Do power meter is worth it? Even we can pace with speed

Training
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Do I need a power meter? So I am a cyclist, and I take part in every trail race in my country. I also pace myself with speed. like i know what average speed is going to be to become first in tt race so till now i only use heart rate monitor and see speed to the race but as i am seeing all the pro cyclist are using power meter in there time trail races so my point was is power meter worth it or can be beneficial for me but everytime i think about that all that’s come in my mind is that i can see my speed on the raod as i know roughly what avarage speed the first place is going to be so do i still want to buy power meter because power meter will do the same thing like hitting a specific power and in the end the speed is going to be same for the first place… so guys please explain or tell me if anyone knows that will this two is the same thing please reply back it would be helpful

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I have read all the things but my questions haven’t answered yet

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So i have read all of this but i didn’t got my answer like i want to know that at a racing level like a time trail race so do i really need a power meter will it help or be beneficial because the speed can do the same thing i know what will be the average speed of the first place position so i will simply stick with that speed all the way on the road. So i need an answer form an actual guy who has been racing or have an knowledge about it or someone who can tell me the difference in pacing with speed and pacing with power meter and both in the end are going to be same as the race results the average speed will be same so please can anyone tell me about it

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It is difficult to read your messages without punctuation. Nonetheless, you don’t need a PM. However, it can be helpful, but mostly in post race analysis and training.

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I find the biggest benefit of a power meter is in training, it will let you have more consistent and measurable metrics of your training. This can potentially let you reach higher fitness levels

In mass start events I find a power meter helpful afterwards for analyzing performance and identifying areas of improvement (both tactical and physical)

In individual races like you’re describing (tts, long races scored on time, etc) a power meter can be used better than average speed in many circumstances

The other threads linked above detail this, but I’ll give you one example

Say you’re racing a time trial that is flat and is on a circuit that you complete once. Even with a flat course you will have different speeds on different portions of the course based on wind conditions. The power meter can be used during the event to allow you to decide when you need a higher or lower speed to hit the desired finishing time/speed. If you were to further complicate things by imagining a rolling course you would see even more benefit from real time power data to inform when to push harder or go easier

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Is a power meter worth it?

That depends on you, it can be very useful for training and tracking performance over time.

Can you pace with speed?

Sure, if you’re on a velodrome. In any other case using speed is about as inaccurate as just guessing. Hills and wind make speed as a pacing tool very not great.

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Speed varies based on hills, wind, and surface. Average speed won’t capture this; you’ll end up riding too hard on certain sections and not hard enough on others. Power measures the actual output from your legs regardless of those other factors. It essentially measures how hard you’re working.

If you train with power, you’ll have a rough estimate of the power you can hold for any duration. You can match that up with the expected time trial duration to try and pace yourself. That way you can ride at or near your maximum without going too hard and blowing up.

Time trials are the actual best use case for power meters!

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For racing/ pacing TT’s how much use a PM is probably depends on how much you mix things up terrain, condition wise etc. At a very simple analogy (out and back course) if you go out at say 20mph into a strong headwind and up a hill when you turn round you could be doing 30mph plus, you really can’t pace of speed 25mph would be too much on the way out and you’ll blow up and if you make it to the turn 25mph back will be too slow to achieve your optimal speed. A power meter lets you have the knowledge to pace the course regardless of external factors. However, if you are really familiar with the course, know where and when to apply the appropriate speed and know your body a power meter is not essential, it just useful for variability.

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Thanks for replying and i starting to understand about it but the thing is as you said speed can be different as we look at wind position and etc but most of the time trial race are held on a same route or different place but same elevation route and i know the first place time like i know the top rider in my area what average speed he was and what i have to be at and most of the time the podium finishes time are almost at a same time only few seconds difference so everytime everyone’s knows that what specific time we have hit so seeing that i know all of them try to finish at the same average speed so my point is having a power meter or not everyone’s time is same so everyone is pushing themselves but at the end there time adb speed are same so i can pase myself with time also

but if i am wrong please correct me and guide me and explain please it will be helpful for me because Right know i want to improve and level up my knowledge and become strong

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So it seems to me like you aren’t interested in having a PM, but someone is trying to convince you that you need one. If you are completely comfortable with just using speed as your training/racing metric, just don’t get a PM. Just know a PM will be significantly more accurate in measuring efforts :slight_smile: Cheers!

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Have you looked at their rides and seen if their speed is exactly the same the whole ride? I am betting not. There is always going to be slower and faster sections based on terrain, wind and course.

If you just aim to hit the same average speed you could end up blowing your legs up and being unable to set your own fastest possible time.

Let’s say the course starts with a long hill then descends down to the finish. You start aiming to hold their average speed for the whole course, blow up part way up the hill because you can’t hold the average speed and finish the tt with a horrible time.

If you had a power meter you can pace the whole thing properly regardless of terrain.

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Are you winning all your races?

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Okay so i got the point so know i am starting to understand so the power meter is give you an exact number so you can see on computer and hold that power so holding that number till the end like on the hills or down the meter will tell you what number you have to stay in right? So having a power meter then is helpful

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So i finally got the main idea about it so thanks everyone for replying and guiding me i will look into power meter and buy one thanks again everyone for there time it was really helpful

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Thanks man i have read message and i got the point thanks for guiding me

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