Stages Power Meters

It's no secret that I'm a big time numbers fan.  Whether it's sorting through Quickbooks files or looking at numbers from a workout, I never get tired of looking at the information.  Luckily, my coach Neal Henderson is the same way, and he loves looking at results from a good training session or race.  I've always been a fan of training with power measurement tools, but until recently, it's been a challenge.  Typically power meters have been in heavy wheel hubs and limit your wheel choice options at races and on training rides.

Boulder based company Stages Power has developed one of the smartest, simplest, and economical solutions to the power meter dilemma.  Rather than measuring torque through the rear hub, the stages meter measures strain on the crank arm through a very compact box attached inside the left crank arm.  It transmits though a variety of wireless options, typically ANT+ or Bluetooth.  After mounting my Stages equipped XTR crank arm to my mountain bike, syncing the power meter to my Timex Cycle Trainer was incredibly quick and easy.

 

The above picture shows some of my data from my first ride with the setup.  How cool is it to have power, GPS data, heart rate, and just about anything else you want with nothing more than a small box mounted inside your crank arm and compact bar mounted computer?!?! Better yet, I was able to run my lightweight 29er wheels.  If I wanted to switch to something else on race day... no problem!  Have a couple mountain bikes and want power on bother... just switch the left crank arm over!  It's such a clean, simple solution.  I love it!

 

It's awesome to have Stages just a couple miles from my house.  Our friend Matt Pacocha is working for Stages and even hooked me up with this sweet CO themed t-shirt :)  If you're in the market for a power measuring crank, Stages is definitely the answer.  Give Matt a call and enjoy the new simplicity of such a powerful training tool!