Hi, my name is Ryan Morris and with the help of Powercranks and their 12 step program, I've been off of standard 180 degree opposed cranks since January 2004.  Seriously though, I have been using Powercranks for quite a while now and unlike most other cyclists, I've "grown up" with them.  I was a rower for 6 years prior to becoming a cyclist in the fall of 2003.  I am an Engineering student and very analytically minded, especially coming from a rowing background, which is certainly the most technical (and unnatural) of endurance sports where tiny little changes can affect the balance of the boat and the efficiency of propultion.

Immediately when I came to cycling, I had the efficiency of the pedal stroke as a concern of mine, as it was my primary concern for rowing.  I began thinking with my analytical mind and came up with the idea that if you could somehow force a rider to be applying pressure all the way through the pedal stroke, then it would increase their efficiency.  I did a little research and, WOW, I was on the right track, as it had already been thought of AND you could even buy it from some small company called Powercranks.  I didn't even need the sales pitch from them because rather than them finding me with advertisements, I had found them!

There are other bloggers who are just picking up Powercranks recently and are documenting their experience, so I'll try to provide a different perspective.  Even after using them for 2 and a half years and about 30,000kms, I still have a learning curve with them.  Still, being able to pedal with a consistently high cadence on the Powercranks eludes me and I believe will take further years to develop.  Also, the musculature of the non-dominant leg muscles (hip flexors, hamstrings, lots of stabilitzer muscles) continues to develop and build aerobic capacity over time while using the cranks.  They are definitely a long term proposition and will continue to "mutate" you as a cyclist for as long as you use them.  I definitely find this much more valuable of an investment compared to something like elliptical chainrings or a lighter bike, as they realize any gains they will give instantly and then don't change.  The continued realization of return is much more valuable.

There are some experimental things that I have been considering with the Powercranks and will continue to mess around with:
1) One legged pedalling: if you pedal with one leg isolated (which is MUCH easier to do with Powercranks than with regular cranks and letting one leg fall to the side), at say 200W, that's the same stress on the leg muscles as if you were pedalling two-legged at 400W but the cardio impact is much lower, allowing you to ride this way for longer than you could at 400W two-leg.  Is this perhaps a way to work on leg strength in a very cycling-specific way?
2) Total muscle recruitment seems to be higher while using Powercranks even if you are an experienced user - I've done some VO2 max tests and they are higher when using Powercranks, indicating there is more blood flow and muscle utilization.  Is there some way to transfer this extra usage to regular cranks or alternatively - race faster on Powercranks than regular cranks?

More to come later...