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Powertap Rental

Half-Fast Mike

Lanterne Rouge-et-vert
May 22, 2007
4,644
3,700
I have a GSAstuto 50 mm carbon tubular 700C wheel built (by the man himself) around a Powertap SL+ Shimano-compatible hub. It's currently fitted with an Ultegra 11-28T cassette and a Vittoria Corsa Evo Tech tubular tyre.

I've done enough rides to gauge my baseline power ("pathetic") so now I need to HTFU for a while and the 'tap can go on furlough.

So, if you'd like to borrow it for a while and have a compatible head unit (Garmin 800, 705, ??) I'm open to reasonable offers. There will be some dates - at the moment 28-29 July - when I will want it back.

pwrdhr9y.jpg


"The Precious"
 
uuhm, I had no idea what I was looking at, looked it up, and I still don't get what this little thing of wonder does! ..And may I ask why it costs an arm and a leg (over 10万円)?! :confused:
 
Its a power tap - basically a hub of a wheel with a strain gauge in it to give you instant feedback on how much wattage you are producing.

This is what it looks like built in to the wheel:

http://cdn.cyclingforums.com/c/c0/265x265px-LS-c036b01c_118518.jpg

Unlike other measuring devices such as heart rate monitors, speed, cadence etc, wattage does not lie. Regardless of outside influence 200w is 200w regardless if you have a head wind or tail wind.

The problem is however is how you use it - many just use it exactly like any other device - the bigger the number the better, but actually you need to do a bit of study and do some bench mark tests to find out what Wattage zones you should be training at and then actually riding at those zones and having a training plan to work within those numbers.

I work with amateur and professionals athletes using power data and also have a power tap that I rent out to them to train with. The biggest obstacle is educating them on how to use and train with a powertap or other power meter. Remember unless you are using it correctly and objectively its just some pretty numbers to look at.
 
Ha! Or some really depressing numbers! But you're absolutely right - using it as a training tool consistently and with a plan can help break through some plateau levels and of course provide good feedback to the coach regarding progress and benchmarks.

Remember unless you are using it correctly and objectively its just some pretty numbers to look at.
 
Just purchased Powertap

James,
Is there any education programm you provide including few rides Mt or somewhere to play with this number?
If you're providing this kind of lecture/training session, I'd love to join whatever it takes! :rolleyes:

And, I insist you should do for us. :cool:
Kimm
 
James,
Is there any education programm you provide including few rides Mt or somewhere to play with this number?
If you're providing this kind of lecture/training session, I'd love to join whatever it takes! :rolleyes:

And, I insist you should do for us. :cool:
Kimm

Kimm, I actually do 1 on 1 coaching over a 3 month period specifically for training with power - it involves walking each person through thier goals and objectives, preceived strengths and weaknesses and then conducting either a CP30 or CP60 test to find out exactly where thier true strengths lay.

I then work out a monthly training program based on these numbers then after the first month we conduct another CP30, adjust the training and repeat.

If you are interested in more information please PM me.

Mike sorry for the hijack. :gun:
 
Actually, my powertap is out of action at the mo, as waiting for it to dry out, and feel naked without it. Had to do Sunday`s Tour de Nishiawa on the RS80 :( though used it for long enough, that I knew how to gauge my effort. I would ditch every other metric just to keep the Wattage figure.

For new Powertap owners (whose primary goal isn`t racing), my advice would be different to FarEast`s (we had this debate before) - just use it for a few weeks (without looking) on your usual rides and then analyse the data to gauge precisely what you were doing - will be an eye opener, in particular the amount of time spent `in recovery zone`. Then head into a structured training plan. Once you`ve used the Powertap, it is too late to go back. And put the wattage reading (if you can :( 7 months and waiting for the new Joules to be released) on a 3 sec or 5 sec average (poss even 30 sec), as otherwise the readings will jump all over the place, due to the way data is transmitted.

As before, there is no need to regularly test yourself. Training data will give you all the info you need, if you know how to interpret it. (If your computer gives IF, that is another way.)

I've done enough rides to gauge my baseline power ("pathetic") so now I need to HTFU for a while and the 'tap can go on furlough.

the HTFU bit is what the `Tap is for

uuhm, I had no idea what I was looking at, looked it up, and I still don't get what this little thing of wonder does! ..And may I ask why it costs an arm and a leg (over 10万円)?! :confused:

It costs that much because they have a patent on it, but there were deals to be had recently on the old models. And the whole powermeter retail market could be argued to be a kinda cartel. If anyone is interested, cyclepowermeters will soon be selling off some of their rental units, but prices haven`t yet been announced. Just send them an email to enquire.
http://www.cyclepowermeters.com/index.asp
 
http://www.amazon.com/Training-Racing-Power-Meter-Hunter/dp/1934030554

Just bought a wheel with a PT and will do my maiden ride with it on Sunday. Hopefully training with it will help me increase my embarrassingly low FTP.

Mike: Read about your kind offer the day after the wheel arrived. :(

K

I second the Allen and Coggan book. I bought the 2nd edition awhile ago, and after reading through it decided to by a PowerTap.

I picked up the new Pro model built up by CycleOps as a complete wheel for just over 7man about a month ago. I've found it helpful in getting my training even more focused. Although I did have a training plan, it was based mostly on HR data until now.
 
sorry Sikochi but just riding around is now way going to give you the data you need to work out your real threshold power and its that which really gauges your intensity levels for training. The only way to do this is either through a CP30 or CP60.

I conduct this indoor on a Lemond Revolution with the Power Pilot so that the rider can do a solid 30 or 60 minute without interuption and at 100% effort. Just riding aroound is not going to give you any real usable data Coggen, Lee and all the other leaders in training with power meters say this time and time again in their teachings and lectures.

Also totaly disagree that you don't need to do regular tests - of course you do!

If you are training you will become more powerful, lactate thresholds will improve and your sustsained power will raise along with Vo2max. So obviously to continue to improve you need to move the bench mark and increase the training levels and intensity factors for each session.
 
Could someone post some links to te places you bought these reasonably priced powertaps? I'm interested I'm getting one myself but not for 10万!
 
Likewise, sorry FarEast. I wasn`t wanting to get into a debate, but to answer a few points. As for my comment about what to do on first getting a powermeter, I meant use the initial data to see how `what you were doing` and `what you thought you were doing` compare. Just that in itself will improve your riding/training.

As for the FTP test, then I quote you Coggan`s 7 deadly sins for assessing FTP
`the seven deadly sins....

...er, ways of determining your functional threshold power (roughly in order of increasing certainty):

1) from inspection of a ride file.
2) from power distribution profile from multiple rides.
3) from blood lactate measurements (better or worse, depending on how it is done).
4) based on normalized power from a hard ~1 h race.
5) using critical power testing and analysis.
6) from the power that you can routinely generate during long intervals done in training.
7) from the average power during a ~1 h TT (the best predictor of performance is performance itself).

Note the key words "hard", "routinely", and "average" in methods 4, 6 and 7..'
http://alex-cycle.blogspot.jp/2008/05/seven-deadly-sins.html
For anyone planning on doing a test, also check part 2 which has caveats about the above.
http://alex-cycle.blogspot.jp/2009/07/sins-of-sins-testing-ftp-2.html

Actually, I would counter that doing an effort indoors on a Lemond, and using that to gauge outdoor efforts with a Powertap is in itself, not accurate (with the assumption of course, that that is what you are doing). And how can you determine that your riders really are working at 100%? Motivation is the achilles heel of any form of testing.
 
Actually, I would counter that doing an effort indoors on a Lemond, and using that to gauge outdoor efforts with a Powertap is in itself, not accurate (with the assumption of course, that that is what you are doing). And how can you determine that your riders really are working at 100%? Motivation is the achilles heel of any form of testing.

again something I would disagree on and atheltes I have worked with have said that having me stand next to them and egging them on, even shouting at them to dig deeper has enabled them to hit figures they prevously felt unachievable - Again unless you are attempting a 1 hour TT the abiliity to actually do an uniterupted test is pretty impossible on the road or even the track.

The lemond enables you to do this with almost the same sensations as you get on the road - again many of my atheletes are abondoning thier rollers and switching to the Lemond.

In regards to work out put - thats the same for any test though I race with guys that will just give up if the going just gets a little bit tough (The UCI/JCF Tour of Kumano was a classic example of this) Having a coach to encourage, entice of basically scream at you does wonders!
 
Before everyone rushes out to buy a Powertap, it is likely I will have to send mine back for repair (not worried, as under warranty) so be very careful with water ingress (rain/steam/condensation) - i would say I`m 99% sure that it is a result of moisture getting inside the `works`.
 
I had to send mine back for calibration in Decemeber - one thing to try regarding the moister is using DA special grease on the cover cap.
 
Indoor training in a structured environment is the best scientific approach to structured training. There
are too many factors in the natural environment to gauge the effects efficiently. This shouldn't even be a topic.
 
Chuck! Could not agree with you more.

Actually I had the Japan Rep for RITTE over yesterday for his monthly CP30 and body compisition testing. One of the things he said was that he is never able to push his limits as hard or as long as when he is with me in the testing lab.
 
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