get one of the badly manufactured batches will you suffer any real problems; this will eventually be resolved as soon there will be none left in circulation. The only thing I can see being an issue at the moment is the fact that Quarq will be continually updating the firmware in the cranks as they develop and they can only update existing Quarq at their factory in the US which means that non US residents will have to box up there cranks and ship them off, however the updates are free and I should imaging service centre will across Europe will soon be able to do this in due time.
So overall, I am very happy with my new purchase and look forward to using it during the racing season. If you were looking to get a power meter then my suggestions would be to do you research and ask around for varying opinions, even test some if you can. It's a big investment and one that you want to get right. In my opinion I would say go with a PT if you are on a tight budget and are mainly looking for something to use for training and not fussed about wheel choice for races. However, if you can afford it my top choice would be the Quarq as it's a solid piece of kit that will last its user an awful long time.
In the last year the biggest power meter advancement to date has been in development, the battle to produce the first pedal based PM.
Garmin and metrigear have teamed up and Polar and look have also paired and both are working on their own designs which apparently will be available in quarter 4 of this year. I for one will be keeping up to date with the developments of these amazing pieces of technology and may even have to begin saving up for one very soon!
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