Bling wheels or Powermeter?

Rawhead

I plan on robbing a small post office at the end of the year and using the loot to make one purchase for next season. What would be the better investment for cycling results.
Bling wheels or a powermeter?

d4r3n

It'd be a powermeter for me, but then again I'm a data nerd

tunney

Rawhead wrote: »

I plan on robbing a small post office at the end of the year and using the loot to make one purchase for next season. What would be the better investment for cycling results.
Bling wheels or a powermeter?

Peter : A power meter is just a tool, a sports science tool, sports science doesn't work

Zico : Woooo dude, heavy

Mloc : pretty things make me smile

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

PM as long as its used and trained with properly.

MrCreosote

Bling wheels look and sound good. That's a cycling result right there.

hf4z6sqo7vjngi

MrCreosote wrote: »

Bling wheels look and sound good. That's a cycling result right there.

Bleh stick some stickers onto stock wheels, jam a lolipop stick into the spokes to make a disc like noise and away you go.

Borderfox

Snazzy wheels ftw

mloc123

aaaw, Tunney took the words out of my mouth.

Bling wheels make you look the part, looking the part will make you faster

Note: I own two powermeters and no proper bling wheels

BennyMul

kill two stones with the one bird and get Bling wheels with a power tap.

imo, If used correctly and suits the way you train a power meter is a better long term investment, a set of bling wheels are nice but how much time will you save between different wheels sets.

Rawhead

Seems like a PM is the way to go. I notice no one had an issue with me terrorising an elderly postmistress to get said powermeter.

mloc123

Rawhead wrote: »

Seems like a PM is the way to go. I notice no one had an issue with me terrorising an elderly postmistress to get said powermeter.

http://www.rte.ie/news/2012/0601/gardai-appeal-after-dublin-post-office-robbery.html

You should be able to buy both really..

peter kern

"What was the secret, they wanted to know; in a thousand different ways they wanted to know The Secret. And not one of them was prepared, truly prepared to believe that it had not so much to do with chemicals and zippy mental tricks as with that most unprofound and sometimes heart-rending process of removing, molecule by molecule, the very tough rubber that comprised the bottoms of his training shoes.( replace with wheels if you want;-) The Trial of Miles, Miles of Trials. How could they be expected to understand that?"

Rule 1 you understand that you go to the next level but only if you get rule one

peter kern

i ave a guy coming to sessions that has every single garmin that has been been invented . we have only 1 issue.....
he dosnt run enough to get better ...........every few month he looks for something new a new bike, a nutritionist , cross fit , pilates etc etc.


But he is happy so its not wrong either and looking for the secret keeps him doing some training. and money is not the issue , training is.

RacoonQueen

peter kern wrote: »

i ave a guy coming to sessions that has every single garmin that has been been invented . we have only 1 issue.....
he dosnt run enough to get better ...........every few month he looks for something new a new bike, a nutritionist , cross fit , pilates etc etc.


But he is happy so its not wrong either and looking for the secret keeps him doing some training. and money is not the issue , training is.

On that point, talking to a guy today who told me he has a client who has a 12000 euro bike from the UK.

"Bet he's a very average triathlete" says I
"Below average would be closer" was the reply

Christ, what I could do with 12 grand :rolleyes:

tunney

RacoonQueen wrote: »

On that point, talking to a guy today who told me he has a client who has a 12000 euro bike from the UK.

"Bet he's a very average triathlete" says I
"Below average would be closer" was the reply

Christ, what I could do with 12 grand :rolleyes:

How many people have class cars but can't drive them to get the most out of them?

How many people have top of the range stereos but haven't the ear to appreciate the sound?

How many people have expensive musical instruments but are sh1t?

How many people have German passports but aren't that German?

Each to their own. Live and let live.

Briando

tunney wrote: »

How many people have class cars but can't drive them to get the most out of them?

How many people have top of the range stereos but haven't the ear to appreciate the sound?

How many people have expensive musical instruments but are sh1t?

How many people have German passports but aren't that German?

Each to their own. Live and let live.

Yeah Tunney you enjoy your 12k bike and let the haters hate

hootini

tunney wrote: »

How many people have class cars but can't drive them to get the most out of them?

How many people have top of the range stereos but haven't the ear to appreciate the sound?

How many people have expensive musical instruments but are sh1t?

How many people have German passports but aren't that German?

Each to their own. Live and let live.

That was almost poetic ...... now who are you and what have you done with Tunney!?

mloc123

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=39769

Decent value PT

ray o

mloc123 wrote: »

http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/Models.aspx?ModelID=39769

Decent value PT

2nd hand one also for sale over in the cycling forum....jaysus I have to stop spending money.

http://www.boards.ie/vbulletin/showthread.php?t=2056670128

elvis jones

tunney wrote: »

How many people have class cars but can't drive them to get the most out of them?

How many people have top of the range stereos but haven't the ear to appreciate the sound?

How many people have expensive musical instruments but are sh1t?

How many people have German passports but aren't that German?

Each to their own. Live and let live.

are you 12 ;)

tunney

Briando wrote: »

Yeah Tunney you enjoy your 12k bike and let the haters hate

I wish

hootini wrote: »

That was almost poetic ...... now who are you and what have you done with Tunney!?

I was in a good mood yesterday!

elvis jones wrote: »

are you 12 ;)

Don't follow. Was just saying if someone has the money, wants to spend it on bikes and doing so will not take food out of the mouths of their loved ones then let them enjoy their bikes!

elvis jones

tunney wrote: »

I wish



I was in a good mood yesterday!



Don't follow. Was just saying if someone has the money, wants to spend it on bikes and doing so will not take food out of the mouths of their loved ones then let them enjoy their bikes!

The only people i've heard use the phrase class car are 12 year olds..........i agree with all you said.

Life is short, spent your cash as you wish...........ya can't be buried with it.

zico10

tunney wrote: »

Peter : A power meter is just a tool, a sports science tool, sports science doesn't work

Zico : Woooo dude, heavy

Mloc : pretty things make me smile

I don't think I've ever used even two of those three words in the same sentence before in my life.

Anyway what I'd be really interested in is what Tunney thinks. Now might be an ideal time to tell us about the advantages of a PM over bling wheels, that you only alluded to in another thread.

tunney wrote: »

I've not even got to the *real* reasons to choice a PM over aero wheels but I need a good hour to put that down

Fazz

In my opinion if you're looking for return on investment there are other areas to look at.

If you're looking for something nice to buy that you'll appreciate and get the best return for, then I'd say Power meter but with some important caveats as already mentioned.

My experience:
I rented a Computrainer for 3 months, got the power meter book, and was being coached by an online coach at the time.
Did I see return on investment - Yes.
Have I seen better returns for different methods - Absolutely Yes.

There is no doubt training well with a Power Meter is a whole different ball game in my experience. I rate it highly. I also recognise it is not easy to train well with though.

A good coach in my opinion is the best investment out there.
Second to that, would be individual coached sessions - be it power turbo classes, 1 to 1 coached swim classes etc.
Thereafter, you're into Tri Bike (vs roady), Power meter (only if used correctly), aero helmet, aero Wheels - all probably in that order in my opinion and experience.



If you are absolutely deciding between say a set of HED's/Zipps vs a Power Meter - then it would depend on the specifics for me.
E.g - would the bling wheels be race only use - i.e. tubulars etc? If so then I'd lean towards a powermeter (pref crank so training and race use).
- would the powermeter be a powertap on training wheels? crank system on tri bike? etc.

Depending on the above, there are some good deals about if you don't mind second hand wheels.
You can pick up a set of 606/808's these days for circa €1k (I did the same myself last year).
Powertap for around the €700 mark so for €1,800 you've a powertapped set of Zipps.
You'd pay that or at least most of for a crank based power meter.
Or say €800 for a powertapped training wheel.

Briando

Power2max.de have a crank based system for under 1k.

Read some reviews online and see if it is for you.

Here is one from a cyclist, prefer them to 'media' reviews.

http://jibbering.com/sports/power2max-review.html

LCD

Also consider what will motivate you to train more. Maybe you think your bike looks the dogs nuts with a nice set of deep rims & you want to ride it more or maybe you love numbers & enjoy watching your power numbers change month to month.

Is no right or wrong answer.

catweazle

Rawhead wrote: »

I plan on robbing a small post office at the end of the year and using the loot to make one purchase for next season. What would be the better investment for cycling results.
Bling wheels or a powermeter?

If you are proud of that new TT bike which I know you are - you are not going to be happy until you have the bling wheels on it. So even if you get the Powermeter first, every race you go to you will be green with envy looking at the wheels which wont be the case with the Powermeter on other bikes.

Rawhead

catweazle wrote: »

If you are proud of that new TT bike which I know you are - you are not going to be happy until you have the bling wheels on it. So even if you get the Powermeter first, every race you go to you will be green with envy looking at the wheels which wont be the case with the Powermeter on other bikes.

I do like the new bike but I view it as a tool. I am not that bothered by bling wheels and probably should have used a better word. I got the TT bike because I knew it would show the best return for my investment in training. I really can't see how much of a difference wheels can make. If my projected time for a HIM bike split is 2:40 for example, how much quicker would a good set of wheels be?

I am not number and stat orientated but I can see real and measurable improvements with using the HRM and that is why I have asked about the PM. I have heard that it is much quicker and more responsive than a HRM. I plan on going long in 2013/2014 and remember Joe Friel saying it was nearly cheating using a PM if used correctly.

Thanks for all the input folks.