This weeks blog continues our series on cycling power meters. This week we cover 5 reasons why you need a power meter. This follow our deep dive on Power meters and are they worth the investment. Here we cover purely the positives of why you should be investing in a bike power meter now.
1. Improve training effectiveness
Quality over quantity. Doing the same training on your bike without any structure is not a recipe for realising benefits fast. If you are looking to make the most of your training miles it is essential that you make the most of them. If you are trying to follow a structured programme with little time you can’t afford wasted miles. A power meter eliminates those. It allows a coach to set clear training goals and for you to provide an accurate view on your performance in these.
2. Track improvements
We all love to see the visible signs of improvements following our training. Power meters provide accurate details about how your fitness is changing. With the wealth of data reports that are available you can couple the information from the Power Meter with speed, cadence and heart rate information. Measuring both your maximum and average power results allows you to compare performance throughout the season.
3. Motivation to ride more
Keeping motivation during the summer months is pretty easy. Heading out on a warm morning with minimal lycra is a pleasure. Keeping motivation up when the weather turns is hard. One way to mitigate this is always to buy some new kit and get the excitement of using it and the challenge it brings. A power meter gives you instant information that is reliable and as outlined above not impacted by external factors. Anything that encourages you to get on your bike and ride gets our vote.
4. Accurate performance
There are so many attributing factors on any ride. Even cycling the same course on 2 different days has different external factors. Wind as a major one that can mean your speed varies massively if using this as the measure. A power meter removes the uncertainty in your performance and fitness improvements. Without a power meter each ride can only be measured on less reliable metrics such as speed or heart rate.
5. Understand where you are strong (and weak)
Are you the next King of the Mountains or a Sprint Champion? A power meter can help you to understand the type of course and rise that suits your bike performance. Using the outputs on a variety of rides gives you the data to consider how you structure your training and potentially which events suit your current bike fitness.
If this article on 5 reasons why you need a power meter has whet your appetite to invest and buy a power meter head over to our 2020 Power Meter Buyers Guide for more information.
