Monday, September 16, 2013

A Business Case for Improved Data ?

As a friend pointed out, my last post was all about numbers.
And in particular the amount of effort expended both by myself and a friend when we went on the same ride. I also commented upon how one could compare one's effort expended on different rides. This caused a lot of debate at the local tea shop and indeed necessitated the consumption of extra cake as we could not agree.  . Now all these discussions were based upon algorithms and the raw data provided both by Garmin and the bathroom scales to provide the necessary power to weight ratios. Whilst one can seek marginal gains in weight reduction by purchasing lighter kit, you are still left with estimating the power generated .. until NOW!

I have seen a new toy ( re-phase that, an essential piece of kit ) and this article is an imaginary conversation with my non-cycling wife about its prospective purchase. Your role is to comment on whether you believe that the Business Case is Incredibly Sound or, perhaps, just Excellent :-)

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Me:  I think I need a new set of pedals
Wife:  Why?  You've already got pedals on ALL your bikes. Are they broken?
Me:  Well, not actually broken
Wife: Besides you have that overflowing box in the garage which you tell me is full of ESSENTIAL bits, to mention nothing of the fact that that a second box of your cycling stuff seems to have appeared in one of the spare bedrooms
Wife : and what was in those packages that arrived from Wiggle yesterday?  Were they pedals?
Me : No, that was absolutely imperative winter clothing for when the weather turns. Anyway, about these pedals. They are produced by Garmin and are called Vector pedals and they allow the measurement of power asymetrically which can be viewed in real time or even as a rolling 3 second average so I can see how it changes over the course of a ride and whether one leg is working harder than the other.
Wife : How much?
Me On the positive side it measures power quickly and accurately and delivers loads and loads of useful numbers to my Garmin Edge 800 or any other ANT+ head unit
Wife : How much?
Me : It also measures the dynamic difference, and as you might know, there is often a different balance at the beginning and end of a ride, or when sitting or standing, or at low power or high power.
Wife : But you tell me that you never stand on the pedals as it hurts your knee
Wife : Anyway, would it make you go any faster?
Me : No
Wife : Would you be able to climb hills easier?
Me : No
Wife : Would you be able to ride any further?
Me : No
Wife : Humph!!
Me : They are supposed to be transferable between bikes so they are a sort of bargain
Wife : But you would NEVER transfer pedals between your bikes, you would need a set for each of them
Me : Admittedly I would need a new set of Look Compatible cycling shoes but I think you get a FREE pair of cleats, and in comparison the shoes would be relatively cheap
Wife : How much did you say these pedals were ?
Me :Well, without the shoes , and the cleats, I think they may be on Special Offer at about £1500 each

Wife :  < This is where you fill in wife's response in Comments Section below >
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Is the case made?

3 comments:

  1. I'm not sure your wife's response is printable.....

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  2. Gordon's new drum kit cost the same as the pedals!

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  3. I believe you need to frame this in regards to how you can improve your training sessions by making sure you train in the right heart and power zone. With the Vector, you can properly identifying your threshold and with that in mind, you can create an optimized training program based on your current capacities, monitor your development and then change the program and application of it, reaching your goal. That way you can improve your performance and you will ride Surrey 100 even faster next August!!!

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