Archive for category: News

Name: Troy Delfs
Hometown:  Bragg Creek, Alberta, Canada
Profession: Cycling Coach – Momentum Cycling
PRECISION user since: 2016 

To what cycling tribe do you belong?
I cross the tribal lines from Mountain to Road to Fat Biking to Track (in a previous life). My favourite cycling discipline is usually dependant on the bike that I am on at any given moment.

 

When and how did you get into serious biking?
In Edmonton, Alberta in 1993. I bought my first mountain bike and have never looked back since.

 

Why do you bike?
Cycling is one of those things that defines me. It is thrilling, punishing, fun and challenging all at the same time. It is the best way I know to connect me to nature, friends and even to myself.

 

What’s your current bike set up and technology?
Multiple bikes and setups but my Scott Spark and Scott Foil are equipped with 4iiii PRECISION powermeters and a Garmin Edge 520.

 

When and why did you start thinking about adding a power meter to your set of tools?
I have wanted to have a power meter on my bike for the past 15+ years however it has always been too difficult to justify the cost. With 4iiii, I was able to outfit two of my bikes with PRECISION at a fraction of the cost I would have spent on other meters on the market.

 

How do you use power data?
As an athlete and as a coach, power data is critical for me to prescribe training zones and to do post ride/race analysis to determine how well my athletes are performing. Power data highlights both a riders’ strengths and weaknesses on certain terrains and in various conditions. This data is also critical to monitor an athlete’s overall progression between training cycles and can be used to determine if an athlete is in risk of overtraining.

 

How has riding with a power meter changed how you ride and your fitness level?
It’s always motivating to post high peak and average power meters during a ride or even just segments of rides (It’s great for KOM hunting on Strava). Watching your watts provides instant and accurate feedback to your effort loads vs heart rate which is slow to respond and can be affected by so many other variables.

 

What’s your favourite drill/workout involving power?
Sprinting and short hard climbs on my road or MTN bike. I love to see how high I can peak my power and for how long I can hold big numbers.  Looking at high Watts makes the anaerobic pain more bearable.

 

What do you know now that you wish you had known in the past about effective cycling training?
Training is all about balancing hard effort and quality rest. Make each work-out count by putting in good solid efforts (crank out those watts!) and balancing that with sufficient and timely rest and recovery.

 

Do you have a favourite ride?
So many great rides all around the world (Maui, Tuscany, Oregon) but I must say that there is no place like home. Bragg Creek, Alberta has world-class road and mountain biking and it’s all right in my back yard.

 

What is your next big riding challenge?
To do a multiple of Western Canadian road and mountain bike races including TransRockies Single Track 6 and the Alberta Provincial Road Race championships. For the athletes that I coach, I hope to help them attain their personal goals by training smart and preparing well for their multitude of events.

Loren Russell in the last kilometer of the June 2015 Marys Peak Hillclimb Time Trial.
The route has a total ascent of about 4000 feet in 12 miles (1250 m in 20 km).

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Dr. Hardy on a recent ride in NZ on top of the Crown Range.

Name: Tim Hardy
Hometown: Tweed Heads, Australia
Profession: Family physician
 

To what cycling tribe do you belong?
I’m one of the great masses of “mature” endurance riders in their 50’s. I’ve been cycling for many years, mostly road bike commuting, triathlon and Sportive type events.

 

When and how did you get into serious biking?
Three years ago for several reasons, I started commuting the 45 km round trip from home to work five days per week. It’s a good example for my patients as well.

 

Why do you bike?
My work is very busy and demanding so cycling is my switch-off, recharge and solitude activity.

 

When did you start thinking about a power meter and why did you choose PRECISION?
As my mileage increased, I became fitter and started looking for a good climbing challenge so I signed up for the Haute Route Pyrenees 2015 back in October 2014. In preparation for the event, I wanted to monitor my training performance and after research, I realized the only objective method was to look at my power output. That was about the time 4iiii was bringing out the Precision Power Meter.

 

Why did you choose the 4iiii PRECISION power meter?
Price was definitely a factor as I could not justify spending over $1000 given the cycling I was doing. So far, I could not be happier.

 

What’s your current bike and technology?
I ride a Trek Domane 5.9 2015 compact and just had a 32 cassette upgrade from 28 for climbing bliss. Here is my first ride with the new cassette: https://www.strava.com/activities/503151298. I use a Garmin 510 computer headset on the bike displaying average 10 sec power (useful when climbing), average 3 sec power (flat riding) and average lap power.  Apart from these numbers and cadence I don’t need any other data.

 

How has riding with a power meter changed how you ride?
The main benefit for me with the PRECISION power meter has been pacing in climbing endurance rides particularly riding with others where it is easy to over-extend oneself on a climb and “pop”. Knowing my FTP and my power zones is incredibly useful for me on long endurance rides in training and especially on a multi-day stage event like the Haute Route where riding within oneself to make the end of the week yet performing well each day and getting stronger is the goal. This way I ride to my limits AND enjoy the journey!

 

What’s been your experience with PRECISION for indoor training?
I use a Wahoo Kickr for indoor sessions and have been very satisfied with the consistency across the two power data sources. I found the PRECISION power meter was about 15W reliably under-reading in the 120W-400W range which would be expected as I am right leg dominant.

 

Do you have a favourite ride?
My favourite ride is a loop through the local Tweed Valley with some challenging steep climbs and sections of gravel while riding through rainforest and cane fields.

 

What is your next big riding challenge?
In September, I will ride with a couple of mates from last year’s Haute Route Pyrenees in the HR Dolomites as “Team Quattro Formaggi” – who doesn’t like cheese right? And we like eating pizza!