Road Cycling Essentials

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OK, never used one, never raced.

But I can see that a power meter is the single most useful piece of kit after your water bottle!

That's why all the pro teams have started using them.
 
Most races over here are
a) very short
and
b) very flat

As touch points out, power is pretty much irrelevant in those situations. There's not really a situation where it's possible to pace yourself, you're either trying to stay in the bunch or attacking in short bursts. There just isn't time to ride to power.

Power meters come into their own in races mainly on long climbs or long breakaways (both key to pro racing) where pacing is vital but neither situations are very common over here.

They are brilliant for training though, if this season goes well I'll consider one for next year.
 
Climbing is where they are most useful as you rightly say.

On the flat you are either with the group or dropped, again as you said.

Really interesting vid. Durian is a world class climber but he makes a good point.

Power meters will allow you to ride PBs, and beating yourself is the best performance indicator of all, regardless of your fitness level.
 
SkodaMart said:
Amazing vid, explains power meters in a nutshell.
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He makes some interesting points, but I was talking about a real race not a virtual strava race. He keeps going on about holding a steady power output to get a good time in the climb. That's correct, the best way to get a fast time is to keep it steady, the problem is that the time up the hill doesn't mean anything in a race - it's the time gaps between you and the other riders that is important. You can't ride to a fixed power value in a race. You'll either get left behind or you'll have a big line of people sitting on your wheel (and sprinting past you in the line).
 
SkodaMart said:
LOL! He's one of the best climbers in Australia.

Deleted because the vid wouldn't work - terrible start to the full vid.
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He's also a well known fruit cake. The David Icke of cycling if you will :p

wir1p2L.png
 
P

touch said:
Ftp (functional threshold power) is 283watts at the moment. The idea is that you go as hard as you can for 20 mins then take off 5% to calculate the theoretical power that you can hold for 1 hour. I'm not convinced that I could do 283w for 1 hour but the calculation is good for taking progress over time.
My max is probably around 1000-1200watts but iv never really tested max power.
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My FTP should be very similar to yours, about 300w, but I'm pretty damn sure I'd struggle to do that for an hour!

I've only been using one for a couple of weeks, but it's really taken the guesswork out of training for me. No longer wondering if I got that PR from a tail wind, or if I did feel good today and like I'd worked hard.

I know exactly how much effort I've put in and where. No hiding anymore!

I still need to read up about the shorter term power figures and how they affect your body and riding. I know I can do 320w for 20 minutes and on long (10 minute) climbs holding just above that is possible. Short term bursts I still have to get to grips with but did 550w for 60 seconds today.

Referring to this chart, I should be doing 100w+ more than that! Racing does give you an extra boost over training though, I went 2 minutes faster over 10 miles in the TT compared to the training I did and did 30w more average power. My training numbers are putting me on the border of CAT2 and 3. From when I was a competitive swimmer, I was always better at longer distances than sprints, just the way my body makes power.

https://www.google.co.uk/#q=cycling+power+chart


As said before, no help in a race. Sure I can ride at 350w up a climb for 10 minutes, but if someone puts in 500w after a minute and gaps me, with two riders behind him, the two following might only be pulling 300w each due to his slipstream, and they can work together to pull away. Once the gap is there then your screwed.
 
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I've not been out in like a fortnight :( Between work and the weather I just haven't been able to get out.

I had an interview yesterday for a job I could cycle to. Fingers crossed I get a second interview...
 
Does anyone here run tubeless clinchers? Curious as to the benefits and pitfalls. Obvious big one is weight. What's the sealant you use to auto plug small punctures and presumably you just throw a tube in when you get a big puncture? Do they only work with specific tyres or can you use regular tyres? Thinking I might get an Ultegra 6800 wheelset in the summer.
 
FrenchTart said:
That's amazing. I thought you'd just made up the google suggestions - so awesome that they're true :)
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Results speak for themselves.

Giving it a try.

"The fat you eat is the fat you wear"

High carb low fat diet.
 
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SkodaMart said:
Results speak for themselves.

"The fat you eat is the fat you wear"

High carb low fat diet.
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The bottom comment on that article pretty much sums it up:

Whoever wrote this is a ****ing idiot.
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Joel Friel who is well respected in cycling posted an article about his experience on a low carb high fat diet:

http://www.joefrielsblog.com/2013/08/aging-my-race-weight.html

He finishes with the most important point though:

Will this work for you? I can’t say. There are simply too many variables when it comes to the metabolic systems of individuals. All I’ve done is an experiment with 1 subject – me. And, obviously, there was no control or double blind administration.
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