PC Coach Cycling Software

Many people have. Do a Google search and you'll find lots of postings.

"garde" <[email hidden]> wrote in message "]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone used this and is it any good?

"garde" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
"]news:[email hidden]...

Quoted message said:

Has anyone used this and is it any good?

I used it a couple of years ago, but was not overly impressed. It might have improved since then,
but I found the user interface very "klunky" and hard to use. The training plans it developed were
OK (generally a mix of harder interval work, and longer slower rides, with increasing intensity and
distances as you get closer to your goals), but nothing you couldn't develop on your own using one
of the standard training books (e.g., Friel, Carmichael, Burke).

A couple of things I found particularly irritating were:

1) Statistics/Graphs/Reports It is very difficult to get the answer to simple questions, like "how
far did I ride last month?", or "what was my average speed last week?". I just re-opened my copy
of PC Coach, and attempted to see some reports for rides I did in 2001...but, I was not
successful. The canned reports do not offer a way to specify "From" and "To" dates, and the
report only went back a couple of months in time.

2) Bike Tracking There are no provisions for tracking performance by bicycle. So, if you ride both
mountain and road it's not easy to separate your stats by bike. Likewise, there is no way to
track bicycle maintenance (e.g., how many miles on your chain, tires, etc.).

3) No data export feature Whatever data you put into it is locked up in the software. There is no
provision for exporting your data to a spreadsheet so that you can analyze it in other ways than
those previously defined by the program.

4) Data Entry Due to the clunky user interface, entering ride data takes more time than necessary.

With a list price of $69.95 for the cycling version, and no way to test drive it first, I feel like
it is not worth the money.

My dissatisfaction with PC Coach, and other ride logging software I've tried, led me to create
my own program - CycliStats. It is more of a training log/diary than a "coach" (unlike PC Coach,
it does not develop training plans). Besides the basic ride data it also tracks calories,
climbing, bike maintenance, and personal health stats. If this sounds like something you might
find useful, you can download a fully functional trial version from the web site, and try it for
free for 45 days.

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~_-* ...G/ \G cyclistats.comcyclistats.comOpen ↗ CycliStats - Software for Cyclists