1. Watts
First of all power meters are getting popular because they are way better than heart rate monitors for monitoring your training. Power output is an objective measure of exercise intensity representing the actual work you put in the pedals.

The PowerTap SL collects huge amounts of data during your training ride. These data gives you a great opportunity to optimize your training and analyze your race performance. These analyzes can be time consuming, but it is here you really get the value for your money.

2. Light weight
PowerTap SL is a lighter version of the original PowerTap. The weight is reduced by using a carbon hub shell combined with a new lightweight aluminum axle combine for the hub. The complete system now weighs 480g including computer.

Saving some weight has a lot of attention from high performing athletes, because no one wants to carry heavy equipment that doesn’t provide extra speed for their bike (at least not immediately…) The hub has a weight that is slightly heavier than Dura Ace and Campagnolo Record, but that shouldn’t have much influence on the overall performance and especially not with the current rules weight limits from UCI (minimum bike weight: 6.8kg).

3. Price
In many years SRM was the only provider of power meters, but only professionals (or rather their sponsors) were willing to pay the price of these power meter cranks. Now you can buy a PowerTap SL for a lower price than cheapest version of the SRM crank (amateur version).

The post about who had the lowest resting heart rate was well visited. Thus, I thought it might be interesting to hear who has performed the highest power output ever? One of the interesting conclusions from the empiric study about resting heart rates indicates that genes often play a bigger than training level it self. That is greatly illustrated by Sue who counted her husband heart rate to as low as 31 beats per minute.

Power Output and Sprint Performance
Having a high maximum power output is important in sprints and accelerations. Like I have described in ‘How to win a bunch sprint’ it is not only a question about putting lots of watts in the pedals. Also it is important to consider how much impact your body weight has on your sprint performance. I have discussed the topic in a post about maximum power outputs and body weight.

Are there any 1500+ or even 2000+ Watts riders reading this? Well, show me your best power output ever!

I want to publish a collection of power meter reviews. If you have used your power meter (SRM, PowerTap, Ergomo, Polar etc.) for more than 6 Months, please write a review of it and share your experiences with people at Power Meter Tips (yup, there is a new name on this blog..!)

The review shall contain details about: Installation, Software, Pros/Cons and Overall Rating (1-10).

You can submit a review here.

During the following 3½months I will try to collect as many power meter profiles as possible. Afterwards I will present the data so you can compare your power outputs to people spending more or less time on training than you. I hope that a lot of riders will participate in this project, because I believe we all can benefit from this knowledge. You can read more about the project here and maybe enter the project if you already know your numbers. I will strongly recommend that you spread the words to riders who use SRM, PowerTaps, Ergomo or similar products. Thank you.

I know that my update frequency is bit low currently, but I give my recovery higher priority than updating Cycling Training Tips. But for PowerTap freaks, there are some other good blogs to study closer while you wait for more articles:

Frequent ride reports from Iwunaki and UhlAlbert.

Good lessons if you read about Jeff’s experiences with PowerTap pacing in short time trials.

Heart rate monitors like Polar and CardioSport have been the most used strategy in triathlons because these events have such long durations. If you like to use a heart rate monitor for pacing, triathlon and especially ultra distance triathlons are definitively the place to wear heart rate monitors. It is clear that when a constant tempo is the ideal pace in a race situation, then there is a good chance that your heart rate will show you how tough you current workload is. In cycling races the workload (Watts) is very inconsistent (sprints, jumps, hills, breaking, corners, etc.). In a traditional triathlon race there is lot more consistency in the power output, thus there is a lot better correlation between heart rate and workload.

Power Meters to the People

Power meters like SRM, Ergomo and PowerTap are very common among pro triathletes, but actually they would be at least as helpful for beginner triathletes. When a triathlete enters a competition for the first time, he will realize that it is very difficult to get an efficient pacing strategy. It is very tempting to hunt down the opponent in front of him and it is difficult to save the energy for the final part of the race (hint: there is a run AFTER the bike race in triathlons…)

Even though there is a better correlation between heart rate and workload in triathlons, there is really good arguments to start considering power meter training. By knowing your critical power outputs for the distances you compete in, you have the best opportunity to optimize your training program. As an example I would like to mention Dave Simonson who participate in the power meter project. He has gained several watts because he has learned how to pace himself and trained at the right intensity.

Heart rate monitors are good for pacing, but they are still influenced by several external factors (temperature, caffeine, level of recovery, etc.) This indicates that there is a great potential for beginner triathletes to improve their performance. Power meter training improves their skill for pacing and that is one of the most important non-physiological skills in triathlon