For those that don't have a power meter

[martinko]

No, posers is different category of riders than those in 1).

[ntb1001]

too expensive, and prefer to ride by feel

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[53x12]

^ That is such a Fred answer.

[AJS914]

Fred is new and bumping his post count.

[kulivontot]

I had someone in my team that hated wearing a hrm, because it stressed them out to look at it and think they weren't going hard enough. Some people don't want to be accountable for their training and would prefer to just ride.

[robertbb]

I have a happy medium. I use a Kurt Kinetic Road trainer with the InRide power module during the winter months. This lets me do structured training blocks over a 12 - 16 week period and power in this controlled environment is a far better metric than HR (HR drift, lag, etc). Out on the road though, I use HR solely just to ensure I don't go too hard and blow up.

[topflightpro]

I have PMs on both my road bikes. And I use that data to inform my training and racing.

BUT, this year I've decided to race on the track. I don't currently have a PM on the track bike, and I'm not sure if or whether I will get one. Part of me really wants to see the data to analyze it, but at the same time, cadence, speed, and time tell me almost as much. People with more knowledge of training on the track that a PM is a really nice luxury.

[jlok]

I think track environment is more "controllable" than road (road surface, wind, temperature, grade) so cadence, speed and time are very usable metric for the experienced.

[KWalker]

Powermeters were one factor in ruining amateur racing. Even coaches I know have been amazed by the number of riders that make it through the categories getting 8th or 6th and 1 point, yet never attack, lead-out, get in a break, or really do anything other than just sit there and follow wheels. They don't know how to separate real results from the results sheet and conflate the two. Then, they get to 1 or 2 and usually burn out. Just look at how terrible rider attrition is in the United States.

Not the fault of powermeters, but when they became cheap it seemed that >75% of people I knew had one and most of them had a coach as 3s or 4s.

The value depends on the mindset of the user and the remaining physical potential. Some people are extremely unaware of sensations and have no real ability to predict how their body will respond to an effort. They might be leaving 20% on the table training without whereas those that are more experienced or perceptive might only have 2% or 5%, some small margin that would be lower than weekly variations in stress and training load. I know my 20min and 60min power every season ended up in the same 8 watt band for years. My 2-5min power improved the most over those years, but generally following periods of not using it due to the frequency of racing and group riding. I definitely think that it helped me prepare for racing in poor weather mostly by forcing me to hold back. I was never a great racer on the results sheet, but enjoyed the act of racing especially for teammates. I hated the structure of using one a lot of the time, but despite that appreciated the rewards of doing so and enjoyed the process.

[Rubik]

Powermeters were one factor in ruining amateur racing. Even coaches I know have been amazed by the number of riders that make it through the categories getting 8th or 6th and 1 point, yet never attack, lead-out, get in a break, or really do anything other than just sit there and follow wheels. They don't know how to separate real results from the results sheet and conflate the two. Then, they get to 1 or 2 and usually burn out. Just look at how terrible rider attrition is in the United States.

That makes absolutely no sense to me. Results sheet lists the real results. That's what actually matters. No one cares about the guy who repeatedly attacks and gets caught 2k from the line in a cat 4 race. That's just not a good racer, in my opinion. I made it to a cat 1 before I was actually able to get in breaks and stick them. To be relevant in any race from a cat 4 onwards I very quickly had to learn racing skills and how to use what I was good at to my advantage.

People have always gotten through the categories as best they can. And most people quit and move on to something new. That's the story with any hobby, though, not just cycling.

I'm not sure how a powermeter plays into that in any form.

I'd contend that you're not a great racer if you don't have results. That's what racing is about at the amateur level. Beating everyone when it matters, at the finish line.

[KWalker]

Let me break it down for you:

1. Racer attacks
2. Others countered, scared that something might get away. Pretty soon 10 scared people accidentally bring the break back.
3. Repeat 1 and 2
4. Sprint

or 4. A break is up the road. 5 dudes on the biggest team that have no confidence are are simply striving for social acknowledgement will either block if their guy is in the move, or pull it back.

5. After 4 happens, 1 through 4 above happen in the last few km usually causing a crash.

That's about 80% of races. 10% of the time a break actually works, the other 10% a selection occurs due to terrain. Any reasonably fit person can sit in the peloton and possibly position for a top 10. Any person that trains and isn't super fat or slow can do 1 through 3 in the list above with no resolve or knowledge of tactics.

I think your mentality is what turns racing into something more akin to a gym session than a bike racer. That's quite sad you never got into a break until you legit could enter a race with elite level racers and pros. Probably dangerous as well. I don't even know why it's called pro 1/2 when most 1's would be lucky to visit a PRT or whatever the hell it's called now crit.

Anyways, that's my two cents and contribution to this thread. Amateur road racing is dying a pretty quick death in the U.S. and I believe it is largely because people treat it as a narcissistic fitness routine more than an actual sport. Costs and logistics play into it, but just spend 10 minutes on Road Results look at historical reg data and it's fairly obvious.

[fromtrektocolnago]

i don't have a power meter because i don't have a training program that would take advantage of the data. simply seeing the power numbers on strava is not a sufficient reason for me. i'd be more likely to get a heart rate monitor which could help me see when i'm over-training.

[boots2000]

Racing in the US is on life support for many reasons, but powermeters are not one of them.

Though many have powermeters on their bikes, few know how to use them or interpret that data.

They are just expensive Cateyes for most.

[KWalker]

I think what I was getting at was that it fuels a mindset that focuses on an output that is tangential to the experience rather than the experience itself. Most people couldn't coach by power, but they know what some rough personal bests or high numbers are and can check their head based on that. It's the fear of going over that and "failing" or not getting points, that deters racecraft.

[Rubik]

Let me break it down for you:

1. Racer attacks
2. Others countered, scared that something might get away. Pretty soon 10 scared people accidentally bring the break back.
3. Repeat 1 and 2
4. Sprint

or 4. A break is up the road. 5 dudes on the biggest team that have no confidence are are simply striving for social acknowledgement will either block if their guy is in the move, or pull it back.

5. After 4 happens, 1 through 4 above happen in the last few km usually causing a crash.

That's about 80% of races. 10% of the time a break actually works, the other 10% a selection occurs due to terrain. Any reasonably fit person can sit in the peloton and possibly position for a top 10. Any person that trains and isn't super fat or slow can do 1 through 3 in the list above with no resolve or knowledge of tactics.

I think your mentality is what turns racing into something more akin to a gym session than a bike racer. That's quite sad you never got into a break until you legit could enter a race with elite level racers and pros. Probably dangerous as well. I don't even know why it's called pro 1/2 when most 1's would be lucky to visit a PRT or whatever the hell it's called now crit.

Anyways, that's my two cents and contribution to this thread. Amateur road racing is dying a pretty quick death in the U.S. and I believe it is largely because people treat it as a narcissistic fitness routine more than an actual sport. Costs and logistics play into it, but just spend 10 minutes on Road Results look at historical reg data and it's fairly obvious.

That's not really breaking anything down for me. Not really sure what point that's actually supposed to get across. Also not sure why you're now compelled to simply regress to being insulting, either.

I've raced in numerous PRTs, raced in a dozen plus national championships at various levels, raced in Europe, etc.

Getting across that finish line in the best position possible is what matters in amateur racing as you make your way through the rankings. And for most people, the faster you learn how to race, the more successful you'll be at that. It's a skill and is what separates good bike racers from strong bike riders. Personally, I'd rather be a good bike racer. A powermeter may help in training and certain situations where pacing is vital, but it's not going to ever replace those bike racing skills. And I certainly don't think it's detrimental to bike racing.

Frankly, I think your assertions are both uninformed and misplaced.