Power training MTB or ROAD

[Niner]

Maybe the cleaver people on the hub can help. I want to get a power meter, but have now seen that it is availeble for MTB's and Road bikes.

 

Which one will be better for training....will there be more benefit use it on my MTB or Road bike?

 

I know that the 2 riding styles are totally different but want to know which one will help me most.

 

I ride MTB and Road, but do not want to get both. So do I get one for the road so I can train on it and keep it clean and then it will help me when I do MTB racing.

 

Or do I get a MTB one?

[rattlesnake]

I find that I build more power by climbing using the road bike due to the tougher gear ratios, same should apply to the power crank decision??

[rpedro]

I am in the same position and I am leaning towards Road. Reason being that I think a road wheel would be better suited for indoor trainer. A good conti tire can be used on the road as well as indoor trainer. Indoor trainers can wear a tire pretty quickly. I don’t like the idea of using MTB tubeless tire on indoor trainer. I also don’t want to swap between normal tire and indoor trainer specific tire.

 

Training off-road with a power meter and staying within specific power zones would proof difficult because of the varying terrain. You could use your MTB to train on-road but the indoor trainer is the main thing that is swaying it for me.

[Niner]

Thanks, need to be road then hey...more consistant terain while taining rather than spikes on the mountain.

How many interval training sessions should one do per week?

[Minion]

If your training time is evenly split between the two, you'd ideally want to get both. You lose a lot of the benefits of training with power if you're only tracking half of your training.

 

From a training session point of view, a road PM might be better since it's generally easier to do structured sessions on the road since the terrain is constant and you can just focus on riding.

 

From a training load tracking point of view, MTB may be better. Road riding will tend to be more consistent, so you'd get reasonalbe results using SportTracks etc. to estimate the training load measures from GPS data.

 

From a price point of view, road is better since the cheapest MTB PM (if you need disc brakes) is R12k or so new.

 

If you're training mainlt on road and racing on MTB, a road PM would be better, though you'd lose out on some valuable post-race analysis data.

 

Finally, if you use an IDT and have tubeless MTB tyres, road would be better so you can use it with the IDT.

Edited February 27, 2012 by Edman

[Minion]

How many interval training sessions should one do per week?

Depends on where you are in the season. Typically one or two.

 

This book is a really useful read if you want to get the most out of using a power meter:

http://www.kalahari....2/34547815.aspx

Edited February 27, 2012 by Edman

[Zac.A]

Road is a lot better, as Edman said, easier to do structured sessions.

 

Its already quite hard to keep a constant power (to a few watts) on a road bike, imagine what it's like on an mtb

[rpedro]

I guess for now I will go Road and wait for the pedal based systems to go mainstream.

['Dale]

If you have lots of moola, get both...

And like Edman says, you spent equal time and focus in both worlds.

 

Otherwise, R O A D as a 1st choice.

['Dale]

I guess for now I will go Road and wait for the pedal based systems to go mainstream.

 

Why are you whispering?

So the tax man can't hear?

[rpedro]

Why are you whispering?

So the tax man can't hear?

 

LOL......so that my wife don't hear.

['Dale]

 

LOL......so that my wife don't hear.

 

Hmmm....

I understand.

 

[BicyclePower]

Call us a Bicycle Power Trading and we will put together a deal for both you wont find better pricing on!!!!!

['Dale]

Call us a Bicycle Power Trading and we will put together a deal for both you wont find better pricing on!!!!!

 

Ambush marketing.

Tch!