Marianne's Power Questions
Okay Power Geeks and newbies, need some help.
THE ASK: How Much for What Set up and How?
1. As many of you know... I have talked about getting power but talked myself out of it due to $cost and my ungadget like mind. so if I commit to $$PM (5kids stay at home mom and I am conservative spender...) I know I have this forum and local friends to keep me honest and learn how to use it! I would also need WKO software. I want faster bike times. I don't own a trainer either cuz it sounds horrible! 
so I ride outside all year which takes mental fu in 32 _ degrees, so not sure if I need a $trainer in the mix either.
*I have a Garmin 205 bought Nov 2005 and well, it is still working! DH asked me if I wanted new Garmin and I said not sure although I can see benefits of one gadget throughout a race!! It could be me or the Garmin but it doesn't record previous workouts and I don't upload anything! I use it for mileage and pacing but don't know how to work its features for like auto pacing or beeping if I go too fast or too slow! so for $350 I wonder if I need new Garmin or should just throw $in the pot for PM? so that led me to wonder aloud (again) about PMs.
VDOT about 38ish. I feel good about my run MOJO (if I can get rid of piriformis and manage IT knee which has derailed me in last 2 IMs!), race nutrition, mental tenacity and normally finish an IM with higher % in AG on the run than the bike or swim. WI will be my 5th one and although in a different race venue, would like to go sub 13'. with many of the other EN chickas. To do that, I have to be off that bike!! 
2. I have a Mac computer and have figured out how to upload pics 
so can put my mind to uploading data though. but right now when I see the colorful graphs and numbers, it looks greek! but I understand a whole lot more than maybe I am letting on.
3. Have read many of the posts in this forum but still sorta confused....on the options.
4. What are my options/cost?
Quintana Roo Lucero bike, bought Christmas 2005. doesn't turn sharply, rides fast, I don't have "other wheels" and am mechanically illiterate! (IMLP 09, entering 2nd lap and said Hey to DH!)
Orbea Dama Race Road bike with Campe. Haven't ridden her since February 09! she needs a new bike fit/pedals/shoes and if I were to switch PMs, it would HAVE to be simple. This is not my "work" bike but I ride it hard though. Off Season but I like it for the sharp turning radius, paceline riding. Triple rings so it gives me some gears!
Specialized 26er, Stump Jumper mt bike! will be racing in state series for a team that sponsors me! Races are high aerobic for me and I hope to increase my bike handling skills, like downhills and turning. yes this bike handles differently than my tri bike but I HAVE to use my body on this bike which I have realized I don't do on tri bike so all good learning for me.
**
note that it has less spokes so "standard" hub on this wheel was never working....
12/27 compact gearing and I still "struggle" going uphill, IMWI =A race. I get dropped on every hill but do seem to do fine going down!! I weigh 119 and it is a puzzle to my training partners who know me well, that I do better on flat and windy rather than curvy and hilly! NOLA 70.3 was one of my "best" bike splits and IMLP was my worst!
Race/training set up is simple and light. (old pic and have had recent bike fit).
Comments
M-
I can empathize with the costs (not wanting to spend big bucks). One way to look at it is the value scenerio for you. Since this is your 5th IM, and numerous HIM's under your belt, fairly easy to guess this is a ongoing pursuit. Likely this is the one passion/luxury you have for yourself. Power is the truthometer of the bike- unlike PE or HR, it is objective- it is what it is, no matter what it feels like. There are super deals on the Garmin 305's (2 yr back models) to the tune of as cheap as $150 so I really wouldn't consider that in the mix of getting power. When Garmin figures out the swim distance thing on the 310X- then you could consider more $'s there.
To get started... IMHO Powertap is the way to go. SRM is sweet, but the $'s hard to justify if you don't luck into a deal or race for a living :-) Powertap makes units to fit 20, 24, 28, & 32 spokes (in the wireless models). Go wireless- worth not having the "junk" of wires. I know EN has had some deals with wheelbuilder. If you like your current Real Design wheels, you can keep cost down by having PT put in their (since I think you train & race on them). If not, there are lots of good reasonable Mavic and DT Swiss rims you can get. I would also suggest WKO (Cycling Peaks) and the Intro to Power webinar. These two items you could wait for, but I'm big on getting starting on one thing and keep building (I have a hard time learning new software, then switching and learning again).
Costs.... Powertap w/good basic wheel- @$1200 - may be able to save 200-300 if can use your own wheel
WKO- $99- one time purchase
Webinar- $65 (w/EN member discount)
Found this thread from R on costs through Wheelbuilder and there are discounts for the package deal of all three. http://www.endurancenation.us/en_fo...php?t=4613
The key to getting the most value out of a PM is learning what it is telling you by learning about the unit and the graphes available to you in WKO. I'm still learning about this power thing after 3 yrs- so expect to put some homework time in as you ramp up. Excellent to have some many good resources at your fingertips in the forum so not to worry, just make sure you are ready to "do the time".
Happy shopping!
K
Thanks Kris, from past research, to use my current wheel, would need to ship it off and have the hub built into that wheel. for some vain reason I don't want mismatching wheels!! Now my other option would be to have two mismatched wheels and then on race day slap on wheel cover. but I still gotta ride around with two different wheels which I know some have said don't bother them at all. Yes I would want the correct software from the git go as I don't like learning new software. so I think to run wko from the Mac I need something else? Rich has told me before and I have forgotten, so sorry.
**I posted this on the forum cuz I bet there are others out there like me who would want to know from ground up what is involved with power purchase and what is the bottom line? some of you would want more features and whistles though because computers and puzzles are your passion!
Marianne- quick Q.. What is the wheel size on your Road bike and on your Tri bike? Is it the same? And do you happen to know if they are both 10sp or 9sp bikes? I'm asking so we can figure out compatibility between the two bikes for using your power meter.
Hi Marianne,
If I remember correctly, my Rich recommendated powertap+wheel option cost c. $1580. (with new deep v wheel. I doesn't match the front one perfectly, but it does coordinate nicely.) This included power webinar and wko.
Then, VM ware fusion on the Mac to make it have a sekrit PC side. You can dowload a trial, but I think it is about $70.
Boyfriend has access to copies of all things Microsoft from work, so I got my Windows 7, etc. for free.
Marianne,
This is a bit off topic, but take a look at your bike fit. From the picture of you on your TT bike it appears that your hip angle is too tight, thereby costing you power in that position. Try moving forward, opening up that hip angle and see how your speed picks up. I'm betting that you'll experience good results.
It was only 500 for all of it and included a wheel builder cover. Its teh only way I could "afford" it.
Just count the number of gears (not teeth) on the cassette on the rear wheel of each, if you count 10 on both you are all set
Sorry to make it more complex, but you need to also make sure both are Shimano/Sram. If one is Campy and the other is Shimano/SRAM move a powertap wheel back and forth will not be as cheap and easy...still possible though.
well the road is campy that much I know and the tri is not! counting gears? okay let's see just how illiterate I am... coming back, yes both have ten! gotta head out for office dinner and this project $is mind boggling..... don't be alarmed... my Guatemala mission trip in February costs as much as this PM and so I might still have to back out financially....will see. husband just told me that he has already ordered me the new Garmin and do I want it?? he had me repeat the cost of the PM when I told him! he said he had no idea!! he is my "sponsor"...
good guy...scootin out. m
So it sounds like you want a PM for the tri and the road bike...If you can use the same rear wheel on both then a Powertap is a good option for a decent price. Of course, the iBike is $799 and could be used with both bikes. I have no experience with it, but there's quite a bit of info about it from NavyTriGuy (James Lewis) on the forum.
As for a PM on a mountain bike, I've thought alot about getting one but decided against it. First, mtb's take a bigger beating than a road/tri bike. I'd hate to spend all that $$$ on a PM only to bash it to pieces. Second, I'm not going to looking at the PM computer while riding. I think the value of a PM in mtb riding is post-ride analysis at least for me right now. When I'm climbing, there's no hold back the watts and just spin. Nope, I'm doing everything I can to get up the climb and stay upright. Overall, I wouldn't bother considering a PM for the mtb at this point.
If you are getting a new Garmin...the 310XT? That could be used with a PT ANT+ hub and Quarq Cinqo.
If you don't want mismatching wheels, you can just buy the hub that has the same number of spoke holes as your existing rear wheel (of your tri bike). You local bike shop should be able to rebuild the Powertap hub into your existing rear wheel. It's really not that big of job. Powertap makes ANT+ hubs that would be compatible with your Garmin 310XT.
With a Powertap, you could have a PM for your tri and road bike. Because your road bike is Campy, you'd have to just change the cassette on your Powertap wheel.
The Quarq is based on the crank. It is compatible with the following compact cranks: SRAM S900 / Bontrager Race X Lite / Truvativ Rouleur Carbon cranks. If your tri and/or road bike don't have those cranks then you can buy the SRAM S900 crank from Quarq (which is what I did). To switch between the 2 bikes seems easy and you won't have to do anything with your wheels. Overall, the Quarq option is probably a bit more expensive than the Powertap option.
I say go powertap given you need easy. The switch to tri and road bike would then happen when you go "in season" So I ride road bike with power for 8 months a year, but tri bike for 4 as I build up to my races, etc. If you switch like that, your LBS can help with the cassette, etc.
P
Marianne- Although I like to think I "sponsor" myself, Max is a huge part of it all. I mentioned I would look at buying a road bike next year, voila, guess what I am getting...
Anyway, went to LBS yesterday for fitting and to decide on frame/ components. Campy on my tri bike, so unless I get campy on new bike with similar gear ratio (which I probably will unless something major prevents this) they said I could not switch Power-tap wheel between bikes if road bike is shimano or SRM. It would necesitate cassette and free hub switch.
So I am planning to make the bikes match, even if it means changing the tri bike (eventually).
Marianne,
Must have = power on tri bike, as that's what you're going to lock yourself into leading up to races and what you'll ride on race day. Nice to have = power on road bike also. Since you have different drivetrains on the bike putting the same power system on both bikes can get trick or expensive.
My advice would be to keep it simple and get one PM that you know will work on the bike you really need to have it on: the tri bike.
Q for the Team, as I don't know Campy: will Shimano/SRAM cranks/chainrings work with a Campy front DR?
To be clear, a Campy cassette won't work on a Powertap Shimano hub. Think square peg, round hole, just won't fit, so it's not as simple as just slapping on a cassette.
I just figgered this out too--in fact Campy rear free hubs are different and incompatible with Shimano because the splines won't fit the cassette. I retract my foolish statements!
I also just asked my LBS about Campy front derailleur and Shimano cassette with Shimano rear derailleur. They said no way--even if you had a Campy shifter for the front derailleur and a Shimano shifter for the rear derailleur, the cable pull is different for each (Campy vs. Shimano) and it just would work.
What a royal PITA!
Marianne- maybe in your situation the iBike makes more sense?
Huh....
I just called Sawiris and he said that switching out the free-body from Shimano to Campy is easy. Like, 5" job on the SL, maybe a little longer on the Pro+. I'll go over to his shop tomorrow and take a look, maybe shoot some video.
So a Campy free-body for a Shimano wheel is about $60 additional, and you'd need to add an addition CPU mount for the second bike.
FYI, here is another option, which may be worth considering. It is a Campy cassatte that Saris sells that fits the shimano free-body, designed exactly for people with this problem.
I have never used one of these, so I would call Saris or check with somone who has first, but I imagine that switching cassettes would be easier than switching the free-body. I'll leave it up to Rich to make the final call after his trip tomorrow.
http://www.saris.com/p-134-campagno...o-hub.aspx
you guyz are great problem solvers!! ..... and as we all know, retrofitting is not the ideal option... but I didn't know when I was starting riding what an Ironman was and got the campe gearing cuz the LBS recommended it for "smaller hands" and it seemed to work for me!! that was five years ago..... .
a great five years of riding!! and then four years ago got the tri bike and there you have it!! and this Christmas the mountain bike is mine!! so nothing like new bike stuff for Christmas, I guess I never grew up!! m