Power meters

psittacosis

I'm starting to think one is not enough.

The_Wicker_Man

Depends on your discipline. For me it's 2, one on my road bike and one on my TT bike.

kesa

If you need more than one wouldn't you just get a type allows it to be switched over such as a crank or pedal meter?

FatTed

One on the bike the other on the Turbo, or have an indoor trainer with power.

JesseD

I only have the 1, but am thinking I need at least 3, one for the race bike, one for the TT bike and one for the winter training bike. In reality I probably dont need one at all!

StillGoing

P2M on the main bike and a smart trainer with inbuilt power meter.

okgo

I have one per bike. So 3, all quarq, all adjusted to match each other

psittacosis

I've got one, which I am going to swap to the turbo/winter bike. But I think the right number is 3.
One for TT bike, 1 for summer road bike, 1 for winter/turbo bike.
I CBA with the faffing around moving PM from bike to bike.

fat daddy

I think, realistically that 1 power meter is all you need to realize you dont need a power meter

however I want 3

(1) on the turbo
(2) on the wet weather road bike (99% of the time I am on the best bike I dont give a crap about power)
(3) On the TT bike that I dont own anyway,but if I did I would want a PM on it

Alex99

If you're just riding, then you don't need one. If you're training, then it's better to have one for every ride. So, anyone can work out the best way to achieve that.

psittacosis

="Alex99"So, anyone can work out the best way to achieve that.

What did you do?

964cup

I have:

Four on bikes:
Quarq on climbing bike
Rotor LT on RP/all-purpose bike (Quarq on order); Rotor LT will go to TT bike when the Quarq arrives.
P2Max on winter bike
Rotor LT on holiday bike

Two on shelves:
Rival Stages (used to be on turbo bike, turbo bike stolen by wife, now use one of the main bikes on the turbo; hate turbo anyway - rather get wet outdoors)
Powertap rear wheel (ancient, was on turbo bike before Rival)

Did put the Rival chainset in the classifieds, but no-one bit. Obvs not posh enough for this crowd. Worked well, I thought, although I'm now a bit of convert to spider-based meters (faster response, power balance [kinda], better metrics).

So the right number is somewhere between 5 and 7. Unless I put one on the track bike, in which case, moar.

jgsi

Different tack... considering that power meters are still expensive, what is everyone's ROI for having 1 or multiple powermeters?
Personally, having used one for training a good number of years, I really could go back old school and not exactly suffer in respect of race results next season.
Are people actually winning stuff because of PMs?

964cup

Far too old to win things, but:

1. PMs stop you blowing up on climbs - can't count the number of times I've been dropped at the start of a climb, but been first (or at least definitely not last) by the end of it.
2. PMs help you distinguish between perceived and real effort - means you don't (necessarily) cook yourself at the start of a ride when you feel strong and also help psychologically when your legs are telling you it's all too hard, but you're only doing 250w.
3. All of the above with knobs on for TTs.
4. I think it's more efficient to train with power than without. I hate the turbo, but I can't imagine doing it without power these days - I'd find it really hard to judge what results I was getting.

I do spend a lot of my time riding fixed, though, with no PM and no other sensors (well, I do have a cadence sensor, but no display - it's just fun to look at later). I think some of the benefit of 1 & 2 above sticks, so perhaps I'm over-rating the value of PMs.

burnthesheep

One, the right one, for you.

If you're doing the winter/summer bike thing, just swap the crank arm or the pedals over when it's time. Then when good weather hits, swap back.

If you get a nice weather day in winter for the summer bike, just ride it without for the day.

Training wise? Just use a fluid or smart trainer and throw the bike on there that has the meter.

Sooooo many people who claim to "train" without a meter or HRM and are essentially just doing endurance rides with a few segment efforts thrown in. That's my "off" day on a training plan with a meter.

Perceived effort in the hands of us mere mortals is how you end up getting lazy on a ride. Or blow up in 10 minutes.

Tell me you can go out and do an honest "over/under" interval workout with a HRM or with nothing at all.........ain't gonna happen.

reacher

I can and my guess is that their were plenty of cyclists doing so before power meters came along and plenty still manage without them, thats not to say their not a useful tool but to be fair you are making it sound like you cant train without one

trivial_poursuivant

Depends on your brand. Buy Garmin or Powertap pedals and they are easy to swap from bike to bike. Stages, Pioneer, 4iiii to a lesser degree if your bikes are all the same chainset. Unless you’re a pro or have a large disposable income, I would think buying an expensive power meter multiple times is a bit idiotic when there are options to allow you to not need to

imposter2.0

burnthesheep wrote:

Tell me you can go out and do an honest "over/under" interval workout with a HRM or with nothing at all.........ain't gonna happen.

Have to agree with reacher. If you're experienced enough to know what your threshold 'feels like' then this is simply not an issue. Of course you can.

That's not an argument against powermeters, btw.

FatTed

okgo wrote:

I have one per bike. So 3, all quarq, all adjusted to match each other

How do you do that Okgo?

Alex99

psittacosis wrote:

="Alex99"So, anyone can work out the best way to achieve that.

What did you do?

2 road bikes + various wheels. 2x Stages for me.

Alex99

JGSI wrote:

Different tack... considering that power meters are still expensive, what is everyone's ROI for having 1 or multiple powermeters?
Personally, having used one for training a good number of years, I really could go back old school and not exactly suffer in respect of race results next season.
Are people actually winning stuff because of PMs?

I don't think a good race performance can be pinned down to just one variable like this. A lot of people will certainly attest to a power meter helping them improve. Of course, it is possible to train well without a PM, but I definitely find that measurement helps. For me, seeing progress is motivating, and the PM data gives me that and is a factor in keeping up consistent training.

phil485

Currently have 3, 2 stages and one powerful wheel. Turbo is a tacx neo so that probably counts as a 4th.

Very interested to have a look at the new Shimano Power meter when it's readily available to replace one of the stages.

Numbers are interesting!

daniel_b

I've gone two, BUT one is a proper power meter for out on the road, and one is part of a direct drive turbo, as above, a Neo in my case.
Another one for the winter bike would be a nice to have, but prices need to drop more first.

Having said that, when I start TT-ing, the job of swapping the Vector 2's across may wear thin at some point.

okgo

FatTed wrote:

okgo wrote:

I have one per bike. So 3, all quarq, all adjusted to match each other

How do you do that Okgo?

You can adjust the slope of them in Qalvin. I bought a calibration weight and went through the process with them to make sure of course.

FatTed

So you can, thanks

EBEB

1.5

One real one (power 2 max) and an iBike Newton+.

The advantage is
1) combined you can get a live indication of your wind resistance
2) with ‘powermatch’ you can see how long before you get tired and start pedalling square.
3) if you can move the real power meter (once) between bikes you can calibrate the newton to work on up to 4 bikes - it is close enough when the weather isn’t terrible and you don’t accidentally go off road. The Newton is a simple swap. I think the more recent power pod is the same.

I now have a power for each bike (and one spare) and live wind resistance for the TT bike.

It is just a shame that they haven’t written a Connect IQ app, otherwise the powerpod would be an ideal second powermeter. The Newton computer itself doesn’t have a backlight, so sucks in the dark. It does however transmit ANT+ power.

penski

I voted 1 but then realised the correct answer for me should be 2 - 1 on road bike, one with the turbo!

manxshred

I had 2.5, Road, MTB and virtual power on my trainer. I'm now down to 1.5 due to getting a refund on the stages on my MTB due to it always breaking, and I'll not replace the stages on my road bike when the time comes, or sell it to a friend who is interested.
It has brought me no benefit knowing my power numbers for the riding I do.