So You Bought a Power Meter (Now What?)

How to train with a power meter? That is a simple question yet one that is overlooked when first investing into a power meter on your road bike. So in this video series - brought to you by Assioma power pedals - I will provide a three step guide for getting set up with success, including install and set up, working out your trainer zones, and a simple base fitness test you can do with both a power meter and heart rate monitor to assess where you're at fitness wise.

[rockymountainlifestyle]

I purchased Assioma Duo power pedals in the summer of 2020 after riding and training to power on Zwift. It became addicting riding and training to power, honestly, speed and heart rate became less relevant during outdoor rides after setting them up on my outdoor bike. Summer turned into winter and I hung my bike up for the winter months in Canada and pulled the skis out of storage.

All was well till my 4th day on the slopes when I had a rather nasty ski crash, I dislocated my patella (knee cap). I don't recommend doing this unless you enjoy some magic drugs at the hospital while they pop your patella back into place. The doctor prescribed 6 weeks of no loadbearing on my left leg and I had to keep it in a zimmer brace (mummy cast) for the duration as well. To make a long story short, my left leg lost almost all of its strength and muscle mass (muscle atrophy is no joke). I started physio 4 weeks into my rehabilitation and a few weeks after starting physio I was back on the indoor bike. If you want to see a grown man cry make him complete 1 full crank rotation after almost 7 weeks of not moving his leg!

Fast forward 17 weeks post-injury, it's now spring 2021 and I am back outdoors on the road bike. Little did I realize that after that first ride that the data that my power pedals provided was going to be invaluable to my recovery. There is a little known data metric on all dual-sided power meters that will provide you your left / right leg bias in real-time and an average post ride. For me, it was 30% left 70% right (yikes). My wife started to call me "flappy" as the left leg on the bib shorts would flap in the wind with my left leg being so small. With this knowledge in hand, I headed back to the gym to focus on left leg strength training. After 8 weeks of rigorous training, I was able to get my balance in check with an even 50/50%.

Without this data, I honestly think I would have been shooting in the dark for rehabilitation and my recovery would have taken significantly longer. I can't say enough good things about power meter pedals. They are great for training and they are invaluable for rehabilitation!

TLDR - Get power pedals, you won't regret the purchase and maybe one day they will help with rehabilitation! :)

[CycoWarriorx]

I have a pair of FA’s… spent about six months researching crank based, single sided, and pedal options before finalizing the FA’s… love’em… easy to install, setup, recharge, and update the software… definitely makes a difference in your training… in short, they’re worth the investment…

[jamespham]

Lots of value here Cam
Can’t speak highly enough of your content
Keep up the great work 👍
Brought a Garmin vector 3 about 2 months ago
Looking forward to seeing the whole 4 series of how to use your power meter effectively 👍

[paulshenton]

Thanks Cam, very clear and given I’ve just upgraded from Garmin V3 to Assioma duo I fully agree these pedals are very well designed for ease of use and longevity.

[SkeetSystem]

Looking forward to the rest of this series. My FTP has gone from 250 to 280 but I have no idea what I'm doing lmao I mean I don't kill myself for average speed anymore so maybe I'm just doing more physiologically beneficial riding.

[patrickparisienne]

Great info Cam! Bought a used Stages crank meter, and found it very helpful in trying to achieve a more efficient pedalling action, as well as seeing just much power is required in different situations!

[karriemwardlow]

As always - eye-opening information. Many thanks!

[infinati]

I bought a pair of Assiomas. Worked great for several months. Then one morning for no reason power went super wonky. Would wildly swing from saying I was producing 100w of power and then a few seconds later 1300w of power. I was probably doing 200w of power.

After some back and forth with Customer Service, taking pictures, and them analyzing the data from the pedals, they sent me a new left pedal body for free, they didn't require me to send the bad pedal back, and I had to pay for shipping from Italy of the new part. The whole process, from bad pedal to getting the replacement installed back on the bike took three weeks.

I had to take apart the old pedal and install it on the new spindle body they sent. Super easy, provided you have the right socket wrench size.

I wish it was faster than three weeks, because having no power data was agony, but Favero were professional and thorough.

[darrenbarlow]

I have Assioma Duo. Bloody fantastic mate

[richardvanderwelipsc]

Hi Cam, thanks for your great explanation. can you please share the link to the Excel file again to use for calculation of the FTP ? The current link isn't working anymore

[chrisobyrne]

Set up a custom workout on Zwift with 60 mins at 70% of FTP to complete the heart rate drift test ……… let’s just say that I will need a little help from the next instalment in this series!

[carlroeger]

Thanks a lot, very very helpful indeed! 🙌🏼

[watcher]

I did have the use of a powermeter on the bike for a little while but came to the conclusion that for me, power for training indoors on the smart trainer is where I need power numbers. Outdoors on the road, I just wanted to ride and enjoy it without looking at any numbers. So no fancy pedals for me

[MrKostaja]

One thing about those pedals Cam absolutely glosses over is that they increase the Q-factor (width of your stance). I am 183 cm tall, and they made my stance wide enough to be unusable. This is very clearly stated in the tech specs and also overview by Assioma. Everyone considering this product, should be aware of this.

[pavlos..]

Those gym scenes were like something out of the movie 'Pumping Iron'. You are Australia's own Lou Ferrrigno

[ohne_speed]

The smarttrainer/pedal difference is due to the drivetrain loss, which is usually somewhere at 2-8%. As for the 3sec avg or instant power on headunit, I would clarify that it also depends on what kind of meter you have. Pedal/crank ones are likely to jump around more than hub or spyder based ones. So for those I would recommend instant power.

[rlmurillo]

Great video. I am thinking about getting a power meter, Assioma look very good, but i use pedal spindle extensions, can i use the extensions with these, will affect the accuracy of the readings? Thank you.

[Rikswaterstaat]

Don't buy the Favero Assioma Duo-SHI unless you want to keep replacing bearings & bushings. They are reliable, and work great! Untill they don't anymore..

A few years down the road, it's clear to me that Favero dropped the ball with this one. Really hope my MX2 prove to be better a few years down the road but too early to say.

[robredpath]

Why did you stop using the 165mm quarq cam? Accuracy issue or crank length??

[matthewrepucci]

Ok, I just took advantage of the black Friday sale and ordered a pair of pedals! So what head unit / bike computer do you recommend?