Dial in your ride with expert bike fit advice from Matt Cole, owner of both Podium Multisport and all3sports. As one of the Southeast’s top fitters, Matt shares insights on injury prevention, performance gains and gear choices to help you ride stronger and smarter.
Q: What’s the Best Way to Use Data in Cycling?
A: Train with power, listen to heart rate, watch the trends—and always tie the data back to your goal. Don't chase metrics for their own sake. The smartest cyclists use fewer numbers, better. Power meters, heart rate monitors, GPS head units, smart trainers—we’re swimming in data. But unless you know what to look for, it’s easy to get overwhelmed or chase the wrong numbers. Here’s how to cut through the clutter and use your data meaningfully:
1. Know What You’re Training For
Before diving into charts and metrics, define your goal. Data only matters if it’s connected to your objective. Racing a criterium? You need peak power and anaerobic repeatability. Targeting a gran fondo? Think endurance, tempo and fatigue resistance. Going after a Strava KOM (King of the Mountain)? You’re all about short bursts and pacing.
2. Track These Core Metrics
Focus on just a few metrics that actually tell you something:
• Power (Watts): The gold standard for measuring work done.
• Heart Rate (bpm): Tells you how your body is responding to that work.
• Training Stress Score (TSS): A composite metric to track load.
• Normalized Power (NP): Smarter than average power—reflects effort more accurately.
• Power Duration Curve: Helps you understand your true strengths (sprint, threshold, VO2max, etc.).
• HRV (Heart Rate Variability): A next-level way to gauge recovery readiness.
3. Use Zones But Make Them Personal
Don’t rely on generic heart rate zones from an online calculator.
• Get a proper threshold test (FTP or lactate threshold) and build your power zones around that. Threshold testing is usually done on the bike through a number of specific timed intervals; some modern bike computers will calculate this for you either automatically while you ride or prompt you through a number of timed efforts to more precisely report your FTP. ZWIFT and other popular online virtual training applications will provide this function as well.
• Use HR zones as a backup, especially for long endurance rides where power fluctuates.
Bonus tip: If you're using both HR and power, you can detect cardiac drift—a sneaky sign of overtraining or heat stress.
4. Measure Adaptation, Not Just Effort
The point of training is adaptation, not just hitting big numbers. Look for:
• Lower heart rate at the same power (increased efficiency)
• Higher power at threshold over time
• Reduced HRV = a sign you might need rest
• Rising CTL (Chronic Training Load) with stable TSB (Training Stress Balance)
5. Use Tools (But Don’t Worship Them)
Apps like TrainingPeaks, WKO5, Intervals.icu, and Garmin Connect are powerful but remember, tools are only as good as your interpretation.
Use them to:
• Analyze fatigue vs. fitness trends
• Plan rest weeks
• Detect plateaus or burnout
6. Watch for These Red Flags
• Consistently high TSS + poor sleep/recovery = trouble
• Stagnant power curve = time to mix up training
• Power dropping during intervals = under-fueled or overreached
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