Best power meters for Ascent users?

[jasonwoolfe]

Hi all,
This isn't directly an Ascent question, but very closely related.
I've been using Ascent for a year or so and love it. I hope one day to get a power meter. Question is: which system works best with Ascent (hence Mac). Any of you power measurers out there care to let me know how happy you are with your chosen systems?
I've got a Garmin 705 (too expensive to change that, too). My good bike runs Campag Record 10 speed (with the carbon chainset - something else that's too expensive to change). My other bike runs Shimano 105. So I'm wondering what, realistically, my power measuring options are.

Cheers,
Jason

[oshloel]

The Garmin 705 will display (and download to Ascent) power data for any ANT + Sport compatible power meter; of which there are several, so definitely don't change out the 705. There are 3 basic types of power meters I'm aware of: rear hub based meters such as the CycleOps PowerTap; crank/chainring based meters such as Quarq or SRM; and other systems such as the iBike.

The PowerTap, Quarq & SRM all measure power & torque directly using strain gauges and are considered the most accurate but are more expensive. Any of these will require you to replace either your rear hub/wheel or crank spider/chainrings, respectively. These systems also have the advantage of working indoors on a trainer, which is important to me in the winter. Personally, I use the PowerTap and have been very happy with it. You can find some of these systems used on eBay, etc. but if you go that route be sure it is the ANT+Sport compatible version in order to transmit data to the 705.

The iBike doesn't not measure power directly, but instead measures speed, slope, wind, etc. necessary to impute or indirectly calculate power. The iBike probably is the cheapest option but requires the most set up, calibration, fiddling, etc. and there's a continuing debate about its accuracy. I've talked to folks that are happy with it and folks who hate it.

I'm sure others will chime in with their own perspectives.

Rick

[jasonwoolfe]

Thanks Rick.
I'm mulling over the PowerTap now - or similar hub-based system.
I like the idea of measuring power directly - via a strange gauge or similar - but this is expensive, and I wonder how much benefit I'll get and whether it's worth it for me, right now. I'm curious to hear more comments and whether people find it really helps their training.

Cheers for the comment,

Jason

[leoszilard]

I've used iBike and was pretty unsatisfied with it. Its readings were über sensitive to its calibration process. SRM is the gold standard currently. Ergomo is a BB based system that's had quite a few bugs. Quarq seems well liked, and opinions on Power Tap are mostly good. There are couple others in development--one pedal based and the other cleat based--but they've yet to see the light of day. Oh, and Polar has their chain tension based power meter, which I'd consider the bottom of the barrel.

[MitusRider]

It's the 705 that does the talking to the Mac so it really doesn't matter which meter you go for as long as it's ANT+ compatible. It's tricky as you have a mix of Campag and Shimano and therefore different freehubs. The poster above is right about the iBike. Any other option e.g. SRM or Quarq is a lot of money and means swapping cranks back and forth. For most people Powertap is the way to go, but really it's a debate for another forum.

It's certainly not worth buying a Powermeter if you will be purely using Ascent to see the results though. Whilst Ascent is a great logbook, there is nothing much of value can obtain by looking at the ride results with power in the program as it stands today (I believe some analysis functions are in the pipeline). Your best bet is to run Golden Cheetah if you want something native Mac and really get into analysis. If you are prepared to run VMWare Fusion and Windows then WKO or Sportstracks with Plugins are other options.

[oshloel]

Whether a power meter is worth it or not is a very personal and subjective question. I agree with MitusRider that it's just a fancy gadget with another set of numbers if you are just going to log results in Ascent or any other program. The real value is if 1) you have a strong motivation and commitment to improve; and 2) are doing intervals with a heart rate monitor currently or are committed to interval training.

A power meter is definitely superior to a heart rate monitor for setting training ranges and judging climbing or tempo/time trialing efforts. Power is power - you are putting it to the pedals or not. Heart rate is affected by all sorts of factors such as hydration, fatigue, etc.

Analysis obviously is important, but probably more important is using your result/analysis of structured "fit" or "field" tests to set your training ranges and then doing structured intervals to push your aerobic and lactate systems. There's lots of info on the internet about doing this. Some is on the PowerTap and/or Training Peaks sites. Also a couple good books are "The Time Crunched Cyclist" by Chris Carmichael and "Training & Racing with a Power Meter" by Hunter Allen and Andrew Coggan. You might think about getting one or both of these, reading them and then deciding if that's the route you want to go.

Personally, I don't race, but I do interval work using a power meter because at 62 years old I love being able to drop lots of younger folks on climbs and rides. Without a doubt I get passed & dropped by others, but not by anywhere the number that I pass!

Rick