[flafonta]

I am fairly new to racing, and I can't (yet) justify the expense of a real Power Meter.

At the Gym today, I noticed that the Cybex stationary bike has a reading for power.

Is there any value in trying to measure my power on this bike for training purposes?

Thanks!

 

[sprocketjockey9]

I am fairly new to racing, and I can't (yet) justify the expense of a real Power Meter.

At the Gym today, I noticed that the Cybex stationary bike has a reading for power.

Is there any value in trying to measure my power on this bike for training purposes?

Thanks!

Is the power meter downloadable to a pc? As long as you keep using the same bike and get consistent readouts, I don't see how it couldn't be a useful tool for you.

 

[Cayenne_Pepa]

I cannot seem to ride a gym stationary bike, for more than 10 minutes. Every time I stand and pedal for more power- it feels like the bike is trying to throw me off. A gym bike is definitely different than the real thing. However, the built-in power meter on a gym bike should give a you a fairly accurate measurement of your output.

 

[duke of kent]

I cannot seem to ride a gym stationary bike, for more than 10 minutes. Every time I stand and pedal for more power- it feels like the bike is trying to throw me off. A gym bike is definitely different than the real thing. However, the built-in power meter on a gym bike should give a you a fairly accurate measurement of your output.

I disagree, heartily.

However, if you use the same exercise bike, all the time, you can track your progress through the numbers you produce.

 

[millennium]

However, if you use the same exercise bike, all the time, you can track your progress through the numbers you produce.

I agree that accuracy will be suspect with most of these type of machines. (Example: It reads 200 watts when really your producing 250 watts--not accurate.)

Most here are saying that consistentcy is OK (and I agree that consistentcy will be better than accuracy), but I don't trust these types of machines to be consistent either. (Example: If it consistently reads 25% low, then you can see your progress from day to day and week to week, BUT if it reads 10% low on one day and other days 20% low and other days 15% low, then you cannot see your progress.)

Bottom line: Try it and definitely use the same machine each time, but don't get too worried if your power seems all over the place.