Power Meters - Why

I love bikes. I love riding. I love the feeling of the first ride of the year after being cooped up inside all winter knowing that I’m stronger, faster, fitter, healthier. I even love that feeling as I transition to indoor training where I design my workouts.

In the workout I relish that interval where I have to hold myself back because I know I can push harder. I can waver a few percentage above or below but being under is a sin. It just motivates me to push harder and harder until I am king of the world.

My target heart rates could stay the same as I get fitter and achieving that BPM might be affected by heat, humidity, and elevation but one thing doesn’t change with those factors. My Power. It’s my Power, it’s nobody else's. It’s that one measure, that one thing, that when you improve you know it. I’ve read papers that show little “statistical” difference between HRM and Power meter for short term training, but that’s not why I’m here. I need to know that I’m better than yesterday. And not just yesterday – last week, last month, last year, last race, last training ride. Only power can.

Power is new. It's expensive, but it doesn't have to be. I'm showing it won’t be. My meter is showing the true cost. Why? Because I want power to be in reach of the weekend warrior. I want that return on investment to be the feeling of more power. I want to see these on road and mountain bikes from the factory and not as an expensive upgrade for the rich and elite. That warrior is a pro in his heart so why can’t that person have the pro tools? Maybe you need the basics, maybe you need L/R measure, maybe you need pedal stroke analysis.

You feel great because you know you are better than yesterday, and it didn’t break the bank to get you those metrics. You’re an amateur weekend warrior or a pro, but either way you want to know you’re stronger. You spent all winter making sure that you’re pedal stroke is as smooth an efficient as possible, that your left and right legs are balanced, that your power is greater than last spring.

ANT+ was there first, and will always be the true power meter standard. It was forged by countless unthanked people who toiled to create that standard so that I can use a Garmin Edge with a Quarq, a Joule with an SRM, a Bontrager Node with a Powertap. It was and is being improved by companies willing to not keep that work secret, working to incorporate pedal stroke analysis in the new Power Meter Profile and who knows what else.

That weekend warrior who’s racing has the right to feel like a pro who sprints for the finish and spread their arms as they pass the line. Can you feel it? ANT+ did. I do. Click here and let me know if you feel that way.