I am getting power this year

stephenmarklay · #1 10-23-2014, 05:21 PM

I have really wanted it for several years and never pulled the trigger. I am going to train systematically this winter.

I have trainer road running for my Kurt Kinetic and I was going to get the inRide dongle thingy to calibrate the power but now I think I just need to pull the trigger.

So after all the new meters out there I am thinking about just going with the Powertap G3.

Any thoughts why I should or should not? I know I won't get the L/R power separation but I don't really want to spend the money for that.

Thoughts?

pavel · #2 10-23-2014, 05:23 PM

bearings on my G3 died very quickly. One generation previous to G3 is more reliable and field serviceable. The G3 bearings have to be replaced by Saris.

coffeecake · #3 10-23-2014, 05:32 PM

I would highly recommend a crank-based meter. I bought (and currently use) a Powertap G3 in 2012. I outgrew it fairly quickly. That is to say, I frequently wish I could swap around my wheels and still have power data during races and such. This would be no problem with a crank meter, but obviously I am stuck with the Powertap rear wheel.

Quarq seems to be a good value. There are plenty of new options like Stages and power2max but I cannot speak for them.

Of course, the Quarq is a bit more $ than the G3. If you were to go with the G3, I have high praise for it in terms of reliability, accuracy, and durability.

carpediemracing · #4 10-23-2014, 05:49 PM

Lots of bikes with a favorite, across-the-board compatible wheel set = Powertap

Lots of wheels with a favorite bike = Crank or pedal based.

I bought a PT because I could. I sold it almost immediately. At the time it was hard getting a 24H hub, forget about the 20H I'd need for my Reynolds wheels. And no Specialized TriSpoke availability. Etc.

Got the crank based and it was great (happened to be a wired SRM, back in 2008). Still using it now.

ultraman6970 · #5 10-23-2014, 06:02 PM

Thought the Op was going to get the Sword of Grayskull this year.

laupsi · #6 10-23-2014, 06:07 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by coffeecake

I would highly recommend a crank-based meter. I bought (and currently use) a Powertap G3 in 2012. I outgrew it fairly quickly. That is to say, I frequently wish I could swap around my wheels and still have power data during races and such. This would be no problem with a crank meter, but obviously I am stuck with the Powertap rear wheel.

Quarq seems to be a good value. There are plenty of new options like Stages and power2max but I cannot speak for them.

Of course, the Quarq is a bit more $ than the G3. If you were to go with the G3, I have high praise for it in terms of reliability, accuracy, and durability.

I can recommend the Garmin Vector Pedals; they're very sensible; can be swapped out easily and are very accurate, plus easy battery change.

shovelhd · #7 10-23-2014, 06:25 PM

I have an SRM on the race bike and a Stages on the rain bike. Both work fine.

gavingould · #8 10-23-2014, 06:28 PM

Stages has been working well for me for about 4mo, before that Quarq for about 2 years, and before that was a Powertap, all were fine. i prefer crank-based as i have several wheelsets.

Tandem Rider · #9 10-23-2014, 06:58 PM

I have a Power Tap 32h wheel, I train (beat the snot out of it) on it year round. Goes on my Tarmac in the summer and my gravel/rain bike in the off season. 4 years and batteries are all I've had to replace. It hasn't seen any river crossings so that might be it's achilles heel.

wasfast · #10 10-23-2014, 08:11 PM

I've had 2 Quarq's, a S975 and a Riken. Currently have a Riken with a Garmin Edge 500 for readout. Been very happy with both of them.

I'm sure others may disagree but the L/R thing is not necessary IMO. I really doubt you'd successfully re-teach your body to have a balanced output. The total power out the back is what matters.

Be patient with the process once you get set up. The power reading varies constantly and quite a bit with seemingly little difference in your pedal stroke. Most folks use 3 second or 10 second averaging to somewhat stabilize the output on the meter.

I'd also suggest not trying to do specific workouts at the beginning. Just get used to having the meter going, see what a given power feels like etc. Then once you're more adjusted to it, do a FTP test.

kramnnim · #11 10-23-2014, 08:47 PM

One of my Quarqs has L/R and it's not very useful once you find out that your leg power is balanced. I guess I did notice that it was unbalanced for a while when my hip was hurting.

commonguy001 · #12 10-24-2014, 06:46 AM

I've had good luck with power taps and have had them since the early 2000s. Out of the four I've owned the only one that completely failed was the first gen PTSL which was fixed under warranty after dying in a rain storm. This wheel is still hanging from a hook in the bike room and if I had an old head that worked would probably still work just fine.

I still use one of the last sliver and carbon versions with ANT and it's been bomb proof. It now lives on the trainer and it works like the day I got it. The offset hasn't moved more than 6 points since new, super stable.

Also had good luck with the latest G3 with no bearing problems in 3000+ miles.

The last SRMs I used were the wired versions so I have no experience with the new stuff but I bet they're good although spendy.

Joachim · #13 10-24-2014, 07:01 AM

If you are looking for a crank based power meter, I might have a 7800 wireless SRM that I won't be using. 175mm.

stephenmarklay · #14 10-24-2014, 07:03 AM

Thanks for all the comments. I am still leaning toward getting a PT mostly due to cost. They have also been around a long time which is a plus.

So what would be a good training racing wheel to build up with a G3. I run a 32hole OCR A23 right now which I like but it may not be the best racing choice. Since I am a bit heavy (180-190 not racing) I have to consider that.

Ti Designs · #15 10-24-2014, 07:06 AM

I come at this from a different perspective than most, I sell power meters (or at least I should) so I take the engineering approach to problem solving. The first question I always ask about any power meter is what it really collects for data. Measuring devices should measure - you should never pay for someone's assumptions about what happens. That said, given the right data there are some pretty slick math tricks to get the information you want while filtering out the noise.

I'll make my case for a number of different power meters:

Pioneer: The only meter on the market that gives vectors every 30 degrees. If you know how to use that and you're willing to spend the time to make the changes, it's truly an advantage. The down side is it's a lot like buying a car that some guy built in his shed - expect problems...

Garmin Vector: I was playing with prototypes long before these came out. Such great promise, but they wanted them to be simple, so they haven't really gotten to any of the good data yet. They had added new numbers (which are kinda useless). Let's just say that there's a lot of potential there.

PowerTap: A good first try - I mean that honestly, if I were thinking of measuring power 30 years ago, I probably would have built a hub to do it. It's not 30 years ago, why would you put an expensive measuring device into the part of the bike that gets changed out for so many reasons? Race wheels? Get another power tap. Damaged rim? Cassette body problems? New frame has disk brakes? Not compatible with 12-speed...

Stages: I went to a Stages seminar a few weeks ago having looked at their math and ready to rip a few holes in their product. They had solid answers for every one of my questions, they've clearly done their homework, and the engineering is impressive. Their design started with one simple question - what information do most people use, and where is the best place to collect that? Left/right output is nice, but raise your hand if you know what to do about the delta... Most people try to even out the numbers by reducing the wattage of the stronger side - they've just spent lots of money to be slower.