Road Tested: PowerCranks Review
Written By Raymond Britt
Published by www.xtri.com 24 March 2004
Frank Day, one of the original twelve Ironman finishers and founder of Powercranks, drove a hard bargain. He was willing to provide a pair of PowerCranks to a yet-to-be-named xtri.com reviewer, but he was looking for a commitment: “my only requirement is that this person agree to use the PC’s exclusively in training for a minimum of 3 months.” This was not going to be a typical review.
I had a sense of what I had gotten myself into. In early 2003 I had asked a pro who trained with PowercCranks if they might be right for me. “PowerCranks are a great supplement to your cycling training,” the Pro replied encouragingly. But she cautioned, “they are super tough to learn to ride and you likely won’t be able to ride for very long on them at first,” reaffirming some of the short-term challenges I had heard about.
I knew it wasn’t going to be a quick and easy review, but after nearly three months using PowerCranks here’s the verdict. They are very challenging at first, sometimes discouragingly so, as advertised. But after getting the hang of PowerCranks, and it did take a few weeks, I felt stronger than ever on the bike, and I have the training data to back up that claim.
The Set-Up
I timed my PowerCrank experiment to begin a few weeks after returning from Ironman Hawaii 2003. Frank Day sent me a set of Adjustable PowerCranks Model 3 with adjustable crank length. This set retails for $US825, and a pair of fixed length PowerCranks Basic Model 3, with lengths from 165 to 185 in 2.5 mm increments, retails for $US690. The installation instructions seemed straightforward enough, but I didn’t have the confidence to install them myself, so I had my local bike shop do the work.
With a cold and snowy winter closing in on Chicago, I loaded my Softride PowerWing with the PowerCranks onto my CompuTrainer, and prepared to spend the next several weeks testing the PCs indoors.
First Impressions
The principle behind PCs is simple: each crank is independent, forcing the rider to pedal in complete circles. Think of this as a permanent one-leg drill tool operating simultaneously for both legs. Optimal form results in each crank 180 degrees apart from the other, perfect circles increase cycling efficiency and performance. The literature promised that initial PowerCranks rides will feel strange, from trying to achieve consistent circles to challenges riding out of the saddle.
In my previous reviews, first impressions told much of the story. Gear seemed stronger, sleeker, and most importantly, helped me perform better, almost immediately. Triathletes expect to see immediate benefits from their equipment investments, and I’m no different. But there’s no getting around it here: this is not a product that will deliver gains in the first few days. In fact, expect to take a few steps backwards.
The idea of pedaling on PowerCranks sounded easy enough, until I clicked my cleats into the pedals and tried my first ride on November 22. I knew PCs might be hard at the start, but I was not prepared to be humbled so significantly. Here I was, fresh from a solid triathlon and cycling year, and within five minutes of pedaling on PowerCranks, I was completely dying. Five minutes?!? Yes. PowerCranks were finding muscles I had barely used before, and they were killing me.
I took a 20 second rest interval, and tried again. Five more minutes, my thighs screamed more, another rest, then I repeated the process. After 25 minutes, I simply could not take it anymore, I had to stop. And I had one thought: I am one lousy cyclist. The data from CompuTrainer seemed to confirm it: a mere 18mph on a flat course, averaging only 167 watts, levels only previously seen when I was nearly asleep on the bike. The next few sessions brought slight improvement in wattage and pace, but I was still struggling to ride more than 10 minutes continuously before my legs demanded a brief, full-stop rests, before continuing.
I can see why, after just a few experimental attempts, many cyclists refuse to use them again. In highlighting your cycling weaknesses so clearly, they almost encourage you to want to switch back immediately to fixed cranks so you can feel strong and fast again. “I’m better than this!” you instinctively want to say, but inside you have the feeling the PowerCranks are uncovering real potential. Thankfully, I had nothing but a few months of winter ahead of me, and could afford to experience some pain and suffering at the hands of PowerCranks for awhile. Who knows, I thought, maybe I can improve after all.
Getting in Tune
The next few weeks on PowerCranks featured workouts that delivered small incremental gains, but they were adding up. First, I found some success riding longer, up to an hour, but still required rest breaks every 10 to 15 minutes. Next, I celebrated the minor victories of lasting longer between breaks.
I got used to the feeling of struggling at the start of training rides, recognizing that the hip flexors were very sore from the new attention they were receiving. But SpinScan on CompuTrainer began to show me that my pedal stroke was getting better, that I was pedaling more efficiently in circles, and I knew it was the hip flexors that were making that happen.
A few form adjustments were made along the way, and Frank Day at PowerCranks told me that these were to be completely expected. Fixed cranks effectively push one leg through the upstroke, but with PowerCranks, this does not happen. Hip flexors must pull the pedal through the upstroke, and that’s difficult at first. Try to go aero doing this in the first few weeks? Forget it. You’ll find yourself riding in the sitting position while you develop the muscles.
A little more disconcerting was the slower cadence. To get maximum effect, I found myself settling at about 80 cadence with PowerCranks, while I like to see 90 to 95 rpm with fixed cranks. Not to worry, Frank told me. This is very consistent with training the legs to get the most out of the cranks. Faster cadence can come later.
So I felt I was making some progress as New Year’s Day came and went, six weeks after starting on PowerCranks. But the progress seemed slow, my wattage was still under 200 watts per session. When would the breakthroughs I had heard about start to happen?
Breaking Through
The first hint of a breakthrough came on January 7, as I rode the ‘20 Mile Flat’ CompuTrainer course in 58 minutes, averaging 200 watts. This was more like an average CompuTrainer training ride on fixed cranks, but I was clearly getting more efficient in my pedaling resulting in a better balance of heart rate, watts and speed. This was good.
Encouraged, I was ready to move off the flat courses onto hill workouts. My favorite time trial and general indicator of fitness is the ’10 Mile Intermediate’ hill CompuTrainer course, which features five hills of varying duration. Eight weeks after my first painful PowerCrank workout, I finished the ’10 Mile Intermediate’ course in 34:30, not a bad time for me even on fixed cranks. Three weeks later, I knocked 50 seconds off that time, scoring a whopping (for me) 231 average watts. Incredible.
It was time to see how these improvements translated to fixed cranks. I loaded my fixed-crank Softride Rocket onto the CompuTrainer, calibrated it, and took off. Precisely 32 minutes and 12 seconds later, I had set a personal best on the ’10 Mile Intermediate’ course, registering a new PR 246 average watts. How about a 20 Mile Flat course time trial the next day? A new PR there, too, averaging 22 mph, and 234 watts. This was great!
Hammer Away
As I write this, I have completed 28 training sessions, covering 451 miles, on PowerCranks and the gains continue. This week I have seen watts increase further, while improving performance on each ride. The PowerCranks were hammering me at the start of this experiment, I am now hammering on them.
I couldn’t be more pleased with the results so far, and I look forward to seeing the impact on my outdoor riding (when it gets warmer), and also on my running. If you’re curious about future performance, feel free to follow along by checking my training log on my personal web site (see sidebar for link) , where you can also see details of all my previous PowerCrank rides.
To summarize, I’d put it this way. If you demand immediate improvement and are impatient when it comes to adjusting to new gear and technology, PowerCranks are not for you. But if you’re willing to take a few weeks to develop new form that can ultimately make you a stronger and better rider, try PowerCranks.
