Garmin 500, training with power; what's on your screen?

[ceolwulf]

I just this week got my first power meter. What data fields do you normally have on your screens, and do you use multiple screens set up differently for different circumstances e.g. racing vs. training?

[firerescuefin]

Lot smarter/well versed people will chime in soon, but I'll offer my two cents.


Power (real time)
Normalized Power (Smoothed Average) ..... I really like this when comparing rides or gauging efforts for different rides/duration of rides
Heart Rate
Kilojoules

[spartanKid]

One screen:
3s or 10s power
Lap avg power
Cadence
Lap Time

On a different screen:
KJ
Max Pwr
Lap max pwr
NP for the ride, might change that to TSS for the ride.

[adrien]

I have a 1000, but will assume I'm allowed:

Main screen:
- speed
- average speed
- distance
- time of day
- HR
- power

Climbing screen
- Speed
- Grade
- HR
- Power

...I find power useful, but only look at real watts when riding. I used to go for the 3-second average but the lag (3 seconds -- imagine that!) would bug me.

[nooneline]

I have four screens:
General screen: speed, 3s power, cadence, elapsed time, and distance
Intervals screen: 10s power, average power, elapsed time, cadence
Racing screen: speed, average speed, 3s power, elapsed time
Summary screen: distance, tss, average speed, max speed, average power, max power, elapsed time, and something else.

The general screen is good enough for most riding.
Interval screen allows me to zoom in on the only thing that matter when i'm trying to hit numbers for time periods. Although cadence is only a matter of curiosity.
The racing screen shows me only what I need in a race.
And the summary screen shows me the types of summary metrics that I'd want to look at - anything not instantaneous.

[Davist]

I just this week got my first power meter.

Out of curiosity, which power meter did you go with? considering one this year..

[bewheels]

One screen for me.

Elapsed time (big)
Real time power (big)
Current speed (small)
Heart Rate (small)
Cadence (small)
Distance (small)

On a 510 with Power2Max. Soon will have a Stages.
The Power2Max has been flawless.

[gmcampy]

HR top. Power middle, cadence bottom...Ii don't need any other data when Im riding, I can see the other meaningless info when Im finished ;)

[oldpotatoe]

Lot smarter/well versed people will chime in soon, but I'll offer my two cents.


Power (real time)
Normalized Power (Smoothed Average) ..... I really like this when comparing rides or gauging efforts for different rides/duration of rides
Heart Rate
Kilojoules

Really? Kilojoules?

:confused:Not a power unit user but???

[kppolich]

3s Power
Cadence
HR

Shouldn't need much more than that, maybe a timer or lap timer if you are doing intervals. Otherwise let it fly

[Joachim]

Really? Kilojoules?

:confused:Not a power unit user but???

Yes. I sometimes prescribe that instead of power zones since different kJ/hr correlates pretty closely with different 'zones'. Just another measurement for workload...

[R3awak3n]

As far as power goes in the main screen I have 3s power. On a different screen I have 30s power.

Current power is too erratic to be helpful.

[coffeecake]

Main: This page is good for intervals or for just regular riding.

-- Time
-- 3s average power
-- Lap average power
-- Overall average power
-- Overall normalized power
-- Cadence
-- Heart rate

[Gummee]

I've got 6 screens set up and the head unit's not in front of me...

Main screen:
Speed
Elapsed time
HR
Power (instant)

The second screen is set up for intervals, but I forget what exactly it is I have on there.

I have a racing warmup screen with: time of day, HR, and power. Time of day so I can get back to the car to drop off clothing in time to get to the start line on time.

My racing screen has Elapsed time and speed on it. I don't want to know anything else. Whatcha gonna do when the hammer drops? 'Oh wait guys! I'm at my max HR and can't go with you! Can you please slow down?!'

M

[ptourkin]

Yes. I sometimes prescribe that instead of power zones since different kJ/hr correlates pretty closely with different 'zones'. Just another measurement for workload...

Yep. SRM head units come standard with kilojoules on a default screen. Another use is monitoring nutrition on a longer effort as kj and kcal correlate well.

I like to see both average power and normalized power on my interval screen and ride summary screens.

I agree with having HR, cadence, 3s-10s power and ride (lap) time on the screen I Froome at during efforts.

[firerescuefin]

I like to see both average power and normalized power on my interval screen and ride summary screens.



Why both (average and NP)?

[-dustin]

i rarely did rides that were more than 2.5hrs. and if i did, it was typically just cruising, and not overly concerned with training.

i had

screen 1:
ride time
cadence
power
HR
time of day

this got me 95% of the info i needed on training ride.

screen 2:
distance
total ascent
speed
kilojoules

this was stuff i didn't really care about during the ride

screen 3:
calories (just so i could compare to kilojoules)
temp
odo

again, stuff i didn't really care about.

screen 4 was post ride stuff:
avg HR
TSS
avg speed
avg cad
Max power (3s)
IF
NP

[ceolwulf]

Very useful info so far, thanks all.

Out of curiosity, which power meter did you go with? considering one this year..


I got a Stages since budget is pretty tight and they have Rival units on clearance now. Would have gotten a Power2Max but that would have cost over double.

[ptourkin]

Why both (average and NP)?

If I only had to pick one, it would be NP but especially early in training, I've been instructed that they should be close over the length of the ride to show a consistent effort. I ride a loop in the mountains and if my effort is not consistent (working too hard on the climbs then coasting the descents,) they'll vary greatly. This is something I could look at after, but since multiple screens are available, I can take a look.

On a day with intervals separated by rest it won't be relevant to me.

[chiasticon]

Really? Kilojoules?

:confused:Not a power unit user but???Kilojoules burned directly translates to calories burned. it's essentially a 1-to-1 ratio. yeah you could put the calorie field here too, but it sounds cooler to talk about Kj's, right? :rolleyes:

my approach is to have a screen of "live" data and one of "review" type data. so live screen has 3s power, cadence, heart rate, elapsed time. just keep the basics here and make 'em nice and big. other screen has crap I only care about towards the end of the ride or if I'm wondering when to turn for home or if some lame-o asks mid-ride: "what's your normalized power?" so that screen has lap power avg, lap time, avg and NP, distance, avg cadence, temp, time of day.

[shovelhd]

If I only had to pick one, it would be NP but especially early in training, I've been instructed that they should be close over the length of the ride to show a consistent effort. I ride a loop in the mountains and if my effort is not consistent (working too hard on the climbs then coasting the descents,) they'll vary greatly. This is something I could look at after, but since multiple screens are available, I can take a look.

On a day with intervals separated by rest it won't be relevant to me.

Correct. If you are doing a steady paced interval or ride like SST of tempo, or an FTP test, or a time trial, the relationship between AP and NP is important. The closer these numbers are, the more even your effort, within reason. Rolling terrain, winds, traffic, and the first few minutes where NP is irrelevant are factors. Once you settle in though they can really help with pacing.

[MattTuck]

You mean, you don't all train with RPE?

[Mark McM]

Kilojoules burned directly translates to calories burned. it's essentially a 1-to-1 ratio. yeah you could put the calorie field here too, but it sounds cooler to talk about Kj's, right? :rolleyes:

If only it were that simple. Human beings can vary widely in muscle efficiency (has been measured in the range of 18 - 26%), so my kilojoule of work won't burn the same number of calories as your kilojoule of work.