[Closed] Can you be competitive without the use of technology?

Tech allows you to accurately measure efforts, times, improvements etc. Yes you can do it without, but its more efficient to do it with.

Would a stopwatch count as 'tech'?

I suppose it would be tech, but I imagine they have been used for decades in sports so its allowed

Course you can. Power meters allow you to get the most training benefit for the least time, effort and strain though.

You may not really know your body unless you use a power meter and have blood lactate tests though.

You can but it’s harder. Power meters have changed pacing in time trials. For road races they are of little use to me. Except telling me how hard it WAS.

People have always made use of whatever is available. In TTs you can buy speed. Problem is that in that arms race everyone has bought to the max!

Speaking as a wearer if aerosox 😉

HRM is useful, arguably all you 'need'. Power meters do similar thing more accurately. You certainly don't need strava 🙂
Using PM or HRM probably helps you get to know your reaction to efforts and training more so you can train on 'feel' to some extent but perceived and actual effort can be off ime. HRMs and power meters can show fatigue or early sign of illness well.

Tech makes no difference at all to being competitive. You can be the most competitive in a race and come last. Of course you might actually be asking do you need tech for a chance to win where the answer is yes.

Ask Alf Tupper.

Not related to cycling, but I don't use any training aids for running. I don't use a GPs watch or have blood lactate measurements or run to heart rate etc.
Most people can't comprehend it but it works for me, and I'm happy at the level I've reached doing that. Doesn't mean I want to stay at that level. Ultimately you only get the results by putting in the hard work

Although having said that I'm sure if you were looking for every benefit you'd want all the help you could get - marginal gains and all that.

I'd say you could be competitive though without, but if you put 2 equally matched individuals and one had the use of training aids and the other didn't then I'd say the advantage would be with the one who could use the aids (and knew what they were doing with them).

I'd argue HRM's are worse than nothing, after trying virtual power on turbo I found my HR lags behind for 10 minutes when doing 20min intervals. The other problem was that RPE changes as well, at the start of those intervals riding at FTP is easy, it's just spinning the pedals, after 10 it's work, after 15 it starts to feel a bit hard, 18 it's almost flat out, and the last minute is utterly horrible. I think if you ride enough you know how hard you can go on any particular hill or whether you can keep up with a group without any tech.

So I'd just go out and ride. If you want to get faster on 2h hilly xc rides, do more 2h hilly xc rides etc. Even a Pro trining for the TDF is just using a power meter to simulate a day in the Alps in summer by riding around Tenerife in the winter. You don't need a power meter to simulate a 10 minute hill, you just need a 10 minute hill (or a long bit of road you can go all out for 10minutes on if you live somewhere flat).

Having said that, you can buy a power meter for <£300. That's less than a Garmin 800 head unit was a few years ago that only did hr and cadence.

Sundials are a bastard to drag around.

Sundials are a bastard to drag around.

Doesn't half make you fitter though 🙂

No. You can't be competitive without structured training and you can't do structured training without measuring and benchmarking your fitness. Gone are the days where you just had to get miles in. Its the kind of miles you get in that matters and not the quantity and you need to train differently for different disciplines. You simply can't do that without the kit. As an absolute basic you need a HRM and ideally a power meter.

Of course you can get fitter and better without any of this and by just going out and blindly riding by feel...but understanding how the human body works and exploiting that to tailor training will deliver more benefits that will make you more competitive.

Of course it depends at what level of competition you're at...the local family sponsored bike ride organised by the local pub is very different to higher level racing in a league.

Much as it helps and marginal gain and such... I’m pretty certain it’s not a substitute for actually getting on a bike and riding, having a decent diet and such 😀

After that its gotta be down to how you use the tech ....

Simple analogy.... (just one aspect) but its like having a fuel gauge on a car vs warning ping vs predicted miles... vs predicted miles and cost of fuel and deviation from your optimal route

You can probably replicate the full tech with a petrol price app, paper map and working it out from just the fuel gauge ... but the full on tech solution makes it easier... but might not take into account the price of food when stopping for fuel or preference of coffee ?

My point on this tenuous analogy ?
I guess over reliance on tech can also be negative.
If we take the fuel then we might save say 50p or £1 but end up spending more because food is more expensive or we can’t buy an acceptable brand of coffee and so drive to the next fuel stop just to get coffee ???

Or we might just be having a bad day and be tired...?

Can someone be competitive without?
I think so... marginal gains are .. marginal... if you don’t sort out the basics no amount of marginal gains are going to compensate.
Might it be easier with ... yes so long as you don’t forget the basics and over rely on tech

We were more talking top tier national/International level.... All hypothetical really.
I have no delusions of racing at that level

Thanks for the replies, reaffirmed my thoughts really, not absolutely necessary but a more efficient way of training

I suspect it's way more important at that level.

If a local xc race is won by a minute it's considered close. At world cup level it's bike lengths.

So what's marginal at a local level is the difference between qualification or not at a higher level.

Even DH and BMX riders use power meters these days.

I have a power meter, hrm, 7kg lightweight bike, aero kit..I'm still very uncompetitive

Make of that what you will..

Course you can. Just define competitive.

I’ve started using all the tech recently, hrm, power, structured training etc and I’m getting quicker faster no doubt. But I’m sure a lot of it is I’ve got it, I’m gonna use it, so I’m riding more. I’m really missing having power meter on the road though, so it makes a difference. To be at the top at elite level you’re going to need it but there are quick riders who are quick without ever touching more than a 20year old tt bike.

Saw an email earlier about our club tt records, the oldest one is 1987 and still standing. They barely had a cycle computer back then.

When all is said and done it's a process of experimentation; you train, make changes, test and repeat. All the various bits of 'tech' do is help to with measurement and control outside of competition.

All an HRM is doing is putting "BPM and/or Zones" against physical stress and how much you are working aerobically/anaerobically, where in it's absence you would just go by feel, similarly a PM is probably putting numbers to your own estimation of general "strength" and "stamina". A weigh scale again gives a number, where a quick glance at your gut would have told you if you were on the heavy side or not. Strava is really just a fancy stopwatch that allows you to see if you are faster today than you were six months ago. cadence meters.... You get the idea, it's all just digital measurement where in the "Good old days" athletes would have gone on estimation, rule of thumb and feel.

So does an individual 'need' all the tech to measure their performance?
It all depends on the level of and type of competition you're talking about, for many of us it's probably just geekery, I don't really need to know my Current HR zone TBH, it maybe lets me plan the next few hours a little better, but I'm probably no more 'competitive' for that little bit of knowledge if you put me in a race than I would be without.

I still think to take advantage of all the metrics and data you need a good understanding of what it is actually telling you, and how to then tweak your routine/training to take best advantage... That's why proper athletes have coaches, trainers and dieticians, who can interpret the data and the individuals training goal and translate it into diet/rest/activities to try and improve...

I’d argue HRM’s are worse than nothing, after trying virtual power on turbo I found my HR lags behind for 10 minutes when doing 20min intervals.

20 mins at lactate threshold using a HRM isn't pleasant from about 1 minute in : ) It's your cardio system you're training so your method of timing the intervals may need to change when going between power and HR. Maybe warm-ups or the lead in to the interval are also different.

I guess someone training for cat 1/2 road racing, CX or XCO type events needs that reactive fitness so a power meter benefits them. An endurance racer, probably less so - long intervals and different training.

If you want to get faster on 2h hilly xc rides, do more 2h hilly xc rides etc

Inefficient and you'll plateau sooner or at a lower level than if you trained doing very little of that and a lot more of other things.