To Power or not to Power - How did it change your Tri life?

I only use virtual power and it's transformed my training with the bike trainer.  Very concrete on what I need to do and when. 

I don't have an actual PM (yet), that's my next step.  For sprint racing the training benefits with VP have really increase my speeds and haven't found not having one to be a limiter.  Now for Longer course and hilly terrain I have found it more difficult to keep myself reigned in, there I could see a definite benefit for having one.

Go for it.  I've used power for many years. Great investment. I started with a wired SRM (via eBay), then sold that and went virtual power on the trainer for a while, then bought a Garmin Vector so I can have power on the trainer and the road.  There are many options starting from affordable and going up to "empty your bank account" territory.

Power means you KNOW your output.  HR varies based on overall condition (stressed, or you got a lot of sleep or too little, or yesterday's workout was maybe a bit too easy or too hard).  And HR lags by several minutes.  3 second average power is 3 second average power.  You know if you're hitting the hill too hard or coasting too easy on the downhill.

Power means you don't waste your energy fighting the wind, needlessly chasing an MPH number.  You target your power output, and if it so happens you get a 15 mph headwind one direction, and a 10 mph tailwind the other, so what ... the wind becomes irrelevant.  And that street you've ridden for years that seems harder than it should?  Well you find out it's a false flat.  And that section of the MUP you ride all the time that feels so good?  Yep, it's slightly downhill.  You just didn't know it.

And that's just the benefits of riding with power.  Training with power means you do regular FTP tests, you track average output, you compare last month to this month, and you can see small increases in FTP, "suffer scores" and the like.  Training with power means you can measure the gains (or lack thereof, darn it!).  Training with power keeps you honest.  And it doesn't require hours of analysis either.  It's pretty easy to just review on Strava your average power and average heart rate on your usual routes, and see "hey, my average HR was the same but my average power increased by 10 watts!  Yay me!"

(edit: I looked up your profile, TTom.  I lived in Fremont from 1988 to 1994, off Deep Creek Blvd near Ardenwood Elementary. I wish I'd done triathlons back then. I'm sure there are many great places to ride).

I got my first Powermeter in 2005. I love training with power. You can see how your training is going. I love the challenging of doing a workout by hitting the numbers.

If you get a PM and a coach that knows power you will make significant gains.

Go for it but unless you are willing to invest the time to learn how to use it, it is just an expensive bike computer. There are lots of great books about training with power. I know many how have PMs who don't understand it well and don't reap the benefits.

I love the Garmin Vectors.  Several times I've swapped them from road bike to tri bike and back. The bikes are incompatible otherwise (9 speed vs. 10 speed, different hubs, etc). The Garmin Vectors have been rock solid and hassle-free, once installed.  Calibration is simple, battery replacement is simple, sync with devices is simple. I have a Garmin 910XT (race day) as well as an Edge 800 head unit (regular training).

You have to be accurate when installing. DC Rainmaker and others have reported inconsistent results if hand tightened without using a torque wrench.  I had to buy a Park TWB-15 pedal wrench crow foot for $15 so I could tighten it with my old torque wrench.  And then that old wrench broke, so I bought a $150 nice Park TW-6 torque wrench to ensure accuracy when tightening. 

I bought the Vectors when they first came out.  Last summer I chatted with a guy who got a set on eBay and I helped him get them working (the battery was in backwards).  I was telling my wife that afternoon "Yeah, he got a pretty good deal off eBay, $800 for the pair.  I paid $1600 for mine".  She said "IS THAT HOW MUCH YOU PAID FOR THOSE THINGS??!!!"   Apparently I had sneaked that one by.  :-)

So look on eBay for a good deal. 

And if you want KathyG's Zipp 404 wheels with Cyclops PowerTap SL power meter from 2005, I have them now and am selling them.  They are in good shape.  The power meter is vintage, but I have never hooked it up.   I suppose it needs batteries but still works.   

TW

My wife must really love me.  She has already ordered me Power and I'm not going to have to wait for Christmas.  Ended up having to go with the Vector S as I don't have enough clearance between the crank arm and chain to allow me to go with the two pedal system.  This will be such a great improvement over HR that It really is not an issue, I just won't have individual leg data to work with.  I've also ordered the book recommended above and have done some work looking at Power based training plans (I don't see one here on BT though).  I'm really looking forward to using this tool, but be warned that rookie Power questions are likely to be coming your way :-)

Crowfoot is on its way and I'll pick up the torque wrench today.  Clearance between crank arm and chain is 3-4 mm when static.  Garmin says 5 mm minimum so just shy.  Just shy is my athletic story right now - hit the standard to run Boston in 2016 but the cutoff was really aggressive this year and I missed by 13 seconds.  Bummer.