Introducing PowerCal a new kind of Power Meter

[The_Break]

Guys look forward to your feedback. Need to know if I should be among the second wave of early adopters or not.

 

"the Break", I'd suggest this product is not for you.

Probably not because I use a Powertap and the theory behind it is solid.

[LOOK695]

Anymore feedback from hubbers who got their PowerCal?

[BicyclePower]

took part in a MTB 50km race this weekend.

 

readings as follows:

 

PowerTap:

ave Power 223w

NP 252w

174bpm

1842kJ

 

PowerCal

ave Power 255w

NP 260w

174bpm

2102kJ

 

HR was alightly higher as i am stick at the moment this may have caused the PC's readings to be higher that PT and also race nerves.

 

something to be expected is the small gap between ave power and NP on the PowerCal, this is beasue the PC is a Power calculator off HR and HR is not as erratice as Power meaning there will not be allot of zero's using the PowerCal.

 

at the end of the day the PT gave me 150.6 TSS @ 0.813 IF

 

the PowerCal 159.7 TSS @ 0.839

 

pretty good for something that only costs R1095!!!!!

[rpedro]

I should get my PowerCal by Wednesday and the reason why I bought one was because I would like to get some sort of stress scores when I use my MTB. I have a road PowerTap and most of my training is done on my road bike. I opted for a road PT because of the price and also because I can do more controled power training on the road and on my indoor trainer.

 

I think the PowerCal will be great for MTBiking (off road) because of the very stochastic nature of mountain biking.

 

What I remain curious about is whether the FTP that is entered into the head unit affects the PowerCal's output. If I changed my FTP in my Garmin head unit to 500W (no where near my actual FTP) then will it influence the reading produced by the PowerCal. Apparently it should not affect the reading but I still cannot see how it is possible to calculate power based on HR alone :-D

[NotSoBigBen]

been using mine for a week or so ... have nothing to compare it against but am starting to build up some stats. That was all I wanted it for and seems to do the job.

[BicyclePower]

been using mine for a week or so ... have nothing to compare it against but am starting to build up some stats. That was all I wanted it for and seems to do the job.

 

great to hear.

[BicyclePower]

so our next order of PowerCal's have arrived, give us a call (011-023-2777) or drop us an e mail info(at)bicyclepower.co.za if you would like to order!!!

[SeaBee]

Tried mine out over the weekend and I can say I'm very happy! I'm still recovering after a bit of an illness and don't know how that may have influenced this weekend's values - but hey, at least I'm starting to see values.

 

What I can see from my non-expert point of view. It does not slavishly follow HR trends. So there is some other mojo in there and it's not "purely HR based". Unlike was reported on one site I saw, mine does zero out whilst coasting. Not sure how immediate - I was on the mtb, with no cadence sensor to evaluate afterward.

 

One thing I want to ask - I have my 705 set to smart recording and have read that per second recording is advised for PowerTaps themselves. Is this the case here as well? (I simply turned off per second to decrease upload size of files.)

 

So, there may be some inaccuracy if you compare it to PT, but I don't have a PT to compare it to. Which makes me pretty much the customer this was made for. I now have power values to look at - and already saw some interesting things - and use as guidance. As long as the magic inside remains the same, at least I know when I am evaluating myself against myself, I have a constant reference point - which I did not have before.

 

Very interested to see what pops out once I get my lazy butt on a road bike for a change, where the riding will be vastly different.

[BicyclePower]

Tried mine out over the weekend and I can say I'm very happy! I'm still recovering after a bit of an illness and don't know how that may have influenced this weekend's values - but hey, at least I'm starting to see values.

 

What I can see from my non-expert point of view. It does not slavishly follow HR trends. So there is some other mojo in there and it's not "purely HR based". Unlike was reported on one site I saw, mine does zero out whilst coasting. Not sure how immediate - I was on the mtb, with no cadence sensor to evaluate afterward.

 

One thing I want to ask - I have my 705 set to smart recording and have read that per second recording is advised for PowerTaps themselves. Is this the case here as well? (I simply turned off per second to decrease upload size of files.)

 

So, there may be some inaccuracy if you compare it to PT, but I don't have a PT to compare it to. Which makes me pretty much the customer this was made for. I now have power values to look at - and already saw some interesting things - and use as guidance. As long as the magic inside remains the same, at least I know when I am evaluating myself against myself, I have a constant reference point - which I did not have before.

 

Very interested to see what pops out once I get my lazy butt on a road bike for a change, where the riding will be vastly different.

 

 

Thanks for the positive feedback we welcome all feedback....

 

 

 

Although we don’t know Garmin that well I could suggest leaving the Garmin on smart data as changing this to a 1 sec recording rate may also change the refresh rate on the Garmin meaning Power Values will not be as consistent and smooth due to the 1 sec refresh rate, that’s why we suggested when using the PC have the highest possible refresh rate you can get , 30sec is the highest for the CycleOps computers.

[LOOK695]

What is the price for the Joule GPS

[BicyclePower]

What is the price for the Joule GPS

 

we hoping they will retail for a fair amount under R3000.00 incl HR however depends on the exchange rate once they ready.

[LOOK695]

we hoping they will retail for a fair amount under R3000.00 incl HR however depends on the exchange rate once they ready.

Thanks. That would be a normal HR not the PowerCal? When are you expecting your stock?

[SeaBee]

Although we don’t know Garmin that well I could suggest leaving the Garmin on smart data as changing this to a 1 sec recording rate may also change the refresh rate on the Garmin meaning Power Values will not be as consistent and smooth due to the 1 sec refresh rate, that’s why we suggested when using the PC have the highest possible refresh rate you can get , 30sec is the highest for the CycleOps computers.

 

Smart recording is not as "frequent" and as per second recording - and definitely not as consistent and smooth. So if consistency is the key - then per second will be better.

AFAIK smart recording only records significant change (and I don't know what their definition of "significant change" is...) and produces a much smaller and more manageable file (esp ito uploading)

 

I will read around a bit and shout if I find something.

[BicyclePower]

Thanks. That would be a normal HR not the PowerCal? When are you expecting your stock?

 

joule GPS we are still awaiting to be launched, expected September but unsure as to when.

 

you are correct thats a normal HR with PC retail is expected around 3500+/-

[fandacious]

A quick question,

 

how does this device differ from the sporttracks gps2power plugin that calculates power?

 

http://www.zonefivesoftware.com/sporttracks/plugins/?p=gps2powertrack

[Tankman]

Another question:

 

If I were to connect this HR strap to a Garmin Edge 500, what power data will be available on screen during a ride?

 

All the power data functions that is available on the Edge 500 or just some of them or will most calculations and averages only be visible in 3rd party software after the workout is downloaded?