To a distinctly average cyclist and triathlete?
I’ve been taking part in triathlons for a couple of years now and have never followed any sort of plan or had any guidance on the bike. It’s all just been based on feel as well as trial and error to see what works and what improvements I can make. That was until I was introduced to the 4iiii Power Meter 3 about a month ago. From my first interaction with the brand, through to getting out and really testing it, I’ve been impressed!
There are two options for fitting your power meter. 1. Buy a new crank arm with the power meter already installed. 2. Send your crank arm to the 4iiii team and they will install on your existing arm. I took option 2, I didn’t need a new crank arm and they said they’d get things turned around within a couple of days.
Once I’d confirmed the crank arm I use, I was sent specific instructions and pictures I had to send back to the fitting team to ensure there was enough clearance between the crank arm and the frame for the unit to fit. Within what felt like minutes of me sending the forms and pictures, the team had approved everything and asked me to get the crank arm sent to them. The speed at which the crank arm was received, fitted, and returned with tracking exceeded the already short turnaround time they’d quoted, which meant I could get straight on with playing with my new toy!
Calibration through their app and pairing with my Garmin watch was quick and easy and allowed me to set up my data fields to include the Power reading.
I only had a couple of rides before my next race, so I didn’t get much chance to train with it, however, the difference on race day was noticeable immediately. Previously, whenever I was going uphill, the gear I was in, the cadence I was pedaling at and the intensity I was working at was all based on feel. Now, I had actual data telling me how hard, or more importantly not, I was working. All of a sudden, I was changing gear, increasing cadence, and upping the power output on every climb throughout the race. This resulted in a nearly 2km/h increase in my average speed vs other comparable distances and elevations in recent months.
Since then, I’ve trained only using power and am already starting to see the benefit. On sprint sessions at a local cycling track, it gave a real insight into how hard you can push yourself and a benchmark to aim for each lap. I also think I may quickly become very competitive with myself being able to see the data in real time on the screen in front of me.
4iiii are close to releasing a drive side crank arm as well. Before being shown what power can do to my training, I wouldn’t have seen why you’d need both, however, I already can’t wait to see this come out to help provide that extra level of detail to show how balanced my left and right are and make changes to training programs to further improve my races.
#gearguytoby
