Power Meters / Powermeters (SRM, Powertap, Quarq, Ergomo, Vector, Stages, power2max, P2M, 4iii, InPower, Cinch)

You don't need premium to make segments. I have premium but I've forgotten what the benefits of it actually are- which probably means: there aren't any, or there aren't many.

Strava has lots of good functionality e.g. best efforts curve with selectable date ranges and goes as far as reproducing the wko+ performance management chart, which is great, but can't do fatigue analysis, quadrant analysis etc and won't automatically chop up your intervals.

Training Peaks is good, for tracking and analysis.
I will get WKO4 when it comes out, but more for wanting an offline thing, than it's features.

The one thing I like most about TrainerRoad from a enthusiastic MAMIL veiwpoint. Is that it lists you max powers for 5s, 30s, 1min, 5min, etc. for a workout, as well as you historic max's. This may not be great training data. But its great for a guy like me. If the Strava best efforts curve does this I'm sold.

I've come to the conclusion that I am a lazy twat outdoors. Restarting TrainRoad when winter kicked in was a painful shock. Hopefully a PM, and some basic logging software will give me the little push I need.

TP does that. It's a basic function really, for racing.

The one thing I like most about TrainerRoad from a enthusiastic MAMIL veiwpoint. Is that it lists you max powers for 5s, 30s, 1min, 5min, etc. for a workout, as well as you historic max's.

Strava won't do this in a table, you have to derive by mousing-over the curve.

It will switch easily between Power and Power : Weight.

Strava won't do this in a table, you have to derive by mousing-over the curve.

It will switch easily between Power and Power : Weight.

That'll do.

Cheers for the help folks. Awesome stuff.

Training Peaks is the best option - i think - though the interface sucks and WKO+ doesn't work on a mac :( (at least until last Summer that it was the last time I opened it)
I find the ATL CTL TSB curves quite useful

^Tika speaks sense.

If you use Strava and Training Peaks for the same rides/runs/swims for a month I guarantee you that you would no longer compare the two for the purposes of analyising your performance.

Training Peaks is designed, from the outset, to be a means of tracking and predicting performance- Strava is designed from the outset to record you beating Dave from accounts up the local climb, with some graphs thrown in.

One of the key parts of TP is the Performance Management Chart, which logs your "state" based on that days training, what you've done recently, and what you've done long term.

I've walked for two hours today at a fair clip, if I was being totally anal it would be an idea to input that as it would affect the PMC.

Thing is. If you care a bit about the 'social media' aspect of strava, in addition to wanting to monitor your fitness/performance. You end up having to upload each ride/run to Garmin + Strava + TP, as well as transfering turbo logs from TR. Seems like a massive faff to me. I guess I only really need to do the odd update to Strava.

Nah, use the Wahoo application on your phone, it uploads to all the usual suspects, and connects (via dongle for ANT+) to the sensors on the bike/HR strap/footpod.

I've walked for two hours today at a fair clip, if I was being totally anal it would be an idea to input that as it would affect the PMC.

Does it add anything to fitness though?

I don't add TSS for anything but cycling as it doesn't add fitness and thus would mess up CTL. Nor does it necessarily affect cycling performance.

Personally I make a note in my diary of what I did but don't add TSS. So if I look back at past workouts I can see that if I sucked for a reason I can see in the diary that a 4h walk might not be a good idea.

I have only used for cycling as I never did anything else. I would like to know how does it work for running but I know very little about running training.

If people want to learn about training with a PM, I think that the best is Training and Racing with a Power Meter by Andrew Coggan, Hunter Allen

I have only used for cycling as I never did anything else. I would like to know how does it work for running but I know very little about running training.

If people want to learn about training with a PM, I think that the best is Training and Racing with a Power Meter by Andrew Coggan, Hunter Allen

Popped round a mates house to check over a rear wheel last night, and he'd just recieved that very book. Seems widely recommended.

Kindle version ordered. Need something to read over Christmas.

It's not exactly reading.
More textbook literature to refer to the index and pick out bits that you want to know.

Reading it would just be death.

It's not exactly reading.
More textbook literature to refer to the index and pick out bits that you want to know.

Reading it would just be death.

No worries. I'm a polymer chemist. I read Atkins physical chemistry from cover to cover. Even read my bike/wheel building books cover to cover. I like this sort of thing.

#probablyneedtogetlaid

Ha. You'll love it then,

Joe Friels Power Meter Handbook is a bit more digestible and shares alot of the key content of the full fat Coggan/Allen

http://www.amazon.co.uk/The-Power-Meter-Handbook-Triathletes/dp/1934030953

No self respecting cyclist would buy a book for the slevless.

Ha. That was exactly my thinking when it came up on my kindle search That and the extra few dollars). Untill they allow pedalo use on the wet sections of triathlons. I shall be keeping my sleeves.

I'm in love with my Garmin Vector pedals! They are just fabulous and so much easier to live with and move between bikes than any other power meter (although they are a precision instrument and you do have to look after them).

You just have to keep reminding yourself that, despite appearances, you have not just blown £1,300 on a pair of £60 pedals!

just blown £1,300 on a pair of £13.99 pedals!

ftfy

I have a 'fair' 5s and 1min and 'very good' 5min and FTP. Great, confirms my suspicions, but what do I do now?

Or should I just forget ever leaving 4th cat and go and buy a TT rig?

If you have Very Good 5min and FTP, why are you still in 4th Cat? Did you just start racing?