New User Interval feature Rocks! (but a question or two)

[jim_s]

LOVE the new User Interval feature. I have a favorite hill for repeats, and I like to monitor power/time/speed from one road sign at the bottom to another at the top. This new feature is perfect for this! (I was rankled by the abduction of he subtrip feature from the Gen II, but seeing ave and current power at the same time, I have to say, is even nicer than having to switch to the ave screen while riding to see the ave, as the old subtrip feature required for seeing the ave.)

While I really am concentrating on power output during these intervals (ie, the ave, current and time display is *very* relevant), it would be nice to be able to see speed and cadence as I'm riding (cadence even more so than speed), and maybe even ave speed or cadence at the end of the interval or in the review screen. Is there a way, or are there any plans, for being able to see either of these during or after a User Interval? (being able to select between display of time or cadence on the bottom line, for instance, or being able to select between continuous display of time, continuous display of cadence, or a flipping between them on the bottom line might be nice.)

Thanks for the great feature VC - definitely a winner on that one!

JIm

[coachboyd]

The reason why we left speed out is because it's irrelevant when doing power based intervals. In fact, the guy who just got third in the Tour of California time trial didn't even have a speed sensor on his bike.

There could have been average speed in the review, but we wanted to keep the screen as simple as possible. HR is displayed intermittently with elapsed time. Cadence could have also been shown but it would have "cluttered" up the screen a bit. We wanted to make the userintervals a simple way for you to pace yourself by using watts and average watts on the same screen.

all of the info gets recorded and even shows up as a lap for review afterwards in the software.

[racerfern]

LOVE the new User Interval feature. I have a favorite hill for repeats...

JIm

I've got a favorite hill also. But in this case, I'm using laps since I'm traveling a specific distance not a specific amount of time. This way I see speed but not average watts until the lap ends. If I design an interval workout in iB3 then I would use the interval set. Then I get watts and avg watts and I have to wait to see the speed later on.

I think that works for me What would be best? Any comments or suggestions?

[jim_s]

I have to agree with you on the speed - it really is superfluous during the interval. (but it would be nice to see the ave afterward, if it were do-able through a sensible interface.)

I personally rank cadence pretty high (and would argue its probably more germane than an instantaneous HR display - we know the vagaries of HR data - that's why we're using power meters! . Having the cadence displayed would allow me to:
a) experiment and see what cadence gives me better power output on what types of terrain (or specific areas of a particular climb)
b) once I've identified a good cadence, I can be sure that I'm using that cadence on the climb or sections thereof. Maybe the approach taken for HR (alternating between time and cadence, as you're alternating between time and HR) would be a useful (selectable) feature in a future firmware update?

None of this is a 'complaint' - in truth, I love the new user interval feature - its exactly what I need for my hill repeats, but the addition of cadence could be very helpful. (that having been said, it would be better to be able to select between constant display of time and alternation of cadence/time - not everyone may want to see cadence flashing in/out all the time).

Bottom line though - the new feature is seriously good stuff!

Jim

[Russ]

Jim's comments about cadence and power together to find what cadence best for what reminds me of a related feature I'd like to have, probably in the software for post analysis.

It would be great to have a graph of power vs cadence. This essentially would be my 'power curve' like for engines and so forth. If I knew exactly my cadence range of max or above X power it would be very useful