cycleops powercal

T.C.
T.C. Posts: 495
edited January 2012 in Training, fitness and health
Any opinions- thoughts.

Comments

  • pst88
    pst88 Posts: 621
    Well I don't own one but having read about it I'm not convinced. From what I understand it assumes a correlation between your heartrate and power output, but surely this relationship isn't constant. As you improve, get tired, get sick etc this relationship will change so you'll have to be constantly recalibrating it. In order to calibrate it you need access to a real power meter so you have something to compare it against so it's useless unless you know someone who will lend you one to do the calibration.

    What are your thoughts/opinions?
    Bianchi Via Nirone Veloce/Centaur 2010
  • kettrinboy
    kettrinboy Posts: 613
    I think you would be better off spending your cash on a decent turbo where you can use speed as a proxy for power, as the relationship between the two on a turbo is very close, whereas HR and power can start to diverge markedly once you reach higher levels of exertion and fatigue sets in.
  • nferrar
    nferrar Posts: 2,511
    I think it might have a use for longer sessions (20min+) where the difference in reaction between HR and power is less of an issue, can't see it being useful for shorter interval training though. I also notice places like Wiggle are selling it online but I read it needs to go through a specific calibration routine done by a shop (inc. using a Powertap) so not sure how Wiggle handle that...

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