Time Trialling without a Powermeter

Kryton57

For me TT is second to MTB racing but I enjoy it, so bought a Sale Boardman TT. Thing is, the infocrank sitting on my Road bike won't go on it, confirmed by my LBS. I'm a bit disappointed having raced with power on my road bike last year.

So, is it just a case of using RPE or HR (HR with the obvious starting pitfall)? I'll be doing 10's and SPOCO 25's.

Thanks...

Dave_P1

A good skill IMO is being able to race on feel just in case the gadgets fail on you, so it might be worth going on RPE.

Vslowpace

I find HR to be pretty useful. I know how high my HR should be before the wheels start coming off and with the pace on a TT being steady then the lag you get with HR shouldn't be too much of an issue.

Kryton57

Apart from the start of course. So just watch out for the starting effort as per usual, and know my hr for given sub / supra threshold efforts? Ive been interval training with Traineroad for years so im aware of that.

Thanks.

napoleond

I only look at my power meter near the start to make sure that I'm not going off too hard, but all that happens is I look at it and think 'oop, I'm going off too hard'.
When I have looked at my power in a tt its limited me as I've known what I think I should be capable of but when I've not looked, I've smashed out a power PB.

cycleclinic

I am not sure having a pm is iseful in a tt you ride on feel anyway. Same in a race. You use the data afterwards to see what you have done, have you performed at your best and to record stress so you plan your triaing and recovery better. trying to ride to a particular for a tt though is likely to lead to dispointment.

DeVlaeminck

I was never really a TTer but that surprises me - when I was a runner I found a GPS invaluable for pacing - I thought I could run even pace but I remember a 10 mile race in Ranby thinking I'd gone off OK, looking at my watch after mile 1 and it showed something like 5.20 - if I tell you I finished the race in something like 63 minutes you can guess how much the second half hurt. I would have thought a power meter was e ually valuable.

slowbike

10mile TT is only ±25 minutes - so it's not massively difficult to pace yourself without a PM.
The problem with a PM is that if you use instant power it's too "peaky" - whereas if you use 10second average it's too laggy in response - so when TTing with power I still used HR/feel to ride on and PM was there as info/after ride analysis.

whatleytom

Sell the infocrank and buy a P2M or two. Problem solved.

murf1480

I don't use power or cadence I do use HR though but I don't take any notice of that really just a quick glance every now and again.

Grill

Why won't the Infocrank work? If it's the 24mm one you just need a different BB on the Boardman and if it's the 30mm, it's even easier.

Mundo69

What % of max HR is best to maintain in a 10 mile TT ?

Hinaultscrapcousin

Mundo69 wrote:

What % of max HR is best to maintain in a 10 mile TT ?

Baws oot.

imposter2.0

Mundo69 wrote:

What % of max HR is best to maintain in a 10 mile TT ?

For a 10, I would not even bother referring to HR. Ride on feel.

meesterbond

Mundo69 wrote:

What % of max HR is best to maintain in a 10 mile TT ?

You work on the Boardman approach... keep asking yourself 'Can I keep up this effort?'
If the answer is yes, you're not going hard enough...
If the answer is no, you've gone too hard, you're already screwed...
The answer should be 'maybe'...

Mundo69

Thanks for your advice

buckles

meesterbond wrote:

Mundo69 wrote:

What % of max HR is best to maintain in a 10 mile TT ?

You work on the Boardman approach... keep asking yourself 'Can I keep up this effort?'
If the answer is yes, you're not going hard enough...
If the answer is no, you've gone too hard, you're already screwed...
The answer should be 'maybe'...

Interesting!