$399 power meter

[ceolwulf]

Looks promising. Hope it can fit more cranks soon.

http://www.bikerumor.com/2014/09/10/ib14-power-meters-hit-400-with-new-4iiii-innovations-crank-arm-units/

[dhalbrook]

From everything I've read it seems legit. Might pick one up as a Xmas present to me if I can get my hands on one by then.

[djg21]

http://4iiii.com/product/precision/

Does look good! I like the L/R option for $699. It makes more sense than the Stages left only PM. I'm curious about the calibration protocol and how often you would need to do it.

[R3awak3n]

DC rainmaker has a review for it. I remember he liked it and compared to other meters and was pretty accurate. The only crappy thing is when you glue it to a crank arm you cant get it out. If you want to get it to another crankset, you are better off selling that arm with the device and buying a new one.

[djg21]

DC rainmaker has a review for it. I remember he liked it and compared to other meters and was pretty accurate. The only crappy thing is when you glue it to a crank arm you cant get it out. If you want to get it to another crankset, you are better off selling that arm with the device and buying a new one.

I don't know how much of an issue that would be given the competitive price. The same is true currently of all crank-based power meters: SRM, Quarg, etc.

I do think pedal-based systems ultimately will offer a better alternative for those using multiple bikes. I was really psyched about the Metrigear Vector when it was being built for Speedplay, but for me, Look/Exostar pedals are not an option so after Garmin purchased Vector, I lost interest. The Brim Bros. technology also looks interesting, but mounting the transmitter pods to the shoe and using ribbon cable to attach the sensor on the bottom of the shoe doesn't appeal to me. It great to see more options for powermeters coming to market.

[jimoots]

The thing about powermeters is that 'pretty accurate' isn't good enough, it needs to be excruciatingly accurate otherwise you're introducing unknown errors and may aswell stick with heart rate.

The other thing is that this stuff is really new and by investing you essentially become a guinea pig. Stages had accuracy and still have reliability problems. P2M had accuracy problems early on, too.

Do you seriously want to sink $400-700 into a solution that doesn't have a track record.

Although at least you have a double sided option. At $799 for a Stages I do wonder if the extra $600 on top of a HR is worth it.

If anyone reading this is considering power... Just buy a Power2Max classic at $800 or whatever they're going for and a find yourself a second hand set of compatible cranks and presto, you have seriously accurate and reliable power. You won't regret it. Best kept secret in terms of powermeters.

[Netdewt]

If this works as well as their Viiiiva heart rate monitor ANT+ to Bluetooth bridge, then I want nothing to do with it.

[ceolwulf]

I did buy an FSA Energy crank for my TT bike specifically to use this, but definitely keeping options open. Will be waiting a bit for it to accumulate a track record anyway.

[jimoots]

Will be waiting multiple years for it to accumulate a track record anyway.

Let me fix that for you :P

[oldpotatoe]

http://4iiii.com/product/precision/

Does look good! I like the L/R option for $699. It makes more sense than the Stages left only PM. I'm curious about the calibration protocol and how often you would need to do it.

I'm curious as to what the legal department at Stages says about it..if they have a legal department. 'Seems' like some infringement altho I aren't a lawyer in any way.

[chiasticon]

The thing about powermeters is that 'pretty accurate' isn't good enough, it needs to be excruciatingly accurate otherwise you're introducing unknown errors and may aswell stick with heart rate
meh. they're all relative anyway. consistency is more important than dead-on-balls accuracy.

[false_Aest]

The thing about powermeters is that 'pretty accurate' isn't good enough, it needs to be excruciatingly accurate otherwise you're introducing unknown errors and may aswell stick with heart rate.



I'm not sure I agree. What do I care if I'm producing 50 watts, 60 dancing bananas or 3 chinchillas and an otter?

What I care about is that the next time I do the thing I'm doing right now I'm producing the same number of baby elephants.


Consistency over accuracy.

Maybe it's semantics.

[nm87710]

Consistency over accuracy.

??

[Auk]

??

A power meter used to it's full potential as a training instrument must provide consistent, accurate and reliable data for every ride over time - a long time. These things are not mutually exclusive unless one has a PM just for fun or curiosity. Reliability(works day in and day out in all conditions without exception or needing to jack with it) is where the newer PMs fall short.


And this is why the SRM's will continue to be the standard to measure to.

[staggerwing]

As a person with experience making custom transducers, based on both foil and silicon strain gauges, I think it is asking for trouble having the end user bond this to their crank arms. Some users will be fine, but others will certainly muck it up, which will not help the companies long term reputation. Much better to add $50, and have the customer send in the crank arm(s) for installation.

[zachateseveryth]

??

A power meter used to it's full potential as a training instrument must provide consistent, accurate and reliable data for every ride over time - a long time. These things are not mutually exclusive unless one has a PM just for fun or curiosity. Reliability(works day in and day out in all conditions without exception or needing to jack with it) is where the newer PMs fall short.

Unless you're dealing with multiple power meters over a span of time, precision trumps accuracy for this application.

http://climatica.org.uk/wp-content/uploads/2012/02/Accuracy-vs-precision1.jpg

[teleguy57]

Unless you're dealing with multiple power meters over a span of time, precision trumps accuracy for this application

Thanks for posting this; I was thinking of this graphic as I was reading the thread but didn't recall where I saw it before.

I'm intrigued by the lower price-point PMs, but would like to see some real-world experiences with them before I jump on board.

[r1lee]

The thing about powermeters is that 'pretty accurate' isn't good enough, it needs to be excruciatingly accurate otherwise you're introducing unknown errors and may aswell stick with heart rate.



I'm not sure I agree. What do I care if I'm producing 50 watts, 60 dancing bananas or 3 chinchillas and an otter?

What I care about is that the next time I do the thing I'm doing right now I'm producing the same number of baby elephants.


Consistency over accuracy.

Maybe it's semantics.

False_Aest is correct. No two different branded power meters will ever produce teh same wattage. We aren't even sure if the wattage they are displaying is even accurate. But what you want is that the power meters produce the similar lines on a graph.

Example would be that if a Stages PM is producing 10% higher then a Vector, you want that Stages to be producing ~10% higher across the entire ride. If you read DC Rainmakers reviews on PM, you will notice that he really stresses this as the most important factor.

[r1lee]

If this works as well as their Viiiiva heart rate monitor ANT+ to Bluetooth bridge, then I want nothing to do with it.

are they really that bad?