Power meter on your MTB?

[Mamil]

How many MTB riders have power meters on their rides?

I have on my road bike and of course the kickr for indoor and it's added huge value.

Now I'm looking at the MTB and wondered how many of us use power on MTB and if so has it added to your training / experience.

Looking forward to responses while I try make up my mind if Im posting to get persuaded into or out of getting one.

[TheoG]

Considered it but cant justify spending ~R12k on that at the moment, not YET anyway ... 🙈😂

Edit:  More than R12k actually, I would need to get a new crankset also ...

Edited April 7, 2022 by TheoG

[Jakkals.]

I'm considering getting one...but first have to fix my broken frame.

[Jehosefat]

I've got one on my XC bike and it would be a bit of a waste if I didn't spend a bunch of time on the road with this bike.

Off road it's kinda useful for longish, relatively smooth, not too steep climbs but otherwise it's not  particularly useful on the ride. Looking at the data afterwards is as useful as you make it I guess.

[Frosty]

With the amount of riding I do off road, it doesn't warrant getting one. If I was doing rides at least weekly, then maybe.

I am slowly mastering the art of "feeling" if my power feels right, so I don't even need to look at my computer on the road bike to know I'm in the zone. That's why I don't like riding in ERG mode all the time.

[Jbr]

1 hour ago, TheoG said:

Considered it but cant justify spending ~R12k on that at the moment, not YET anyway ... 🙈😂

Edit:  More than R12k actually, I would need to get a new crankset also ...

what crankset do you have ? Doesn't stage provide single sided crankarms for yours ?

I have one on my XC bike, I thought it was a good idea to do some of my training on the MTB, but the facts are that it takes me as long to go to the nearest 5-10mins climb on the MTB/trails as it does on the road/roadbike, so I do almost all of my workouts on the road bike.

Also the MTB with the oval and the 175mm crank arms tends to read higher numbers on short efforts, so it kind of messes up my peak numbers.

I do know people though who have a trashed hardtail with a power meter that they use just for training so that they don't ruin their racebikes (wether it's XC or road bikes) on their daily workouts (doing a torque workout in the rain really feels ***). That's probably the best, if you live close to the climbs. I personally need 1,5 hours to just cruise to the nearest decent climb and back on the road bike, which is already a massive waste of time, doing these trips on a MTB is impossible for me

Edited April 7, 2022 by Jbr

[TheoG]

I have Race Face Next SL (older gen), meant for 2x but I use it as a 1x.  Hence the stages single sided crank wont fit.

My only options are to go pedal based, not a good idea on a MTB or change crankset together with something like a power2max.

If I do decide to take the plunge, would rather go for dual sided.

Edited April 7, 2022 by TheoG

[lechatnoir]

I've recently gone through this. An utter self-indulgence, but at this stage, cycling is what makes me get out of bed and and grateful actually having woken up, the money spent I see as simple cost-of-living. So here's my rationale....

I live in a pancake-flat area. Roads are choppy, winds are often headwinds and i find myself goofing off mentally and physically, and the the 'training' quickly become junk miles and a chore. Spending the money to get my head and legs back int eh game simply by seeing a number in front of me sees me pushing 50-80W more than I would otherwise. This is a game-changer for me

I had to change the crank at the same time, so look for a Lyne crank in a classifieds near you soon...

[babse]

I train and race both on the MTB and road (both 172.5mm crank for JBR sake) so great benefit having power on both steeds.

I have gone long periods without either units without real fuss its just more ideal having both options to keep training interesting.

 

[CARANXCycleMobile]

1 hour ago, TheoG said:

Considered it but cant justify spending ~R12k on that at the moment, not YET anyway ... 🙈😂

Edit:  More than R12k actually, I would need to get a new crankset also ...

Crankbased powermeter options closer to 8K,does it sound better? PM me

[TheoG]

Just now, CARANXCycleMobile said:

Crankbased powermeter options closer to 8K,does it sound better? PM me

Thanks André, will get back to you.

[Underachiever]

Close to MTB power meters...

I recently bought the Garmin Rally XC pedals and installed it on the gravel bike.  Great experience thus far, but have done mostly road work.

Of course easy to move to the MTB, or I even the road bike (if I dare the XC pedals on a roadie)

[Titleist]

2 minutes ago, Underachiever said:

Close to MTB power meters...

I recently bought the Garmin Rally XC pedals and installed it on the gravel bike.  Great experience thus far, but have done mostly road work.

Of course easy to move to the MTB, or I even the road bike (if I dare the XC pedals on a roadie)

The problem with pedal power meters are that they are not rock proof....

[Underachiever]

7 minutes ago, Titleist said:

The problem with pedal power meters are that they are not rock proof....

We'll see for what I am using it for.  DC Rainmaker seems pretty happy, but he's in Holland, and not in the Karoo.

I mostly focus on marathon and I've had very little super serious rock strikes on my normal XT's during races the past decade (Epic, CPT 3-Towers, Sani's etc, etc).  But I am a cautious/conservative rider.

So I would say that the spindle would be able to cope with my riding style. 

[Ozzie NL]

Did some experimentation and found the main use for MTB power meter the post ride analysis of the numbers.

On the road you can consciously ride to a certain wattage whereas with MTB the terrain forces your power delivery with little obstacles, rocks, sand etc. Therefore found that the wattage is all over the place as opposed to a certain zone.

Additionally you have a lot less opportunity to check what power you're doing when mtb-ing as the trail requires your full attention.

Anyway, above is my reasoning not to put power meter on the bike.

When it comes to types of power meters, I personally prefer hub based systems

[Dexter-morgan]

 I got as cheap(second hand) XT power meter for my MTB, and its a nice to have, getting proper TSS when you go out and train for longer ride.

Edited April 7, 2022 by Dexter-morgan