Quick one. Power Meter related question.

Spartacus1981

To keep it brief I have what might be a short window to buy a Power 2 Max Type S for Cannondale Hollowgram Cranks for what appears to be a good price second hand (250 quid ish). Apparently they're all good to go, calibrated correctly etc. The ONLY reservation I have about buying is that is is 130 BCD, so basically your standard crank options only ... And I live in Mallorca, with hills.

Basically it's probably a silly question that only I can answer due to only me knowing how strong my legs are. But do I, a) just buy it as I've wanted to give training with power a go for some time ? Or, b) don't buy it just because it seems like a good deal and pay extra for a more sensible option like a 52/36 Powerbox (which I was going to buy before but some bills came in which meant I had to wait) ? So ...

I just thought it might be a nice reasonably priced entry into at least giving this training with power thing a go. But there's the old saying 'buy cheap buy twice' so I'm in a quandary ....

slowbike

Depends what cassette you use on the back atm really .

A 36-28 = 1.29 - with a 39 chainring you'd need a 30 cassette to achieve the same ratio - to me, that's doable - although I'd probably want the 32 cassette ...

cougie

How serious are you about training with power ? I've done it before and had good results but it was through the winter with specific sessions on the turbo.

I bought a power meter but having a turbo that gave out theoretical power would have worked just as well. I found it harder to use power outside just due to traffic weather hills etc.

imposter2.0

More of a gearing question than a power meter question, I would suggest. You don't say what gearing you are using currently, which makes it difficult to suggest gear options..

timothyw

It is possible to fit 38t inner rings on 130bcd, given that the latest groupsets support cassettes that go all the way to 34 teeth I say go ahead.

Spartacus1981

Don't you just hate it when you press the back button accidentally when typing a long response !!

Sorry I should have said, I'm running 52/36 with and 11-28 cassette at the rear. This serves me fine even on the longest of the Mallorcan climbs (i.e Puig Mayor, Sa Calobra etc) so I think if I can get a 38 inner I should be ok ... I ran full 53/39 in Wales for a bit and it was a struggle on the real steep ones I admit but the hills do vary a bit more here and the gradients aren't as severe, other than the very odd hill you might encounter. The hill in the video below is very close (within a few km's) of where I'm living and I don't think I'd even get up there on a 39 inner, but you have to kind of go out of your way to ride it anyway so I can easily just avoid it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mp2rLtyIsoA

This one also just fit's to my current cranks which is a bonus. Included in that price (attached to the P2M) are some Praxis Works 53/39 chainrings, so essentially I could just fit it as is. However I think the guy's done about 8000km on the rings (that was his guess anyway), and even though they don't actually look very worn at all and he's convinced they will do many more miles ... , I thought maybe I'll replace them anyway with a 52/38 combo as I think both of those can be bought in 130BCD. Plus the shifting on Praxis rings is apparently crap ...

Can anyone recommend some decent 5 bolt chainrings 52/38 that shift well and aren't overpriced ?

timothyw

I'm using a Spa chainring which works well and is reasonably priced (particularly for a Zicral chainring) although I don't know what the shipping to Mallorca might be:
http://www.spacycles.co.uk/m2b0s210p0/P ... nrings-Spa

svetty

Shifting on Praxis rings is pretty good and 8K is low mileage for chain-rings. Knowing the climbs in Mallorca I'd say that they are doable without silly low gearing but it really depends on your FTP. Anything north of 200-220 watts and you should be fine on 39-28....

burnthesheep

cougie wrote:

I found it harder to use power outside just due to traffic weather hills etc.

Mistake #1 for riders using power outdoors is that they display the wrong data on their computer. Know your route so you aren't staring at a map. After that, instead of speed, avg speed, total time, and all the other..........your main fields need to be 3s power, HR, and perhaps % grade.

If you do this, you'll notice how often you're being lazy on an outdoor ride and not shifting gears to get back into the correct training zone.

Simply changing the fields on my gps to show this, my normal 1 hour workout ride outdoors went from about 180 NP to 200 to 210 NP for the same route. Because I was paying attention and working harder.

ryan_w-2

Smallest you can go on 130BCD is 38T on the front.

Standard semi is 36/28 = 1.29

38/28 = 1.36
38/30 = 1.27

I'm sure you'll be fine in the hills with either of the above.

FTP isn't really as important as w/kg when hills are involved.

I'm 88kg, 330w FTP, 3.75w/kg and am not the best up hills, however, still ok on a 36/25 (1.44) combo up most things.

I've changed to an 11/30T cassette for my upcoming trip to Barcelona, which gives me a climbing gear of 36/30 (1.20) if I really need it.

Spartacus1981

Cheers guys. Well I just pulled the plug on it in the end as just thought what's the worst that can happen ... It seemed like a pretty decent price to get me started with a PM (good price if it works I guess), and I think I'll try it first with the Praxis rings @Svetty as maybe 8K isn't actually that much like you say. No idea actually what my FTP is as never trained with power before (only HR zones a year or so back) but I'll do some testing and give it a proper bash. So now I'm thinking forward to a possible plan ... I have the Time Crunched Cyclist book and considered following one of the plans in there, or maybe get one of the Power Based plans from Training Peaks and give one of those a shot. Or just find a free one online. Anyone got any thoughts ?

imposter2.0

Spartacus1981 wrote:

Cheers guys. Well I just pulled the plug on it in the end

So you didn't buy it?

Spartacus1981

No I meant I bought it !!

Spartacus1981

It's been posted apparently. Looking forward to giving it ago. Spanish post is notoriously crap though so hopefully I'll have it within the week ?? Then to just get it fitted and get going.

imposter2.0

Spartacus1981 wrote:

No I meant I bought it !!

Wrong metaphor then..

foggymike

Pushed the button?

napoleond

Pulled the trigger?

Spartacus1981

Haha,true. Cheers guys, let's see how it goes once I get this puppy installed !

StillGoing

Can't go wrong with a P2M Type S.