First, the wheels. By some stroke of fate I discovered two spokes of my current Mavic front wheel had splintered. These were proprietary carbon spokes and had to be replaced. Time and cost to replace these may not be worth the while. Whatever the case, this was a reason to look at a new set of wheels, perhaps with a more aero design. These new wheels are by far the most expensive and aero wheels I have used to date. When I first upgraded my stock wheels to the Mavic R-sys, I thought that the power transfer and effciency improvements was already tremendous. It felt like I had changed to a faster and smoother ride immediately, almost 3x better than the stock wheels. Perhaps, then I was a weaker cyclist haha. Guess what, changing to the Enve 3.4SES gave me that same feeling over the Mavic!! The power transfer, smoothness and "addictive" buzz of the CK hub makes the ride just delicious..hot knife on butter is the feeling mates! LOL.
Second, Power Meter. One thing always leads to another and in the bicycle world, this is no different. I have been using the Cycleops Powertap Pro for some time now. This is a power meter that is based on the rear wheel hub, as a result of which, if I were to use this power meter, I will be obliged to use this "training" wheel exclusively. This makes the purchase of the Enve pretty obsolete haha. However, I was prepared to forgo the Powertap for Kuantan 160 contrary to popular belief heh, as in OCBC Singapore where I also did not use a power meter. Fortunately, or unfortunately, Lim Wee How and Serene Gan had time to meet me for lunch on Friday and the rest is history lol. For some reason, Wee How was in a buying mood. The Power2Max is one of the newer crank-based power meters in the market. It is made in Germany and is a direct competitor to the Quark system. First time using it in Kuantan, I felt the power readings pretty uniform, consistent and fairly quick. It also measures cadence. In addition, an advantage of this system is the ability to read left and right crank separately, making use of your Garmin's latest firmware upgrade. I am happy with it and in so save some money from getting the SRM system hahaha.
Lastly, the most important upgrade discovered by chance - the Rotor Q-rings!! The Power2Max system comes packaged with the Q-rings, although u can buy either separately. I have been reading a little here and there about them but haven't really researched much into them. So when it came packaged with the Power2Max, it was the deal clincher! Here, I was with a chance to test two systems out, yeah! go for it!...Wee How was but all too eager and didn't help lol..Did it help for Kuantan? I'd say hell ya!..the Q-rings work by eliminating or reducing your dead spot during the pedaling execution and this is really evident when climbing hills. I found the climbing more easier, some of which also contributed by the new wheel I guess, but significant from the ring. On flats, the feeling is like you are on a 0.5% decline. I'm convinced they work and would advocate all of us to try them out. They however, do come in various sizes and settings for which I am still trying to figure out. As such, I cannot recommend the best size or setting for u and I myself am not convinced I have the right size or setting. A little more rides over the next couple of weeks I should be clearer. This is one upgrade I think will help most of us here, not only for the more efficient hill climbing pedal stroke, but also to help improve your pedal form and technique.
Here is an article on the Q-rings which is pretty close to how I feel about them. Knock yourself out guys!--> http://
October 2013 Update:
After using the asymmetrical rings for the past 4 months, i found it was inefficient...the "square" rings depend a lot on applying the pedaling force on a sector/phase of the ring whilst relaxing in the other phases, but I realized when I accelerate or attacking a hill, this particular sector of the ring changes for me so become inefficient lor....haha....its good if your pedaling technique still not ideal cos it forces you to learn how to pedal but if you have good pedaling technique already then it restricts you pretty much....again in my opinion only..I've given up on them literally and I think the round ring is perfect shape liao, no need to be square
i want to pedal in circles not pedaling in squares hahaha
