Which Power meter??

[W@nna-BE]

I agree with Patch about the service, Dave and Mike are fantastic, they have made a plan for me on multiple occasions including a the prologue of the epic last year when my Joule GPS went faulty. They loaned me one of there units and swapped mine out when I returned to JHB

[jcza]

Differing opinions - I have a PT and Stages. If given a choice I would choose Stages every time despite the fact that I am based in Jhb and Omico in Cape Town. The service from Omico with the Stages has been superb. BicyclePower service has been poor, I would rather not deal with them again. 

[PlemPlem]

A few things I forgot to mention - Power 2 Max is self-calibrating; it does so every time you coast downhill or do not pedal for about 2 - 3 sec.

You change the standard Lithium battery yourself while the spider/ cranks are on the bike, takes about 10 min. Again, no calibration necessary.

One can get different models for different crank types or spider sizes. I use  110 BCD with 175mm Rotor Aero cranks and 11 SPD Q-Rings but standard round rings will also work.

You also can get 130 BCD and others. I was lucky that I found mine on Ebay in the States and made sure I won the bidding war. For anyone looking for a PM, I would start looking there first!

Great bargains can be found there with all kind of parts.

[raptor-22]

power2max doesn't have enough mtb options yet..... but I'm watching.

[Malpiet]

One of the main reasons why I suggest PowerTap is that the local agents, BicyclePower Trading, are super cool guys who go the extra mile. Well they did for me on a few occasions! Mike and Dave are the guys there, give them a call, they will give you some good advice on your options.

I can 2nd this top service from dave he sorted my wheels out within 1week of me sending them in.

 

There pricing I think they can refine especially on the used powertaps they just overpriced for a 2nd hand unit even though they serviced.

[Butterbean]

Had a power2max. Was a great unit but I found it a little on the heavy side (I had the older gen model with fsa arms) . Battery life was amazing and loved the self calibration. Really a no mess no fuss product.

 

Swapped it for a stages so I could run my shimano Cranks and chain rings again. Has been a brilliant little unit. The redesign of the pod means it's even slimmer and better battery doors solves the water leaking problem on the first gen models. Battery changes are quicker than the p2m but much more frequent.

 

Only weighs 20 extra grams though, and left right power is not something I'm interest in anymore - however on my purchase of the p2m, was a major buying component to calm my troubled mind.

 

Have no experience with anything else though, so pinch of salt, and all that.

[Spinnekop]

I've been running Stages on my road bike now for 2 years and the MTB for about a year now. 
Love it. 

[BicyclePower]

Differing opinions - I have a PT and Stages. If given a choice I would choose Stages every time despite the fact that I am based in Jhb and Omico in Cape Town. The service from Omico with the Stages has been superb. BicyclePower service has been poor, I would rather not deal with them again. 

Hi JCZA, we are sorry to hear about the poor level of service you have experienced, if you have any feedback on how we can improve future client experiences with us please drop us a mail. Many thanks the BPT Team. 

[V12man]

Differing opinions - I have a PT and Stages. If given a choice I would choose Stages every time despite the fact that I am based in Jhb and Omico in Cape Town. The service from Omico with the Stages has been superb. BicyclePower service has been poor, I would rather not deal with them again. 

As you know - I also have 2PT's and a stages - service from Bicyclepower has been tops and so far from onmico no issues (but they have the device at the moment.... so we wait and see) - chatting to them on the phone seems positive so far.

[NotSoBigBen]

Have also had excellent service from the BicyclePower guys [emoji1303]

[jcza]

Hi JCZA, we are sorry to hear about the poor level of service you have experienced, if you have any feedback on how we can improve future client experiences with us please drop us a mail. Many thanks the BPT Team. 

 

Thanks for the offer but we exchanged email at the time. 

[raptor-22]

Got to love how vendors love hopping into to the conversation long after the fact.

[Super J]

My 5 cents.... I honestly don't believe any of the current power meters on the market are crap, each brand is fantastic in its own way, I think the potential buyer has to decide what they really need. I went through this same choice 2 years or so back, this is my story. I currently have 3 bikes, a training rig, race rig and TT rig so I needed 3 PM or 1 that I could easily swop between the 3 bikes..... Stages is by far the lightest, but I opted for a G3 power tap hub/wheel, mainly due to the ease of just swopping wheels, and coming from a motor trade back ground, I believe in reading power where it leaves the vehicle/bike.....in other words, power on the rear wheel, not at the drive point as you loose power through the gears/drive train, and Power Tap gives you total power at the hub, not one specific legs power and doubles it up. The service I have had from The Power Tap Team is just phenominal, I have no complaints there at all.

[Popit]

I have the Power Tap HR/Power strap .

Works for me as I can ride Road , Tandem and MTB and not worry about which wheel , crank or pedal is on which bike .

I have been told it is not accurate !!!

Well it isn't for me , as I am the only person using it and I know what values to use .

 

Also , service from Dave at Bicycle Power , was immediate and sorted my problem out .

[raptor-22]

Another more pertinent question is does one really need a power meter?

The key advantage is sharper focus on training zones due to less lag in response to the applied load.

But if you training properly your hr zones should correlate withe your power zones very well. About 95% of sub3 CTCT training needs can be met withe a training program and a hrm.

[raptor-22]

I have the Power Tap HR/Power strap .

Works for me as I can ride Road , Tandem and MTB and not worry about which wheel , crank or pedal is on which bike .

I have been told it is not accurate !!!

Well it isn't for me , as I am the only person using it and I know what values to use .

 

Also , service from Dave at Bicycle Power , was immediate and sorted my problem out .

 

An amusing situation the existence of that device. Many years ago PT slated a device called iBike for being a power estimator. Then they built one themselves....

 

IBike is also a good option if mtb and road bikes require power values for training needs