Straight power is a better way to pace long efforts. If you are pacing correctly on long efforts your variability will be low so NP will be the same as power. As your effort gets longer NP becomes less informative because it has too much memory.
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I usually have HR to make sure Iām not overdoing it. I donāt know about speed or even average speed; trust your watts and your lungs. If youāre going headwind/tailwind or uphill/downhill thatās an awfully difficult calculation to make on the fly.
Sometimes instead of average power, you can have lap power, allowing you divide your efforts up into sections. Works on courses with uphill and downhill bits, where you might have a plan to go over/under threshold.
I like to have time on there, just so I instantly know my result when I cross the finish line. Also it can be a motivator as I approach the finish (ācan I get there before it ticks over to x minutes?ā).
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If Iām following a map on my Bolt, I just have time (so I know if itās time to eat) and %max HR, to help keep me roughly in the right zones.
Otherwise for riding I tend to have 5s power, time, distance, Max HR%, KJoules, and normalised power.
Contraversial topicā¦ Instant power vs 3, 5, 10 second power?
I find anymore than 3 and I go hunting for the number - I.e. over/under but admittedly if you were not looking at the screen often then longer would work much better.
Speed
Distance
Normalized Power
Power
Duration
On my road bikeI have Power Tap pedals and on my MTB Quark; my head unit on both is a Garmin 1030.
My question relates to data display: If I want to moderate my power going uphill (not go above threshold power) should the display read NP?
For example: weāre approaching a climb and I want to stay below a certain output. Would I hit the button on the bottom of the Garmin and then be displaying NP???
No, I would show 3s Power for this. If you want, you could add a %FTP metric, but I donāt find this useful personally.
NP tries to translate your power efforts over an entire ride into a format that estimates the toll it had on your body. I donāt think it is useful to make decisions during a ride.
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no, better 30s or 10s Power
I also suggest you make a special page for climbs , with the lap data: at the beginning of the climb you start a new lap so youāll have only the data of that climb
on this screen I put km, duration, 30s and 10s power, altitude, slope, cadence and lap power
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cadence
speed
3s power
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Which fields do you show on your gps head unit?
Iām wondering whether to show avg 3 sec power, normalized power, cadence etc.
Seems to be pretty personal, and for me it depends on the application:
Workout: 3s Power, duration, TSS, HR, Cadence, NP (lap), distance
Ride/group ride: 3s Power, cadence, HR, distance, speed, duration, ft climbed
Race (Tri): 3s Power, NP(lap), distance, cadence
I have a climbing page which shows 3s Avg Power, cadence, grade, ft climbed and elevation.
Just kinda depends. I could get rid of cadence on most of those pages without missing it. HR is a good backup to power or if doing long, early season base rides I sometimes use HR to control intensity. Some of itās just 'cuz.
I think most folks would agree on some kind of instantaneous/short period avg power, and then after that there would be no consensus. 
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Can someone point me in the right direction?
I have just started riding with a power meter. I have 3 sec, instant, average, 10 sec and 30sec on my screen.
So if Iām doing an effort say at 75% or 240ā¦ What field do I watch, do I hold say 85% to be able to average out at 75%.?
I seem to be working harder than my target.
Workout time/duration
HR
Cadence
Power 3s - power NP
Distance - time of day
Long course triathlon
1st screen
10s power
HR
Bike time
Distance
2nd screen
NP
Avg HR
Avg Power
Avg Cadence
I donāt care about speed and elapsed bike time is only there to help timing the nutrition
My main data screen outdoors. Other screens have various assorted metrics and data. Theres one screen fully devoted to di2 and another with things like time of day, temperature, etc.
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Iām definitely a maximalist when it comes to this, and outlined it in this blog post.
Brendan
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What screens do you have on your Garmin/wahoo? And also add what type of biking you do I.e. road, crit, mtb, cx, enduro
Road cyclist:
SPEED SPEED SPEED
Silliness aside, I have Power, cadence, heart rate and speed on my garmin.
That depends, I have many different pages.
For example, for indoor training I have 20-second average of power, cadence, heart rate and time of day on my Wahoo.
