Power meters: is Quintana right that they should be banned?

[tristecsinamigos]

I never thought Froome looks as much at his stem as many people think. I think he said once that his neck gets tired and I believe him because the same happens to me when riding, I need to slow the head down a lot.

 

[red zone]

Re: Re:

I read what you said and if you believe banning them would have the least chance of changing anything (of the 3 options given) then i'll repeat ,why would anyone have a problem banning something that's of little to no use ?

Eh, when did i say that?

Are you being deliberately obtuse?

if you didn't say that , maybe you can explain what you meant when you said "banning power meters would have the least chance of changing anything" ?

 

[huangho]

I wil say something that may be unpopular, but racing (Not training) with powermeter is a disgrace, you can pace yourself based on data rather than your legs, but it doesn't know your feelings, your inner spirit and everything, it may sound as a cliché but it is true, I have rode with and w/o powermeter and I feel a bit more excited and with more attitude without it, of course they should be banned in race, but it doesn't mean that a guy like Cris Froome will lose races because of that, he will have to learn how to ride without it, but once he learn, he will improve.

Riding with the powermeter teach you how to increase your efficiency, but in racing there are many times that it annoys you, you feel that you can go faster and your heart is telling you gogogo, but you know you have to adjust to your tech-pal.

It is really good for training in order to know where your limits are, but in race, there are no limits, is the big shot, I don't know how Froome can use it in races, but in order to avoid a massive powermeter use in the years to follow, they should be banned as soon as possible.

 

[huge]

Re:

in order to avoid a massive powermeter use in the years to follow, they should be banned as soon as possible.

Every single pro rider already uses a power meter while racing.
It cannot get more massive than that.

Some might race only according to it. Some others go by feeling anyway. But they all have the data available in front of them at any moment

 

[Cookster15]

Re:

I wil say something that may be unpopular, but racing (Not training) with powermeter is a disgrace, you can pace yourself based on data rather than your legs, but it doesn't know your feelings, your inner spirit and everything, it may sound as a cliché but it is true, I have rode with and w/o powermeter and I feel a bit more excited and with more attitude without it, of course they should be banned in race, but it doesn't mean that a guy like Cris Froome will lose races because of that, he will have to learn how to ride without it, but once he learn, he will improve.

Riding with the powermeter teach you how to increase your efficiency, but in racing there are many times that it annoys you, you feel that you can go faster and your heart is telling you gogogo, but you know you have to adjust to your tech-pal.

It is really good for training in order to know where your limits are, but in race, there are no limits, is the big shot, I don't know how Froome can use it in races, but in order to avoid a massive powermeter use in the years to follow, they should be banned as soon as possible.

Not unpopular with me. You are 100% spot on. Well said! Of course keep them for training but ban them for racing. Would also be good to see what Froome as a rider is capable of when not ruled by that little screen on his handlebars.

 

[Miburo]

Of course it should be banned

 

[samhocking]

At least Valverde had Froome's emotionless watt-based back wheel to latch onto as he rode past him to keep onto second in GC. He should be thanking Froome for riding differently than everyone else and having a wheel not being ridden by someone who's blown up and going backwards compared to Quintana lol!

 

[Richeypen]

Re: Re:

I read what you said and if you believe banning them would have the least chance of changing anything (of the 3 options given) then i'll repeat ,why would anyone have a problem banning something that's of little to no use ?

Eh, when did i say that?

Are you being deliberately obtuse?

if you didn't say that , maybe you can explain what you meant when you said "banning power meters would have the least chance of changing anything" ?

Honest question, is English your second language?

 

[huge]

Re: Re:

I wil say something that may be unpopular, but racing (Not training) with powermeter is a disgrace, you can pace yourself based on data rather than your legs, but it doesn't know your feelings, your inner spirit and everything, it may sound as a cliché but it is true, I have rode with and w/o powermeter and I feel a bit more excited and with more attitude without it, of course they should be banned in race, but it doesn't mean that a guy like Cris Froome will lose races because of that, he will have to learn how to ride without it, but once he learn, he will improve.

Riding with the powermeter teach you how to increase your efficiency, but in racing there are many times that it annoys you, you feel that you can go faster and your heart is telling you gogogo, but you know you have to adjust to your tech-pal.

It is really good for training in order to know where your limits are, but in race, there are no limits, is the big shot, I don't know how Froome can use it in races, but in order to avoid a massive powermeter use in the years to follow, they should be banned as soon as possible.

Not unpopular with me. You are 100% spot on. Well said! Of course keep them for training but ban them for racing. Would also be good to see what Froome as a rider is capable of when not ruled by that little screen on his handlebars.

Clearly Froome would do well anyway. He is and he would remain one of the best climbers, with or without a powermeter.

But take yesterday stage for example. Without a powermeter he wouldn't have been able to pace himself to perfection as he did. Most probably he would have pushed a bit too much, fearing to lose too much ground and therefore risking to blow himself up.

 

[DanielSong39]

I think Froome would still do great with no power meter, no race radio, and reduced teams. With that said it would be more fun to see him race under these circumstances.

As a fan I think the one thing they should do is to stop neutralizing stages. Luck is part of cycling and it makes races more fun. Obviously you have to take measures against foul play, but time gaps should be allowed to stand in most circumstances.

 

[red zone]

Re: Re:

I read what you said and if you believe banning them would have the least chance of changing anything (of the 3 options given) then i'll repeat ,why would anyone have a problem banning something that's of little to no use ?

Eh, when did i say that?

Are you being deliberately obtuse?

if you didn't say that , maybe you can explain what you meant when you said "banning power meters would have the least chance of changing anything" ?

Honest question, is English your second language?

instead of constantly trying to move the goal posts maybe you should just admit you misspoke and be done with it

 

[Billie]

All science aspects of cycling should be banned imo.

TT bikes next.

 

[DanielSong39]

At the end of the day the sport only exists due to fans. If some types of technology make races less entertaining to fans, there is good case for banning them.

 

[huge]

Re:

All science aspects of cycling should be banned imo.

TT bikes next.

Totally disagree... as much science as possible in training.

Judge case by case for racing. I'm fine with E-shifting for example, but I would ban Powermeters and HR monitors and radios.

 

[SeriousSam]

Re:

All science aspects of cycling should be banned imo.

TT bikes next.

Wheels too. The reduction in rolling resistance compared to the traditional octagon design too often reduces the action to just a casual gliding along. Back in the day, every pedal stroke took immense power.

 

[Richeypen]

Re: Re:

I read what you said and if you believe banning them would have the least chance of changing anything (of the 3 options given) then i'll repeat ,why would anyone have a problem banning something that's of little to no use ?

Eh, when did i say that?

Are you being deliberately obtuse?

if you didn't say that , maybe you can explain what you meant when you said "banning power meters would have the least chance of changing anything" ?

Honest question, is English your second language?

instead of constantly trying to move the goal posts maybe you should just admit you misspoke and be done with it

No goalposts moved. What I said was perfectly cogent. The question regarding your language was merely me trying to ascertain whether what i said was lost in translation (in which case i would rephrase), or if you are trolling.

I guess its the latter (ignore list for you)

 

[huge]

Re: Re:

All science aspects of cycling should be banned imo.

TT bikes next.

Wheels too. The reduction in rolling resistance compared to the traditional octagon design too often reduces the action to just a casual gliding along. Back in the day, every pedal stroke took immense power.

 

[Billie]

Re: Re:

All science aspects of cycling should be banned imo.

TT bikes next.

Totally disagree... as much science as possible in training.

training I don't care. They could ride on some robot that tells them exactly how long to train every day I don't care.

But on the road science should've as little impact as possible.

 

[myrideissteelerthanyours]

Re:

But why not ban the HR monitor as well?

Ban computers that show anything apart from "current speed", "distance", "race time". That's it.

What other info does a rider need during a race?

As said before. all the other data can be recorded for a later analysis, but not visible during the race.

CURRENT SPEED!?!?!? No way man, that reduces races to boring robots and no attacks. I cant support this claim but neither can watt nazis.

 

[red zone]

maybe you should just stop posting if you have such a difficult time explaining what you mean in your posts

 

[huangho]

Re: Re:

I wil say something that may be unpopular, but racing (Not training) with powermeter is a disgrace, you can pace yourself based on data rather than your legs, but it doesn't know your feelings, your inner spirit and everything, it may sound as a cliché but it is true, I have rode with and w/o powermeter and I feel a bit more excited and with more attitude without it, of course they should be banned in race, but it doesn't mean that a guy like Cris Froome will lose races because of that, he will have to learn how to ride without it, but once he learn, he will improve.

Riding with the powermeter teach you how to increase your efficiency, but in racing there are many times that it annoys you, you feel that you can go faster and your heart is telling you gogogo, but you know you have to adjust to your tech-pal.

It is really good for training in order to know where your limits are, but in race, there are no limits, is the big shot, I don't know how Froome can use it in races, but in order to avoid a massive powermeter use in the years to follow, they should be banned as soon as possible.

Not unpopular with me. You are 100% spot on. Well said! Of course keep them for training but ban them for racing. Would also be good to see what Froome as a rider is capable of when not ruled by that little screen on his handlebars.

Clearly Froome would do well anyway. He is and he would remain one of the best climbers, with or without a powermeter.

But take yesterday stage for example. Without a powermeter he wouldn't have been able to pace himself to perfection as he did. Most probably he would have pushed a bit too much, fearing to lose too much ground and therefore risking to blow himself up.

You will never know...

I'm not defending him, but it is impossible for us to know how he was feeling it, he finished in a peak, but I believe that in the end he though that he could do better without that dossification at the beggining, it is a bitter sweet taste in the mouth.

You will never know, even CF will never know, what is done is done...

 

[huge]

Re: Re:

All science aspects of cycling should be banned imo.

TT bikes next.

Totally disagree... as much science as possible in training.

training I don't care. They could ride on some robot that tells them exactly how long to train every day I don't care.

But on the road science should've as little impact as possible.

You need to elaborate your sentence. Saying science should have as little impact as possible doesn't mean much.
Any bike on the road today is the product of extensive scientific technical research.

 

[Cookster15]

Re:

All science aspects of cycling should be banned imo.

TT bikes next.

Define "TT bike"? . What about these?

https://www.google.com.au/search?q=scott+dh+aerobar&safe=active&biw=1366&bih=667&tbm=isch&imgil=Cq1UDelbm-UtHM%253A%253BtBUU3jamD7OY3M%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.triathlon.org.au%25252FState_Associations%25252FACT%25252F_icanlive%25252FWay_of_Life%25252F2015%25252F7%25252FSpokey_Dokes_and_Skid_Lids%25252F21689326.htm&source=iu&pf=m&fir=Cq1UDelbm-UtHM%253A%252CtBUU3jamD7OY3M%252C_&usg=__j04mm-1AOx8rUskHVSawIpshqpg%3D&ved=0ahUKEwij5vqg9-nOAhWGH5QKHYOJDLIQyjcIJg&ei=OObFV6PqCoa_0ASDk7KQCw#imgdii=Cq1UDelbm-UtHM%3A%3BCq1UDelbm-UtHM%3A%3Bfzlaeqz7FpSeLM%3A&imgrc=Cq1UDelbm-UtHM%3A

Long story short the horse has bolted on some technology but power meters are not commonplace outside of the pro ranks so easily banned. Just like Formula 1 makes changes all the time to slow down the cars against technological progress. F1 banned traction control for a similar reason - to maintain the human element of the sport ahead of technology. Swimming also banned textile suits which made a mockery of most world records.

 

[ac4tw]

I agree with Quintana, and have thought for a long time that they should be banned. I am surprised it has taken this long for someone to suggest it, but glad he has suggested it.
It would be clearly impossible to enforce a ban on power meters during training, but they could easily be banned from racing. The races are definitely becoming less of a spectacle with their use. Riders can continue to ride on feel, and some may be very good at that and be able to guess the power that they are producing. But there will be variables - fatigue, weather conditions, wind, drafting etc - that will affect the accuracy of their guess.
I would also agree with banning radio communications with the team and with limiting team numbers, but that is less likely to happen, and least in the short term. Ban power meters initially, assess the response, then consider other measures down the track if needed.

 

[DFA123]

Re:

All science aspects of cycling should be banned imo.

TT bikes next.

The UCI is very strange about this. They put some arbitary limits on the weight of bikes and on how aero you are allowed to go with equipment. Making demands that bikes must follow the two triangle design, and even banning things like how you can sit on the bike (the praying Landis posture). But then they allow loads of battery powered devices like electronic shifting, power meters, race radios and data receivers.

The inconsistency is staggering and suggests on one hand they do want to stop science from diminishing an aspect of the sport, but on the other - there is too much money involved to keep it out.