- Do you need a powermeter?
Now although they are coming down in price,
they still do represent a pretty serious investment.
So, here are six good reasons
why we think you should seriously consider
investing your hard-earned cash.
(electronic chill music)
- First up, having a powermeter is going to lead
to huge gains in fitness.
- Hold on a second, Dan.
You can't just plug it on your bike and expect to do that.
You need to learn how to train with one,
analyse the data,
and then use that data to form a personalised training plan.
- That is true.
But if you do do all that,
I stick to my original statement.
And I will give a personal example to back this up.
I got my first powermeter at the age of 23.
At that point, I'd been a full-time rider for four years
and I'd been racing for over 10.
Nevertheless, within the first 12 months of using one
and training with it properly,
I made a 10% improvement in FTP,
which is pretty big.
Secondly, powermeters make segment times
completely irrelevant.
You can set a new PB, bike power, instead of bike time.
- Well, hold on a minute, Dan.
You need to make sure that you keep aerodynamics and weight
the same because even if you say
you're 10 watt improvement in your power,
it's not gonna mean much if at the same time
you're gonna be 10 kilogrammes heavier.
- That is very true.
But if you do keep all those other factors the same,
a powermeter is going to let you see the bigger picture.
So if, for example, if you were slower
on a particular part of your ride,
but your power is higher,
you'll know there is good reason for it.
It might be you got a slight headwind.
Or it might be that the air pressure was higher.
Whatever the reason, you can be satisfied.
For although you were slower,
it was a better physiological performance.
- Because power is absolute.
- That's true.
Speaking of which,
the powermeter is a great tool to help you
mentally deal with those types of conditions.
I don't know about you, Matt, but I hate a headwind.
In fact, when I was a lot younger,
I actually cried to a headwind because it forced me
below my average speed goal for the ride
of 20 miles per hour.
- Well, I used to hate headwinds, Dan.
And I still do, but the good thing about powermeters,
they allow you to keep a really good, even tempo.
And like how last point, and not worry about the speed
that that power produces.
In fact, I use headwind sections to help me climb.
- [Dan] Next up, a powermeter will allow you to go faster
even without getting any fitter.
- [Matt] Hold on a minute, Dan.
Really?
- Yes, really, Matt.
Through pacing.
So, a powermeter will enable you to ensure
that you don't go in the red at the start of your event
and pay for it at the finish.
Through testing in training,
you're going to know what you've got in the tank,
and therefore, empty your tank at your event
at exactly the right time.
Whether that's 24 minutes or 24 hours.
- powermeters give you a reference,
allowing you to compare yourself with yourself.
Which is really important if you're looking to make
performance improvements.
- [Dan] Now, you may be thinking that you've got
a local test climb that allows you to do exactly that.
But the beauty of the powermeter
is that it allows you to compare efforts on unknown roads
with the efforts that you do at home.
It would also allow you to create a power profile.
That will show you what your strengths and weaknesses are.
And you'll even be able to compare your efforts
with those of the pros.
- A watt is a watt no matter where
in the world you may be.
And, no matter what the weather.
- In the words of Doctor Andy Coggan,
one of the pioneers of training with a powermeter,
testing is training,
and training is testing.
And a powermeter allows you to do your testing
out on the open road
without the need to head to a laboratory.
- [Matt] They're a great tool to track your progress
and see if you're training is leading to improvements.
And in conjunction with your heart rate,
you'll also be able to see if you're making
efficiency improvements.
You can test your sprint, your ability on short climbs,
on mountains, and in time trials, et cetera.
- What we would like to know
are your experiences of training and racing
with a powermeter, both good and bad.
You can leave them in the comments section down below.
On the other hand, if you don't have a powermeter
and you also have no interest in every buying one,
please let us know why in the comment section
just down below.
- And if you haven't already subscribed to GCN,
you're one stop short for all things cycling.
Click on the globe.
Now, for how to test for your FTP,
click just down here.
And for how to pace yourself for an individual time trial,
click just down here.
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Cheers, lads.