As a reviews writer on Cyclingnews, I keep a selection of our longstanding in-depth buyers guide pieces under my watchful gaze – updating from one year to the next and endeavouring to ensure they offer the very best advice to our readers.
One of the articles that’s under that umbrella is our list of the best power meters. I take on that guide because it’s been years since I rode without power data. I track every ride and I pay attention to the details and yet, I also make a lot of assumptions about the history and my understanding. I say things like power meter data is “the basis for all modern cycling-specific training” without really thinking about what that means.
Power meter training is a relatively new technology. In the mid-90s professionals were occasionally dabbling in the use of power meters but the pricing and limited technology placed it out of reach for regular people. Around 20 years ago the technology started to really take off but only because of the actions of a few key people and chance circumstances.
One of those people, which you might recognize from a book on your shelf, was Hunter Allen. Allen is co-author of Training and Racing with a Power Meter now on its third edition. Allen didn’t do it alone though and as I sat down to chat with him about this history, I found it fascinating to hear how often he gave credit to USA Cycling and how all the pieces came together.
If you are a serious cyclist, or would like to become one, a power meter is a necessary upgrade. Owning one allows you to train more effectively and pace yourself over long efforts but only because of our modern understanding of how to interpret that data. This is a story of how the tools we rely on today came to be and what comes next.
An amateur started it all
When you think about innovations in cycling, it’s often from the top down. The positive spin is to say the professionals start using something and consumers reap the benefits of that research. You could also say that the UCI makes a rule and manufacturers chase it leaving consumers to deal with the results. In this case though, one of the threads that Allen wove through our conversation was how the flow of information was largely reversed in this case.
Despite that claim, it is also important to recognize that Hunter Allen is retelling a story…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at CyclingNews RSS Feed…