Originally Posted by carleton

Fletch, if money is a factor for you and your bike budget isn't high, you can get 95% of the data using:

- SRM PowerControl 7 head unit (that samples every 0.5")
- ANT+ Speed Sensor
- ANT+ Cadence Sensor
- ANT+ HR Monitor

All for less than $500 new.

As a sprinter, you can make all of your evaluations and decisions based on the data offered above. It will cost you another $1,200 - $1,800 to get power data to add to that.

Yes, power would be nice, but for sprinters, the benefit per cost is low. Most of your decisions will be made based on cadence and speed. Speed and cadence will illustrate your progress. HR will show your fitness. Power just shows how strong you are, but even the power curve changes when you change gearing. So, it's difficult to compare efforts over time if the gears are different.

Speed is the ultimate metric. Max Speed and Average Speed. This is how we are judged

time = velocity/distance. The distance is set by your event.

Cadence is king. Pay keen attention to it. This is how you get your speed. There are right and wrong cadences for optimal results for a given effort.