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A post about equipment to support progress monitoring
There is a lot of gear in road cycling; whether we need it depends on the individual. I’ve outlined a few pieces of gear that I use to help me measure my progress and how hard (or not) I’m pushing out on the road or the trainer.
I cannot live without this, as it does everything, including directing me where to go.
I create my routes on Strava, and they automatically upload to Garmin, so I’m ready to explore (or not get lost). It’s worth reading my blog on creating routes if you want some tips and tricks here.
I’ve been through a few Garmin bike computers over the years, they get better year after year.I currently have the Edge 1000, which is solar powered. It is useful for those very long rides and will hopefully last 312km.
On my main screen, I use the full eight spaces I can with the following:
This was a game changer when I installed it – I have it on my Winter and Summer bike now. It creates a much smoother shift change, and in the winter, it’s good when your hands are cold, and you can’t push the gear levers.
The Di2 connects to my Garmin and tells me when I’m about to shift up or down a ring, which is helpful. The Garmin also shows battery level, as you don’t want to get caught out with a dead battery and no gears to shift to!
I have the pedals with power meters in, so they measure both sides. This is the most accurate power reading you can get.
This connects with my Garmin, and I use the 3-second power and average power to see the watts I’m putting through in real time and monitor the average across the ride.
I have two heart rate monitors – the Garmin for out on the road and the Wahoo for the indoor trainer as they need to connect to their “home” – i.e. Garmin to Garmin, Wahoo to Wahoo.
This is useful to see if I’m getting in trouble or not working hard enough, but really, it’s to measure my overall work effect and strain on a particular ride or session.