Which Software for recording/analysing data?

glasgowbhoy

I've been riding/racing for a number of years but have resisted the urge to train with power as I couldn't be bothered or had the time (young family / busy life) to pour over all the data.

Next year with my kids own sporting activites I will be even more free time poor but still want to maximise my training and racing time to stay at the same level of road racing competiton (2nd Cat).

With this in mind, having read quite a lot about training with power and speaking to people who use PMs I think that using a PM will help me with a more targeted/ time efficient training. The Performance Manager chart and TSS (or its equivalent) will aslo be a big benefit as I'm prone to over reaching and the onset of heavy fatigue at times.

I saw a Stages PM for £399 on sale and it seems a good PM for me as I can use it on all my bikes.

I have used Garmin Connect and Strava until now with just HRM data. I have looked at Golden Cheetah before and some have suggested Training Peaks but I'd rather not have to pay further supscription costs. Is it worth the cost? I will also be using trainer road after Christmas with Sufferfest on the turbo for specific efforts.

What will give me the data I need in the simplest form to interperate the information going forward?

I'm using an old Macbook on 10.6.8 (can't update anymore- bloody Apple) that Garmin Express doesn't like but the machine is like an old volvo and am loathed to give it up as it still runs fine otherwise! This may have a bearing on the SW choice?

Sorry about the rambling post but I know you guys like some context in this forum

supermurph09

Golden Cheetah is a great tool considering it's free but Training Peaks is much nicer to use and visually a lot better. The last point may not be of value to yourself.

You can usually get a 7 day free trial with TP so why not have a play once you get your power meter (or before if you really wanted to), if you want to subscribe to it you can also get a big discount via british cycling (if you are a member).

shazzz

Another option is WKO4 - just released on Mac at $200 I think.

I am on Windows and long term user of WKO3 which is fine but feels pretty clunky nowadays. Given the impending release (and cost!) of WKO4 for Windows I thought I'd check out Golden Cheetah again having last looked at it a few years ago. v3.2 has just been released and that's what I'm using. I'm still playing around but it looks to me like the GC guys have done a fantastic job over the past few years in improving the user interface and experience as well as updating for latest developments in the use of power meters, eg W' balance and the like. From what I've seen so far I really can't imagine forking out for either WKO4 or Training Peaks (which I have never particularly liked, although I haven't used the latest version). I also like having my data on my PC, not being dependent on someone else's servers to access it. There are some good tutorial videos on the GC website that are worth taking a look at. If you like what you see then give it a whirl - it is free after all!

I also upload my data to GC and Strava, but neither is much good for more detailed power analysis (PMC etc).

supermurph09

[url=http://www.bikeradar.com/forums/viewtopic.php?p=19687394#p19687394]shazzz[/url] wrote:

Another option is WKO4 - just released on Mac at $200 I think.

I am on Windows and long term user of WKO3 which is fine but feels pretty clunky nowadays. Given the impending release (and cost!) of WKO4 for Windows I thought I'd check out Golden Cheetah again having last looked at it a few years ago. v3.2 has just been released and that's what I'm using. I'm still playing around but it looks to me like the GC guys have done a fantastic job over the past few years in improving the user interface and experience as well as updating for latest developments in the use of power meters, eg W' balance and the like. From what I've seen so far I really can't imagine forking out for either WKO4 or Training Peaks (which I have never particularly liked, although I haven't used the latest version). I also like having my data on my PC, not being dependent on someone else's servers to access it. There are some good tutorial videos on the GC website that are worth taking a look at. If you like what you see then give it a whirl - it is free after all!

I also upload my data to GC and Strava, but neither is much good for more detailed power analysis (PMC etc).

I think this just shows why it's great to have a choice. This was the exact reason I didn't continue with GC as I mostly look at my data during my lunch hour at work. I think it's essentially trial and error with these packages, at the end of the day you can import all your data into all of them at any time, ie historically data.

kettrinboy

Might be worth giving SportTracks a look as well.

FatTed

You can load your rides to garmin manually. GC is free, and so is the basic version of Training Peaks.