Can an Indoor or Outdoor Cyclist measure their power using only Heart Rate?
I personally find it hard to believe, and yet CycleOps says their new PowerCal will do exactly that. Now if I had seen this advertised on some late night infomercial I wouldn't have given it a second thought, but CycleOps is one of the leaders in Power measurement for both Indoor and Outdoor Cyclists... so it must work - right?
Here is a very comprehensive review / article that explores PowerCal from a road cyclist's perspective.
I contacted Angie Sturtevant from CycleOps and she has connected me with their product specialist. Maybe I can get him on the Podcast to explain how this works.
In the mean time here is a short video from CycleOps discussing the PowerCal.
John is a member on the AFS (Association of Fitness Studios) Advisory Council.
Holding certifications from; Schwinn, Heart Zones, Team ICG and Life Time Fitness, John's held regularly scheduled cycling classes between 1998 and 2015 when he moved to Florida.
When the weather permits, you'll find him riding and leading outdoor groups by himself or with his Tandem partner (wife) Amy.
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theres no way this could be accurate unless each user did a power test with a HR monitor and then a correlation between wattage and HR for each individual .It would then have to be retested throughout the year as fitness improved.Is a power metre actualy part of the product
Paul that was my original thought as well. I talked to their “expert” I learned that yes they need a user to go through a ramp test to establish HR @ power levels. Beyond that he said that they are using HR variability; i.e. the difference between heart beats to establish power. Yes they need to retest frequently and No I don’t feel it will be very accurate. I had asked them to send me a demo unit to try and they told me the FreeMotion S11.0 doesn’t have measured power, which of course it does, so I didn’t have a way to set the original power/HR.