Powermeter choices dilemma

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DanW
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by DanW

Funny how nearly everyone recommends something different.

P2Max for me. Cheapest proper "total power" (i.e. not one side doubled) PM and they seem to enjoy a solid reputation for durability and ease of use. Buy the SRAM spider for the Force crank and maybe another for the second bike and switch the Red to Force.

I also have Stages on the MTB since I bought at a time when Stages was the only really affordable PM... and it works just fine... but the P2M is at a price now that is hard to ignore IMO.

If not P2M, the Rotor Power I reckon although I have no personal experience with these

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ianSWBB
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by ianSWBB

Powertap P1 pedals would be my recommendation

If the girls are good enough cyclists that they require a powermeter each, then they probably need a couple more bikes each too!!!!
The P1 pedals would then be the perfect tool for the job, as they could swap them from bike to bike with ease :)

aaric
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by aaric

LouisN wrote:I can manage below $1700.-1800. for both new PM's and pretty light and good quality cranksets.


Quarq Riken new is about there. Could get used Elsa's.

But what I'd do is get an older specialized carbon crankset at $100-150 each, and stick a new power2max spider ($740) on them. You can get longer arms as the girls grow. sell the spiders that come with the cranks for $25-50. total cost: $1600-$1780. Could get new arms for around $200 each if you wanted.

BB30 and light weight. Can sand the logos off the crank arms pretty easily too.

Stueys
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by Stueys

romalor wrote:vector are shit , only marketing as a lot of power meters helas
even the pros sponsored by garmin use SRM

SRM I couldn't find any in compact so unless you daughters are extremely powerful it won't be easy


As an almost 2 year Vector owner, I would agree. Unreliable and pretty much unusable since April due to a garmin firmware update which they are only just releasing a beta fix for. Difficult to look further than power2max at their current price point IMHO.

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bigfatty
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by bigfatty

stages, vector and quarq all have a lot of bad feedback. if you buy these you are potentially getting yourself into trouble.

Power2Max, never a bad word said and from experience I can confirm this.

if you want to go cheap, get the aluminium, don't worry about weight, tom doumoulin crushed the vuelta peleton on his 9kg TT bike :D
(oops, probably not the right site to be talking so disrespectfully about weight benefits :| )

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Tinea Pedis
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by Tinea Pedis

Just put a Classic P2M (replacing Stages) on my gf's TT bike. Picked it up for $500, with Rotor cranks and new chainrings. $100 to have temperature compensation added. So now on par with how a Type-S measures.

I have two already (road bike and TT). And I simply vote with my feet. If your product works and your service is good then I'm in. P2M ticks both those boxes. Keep an eye out for bargains with the Classic units, given how cheap the Type-S are now.

Dodger747
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by Dodger747

I don't understand people's criticism of the Vectors - if you torque them correctly [which you should do for all parts anyway], they are super reliable. Consistent, don't have water ingress issues etc...

Granted Garmin's firmware can be iffy, especially for Edge units, but don't upgrade for a month or so to see what the issues are.
VO2 Max - 79 ml/kg/min
W/kg - 4.9

MarkTwain
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by MarkTwain

Vectors are junk. Anyone who knows about PMs is aware of this. Hell, even DC Rainmaker isn't a fan. Which is saying something.

But suppose if they gave me numbers that are enough to put in my signature I'd keep running them too ;)

dmulligan
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by dmulligan

My Stages power meter has been reliable. I did have water ingress issues, they stood being their product and now I've had two full seasons with no problems.

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Dodger747
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Location: Belgium

by Dodger747

MarkTwain wrote:Vectors are junk. Anyone who knows about PMs is aware of this. Hell, even DC Rainmaker isn't a fan. Which is saying something.


Not according to his review:

"At this juncture I’d have no problems recommending Vector as a power meter to any torque wrench & crowfoot adapter owner. It produces accurate power that long-term as a software platform has the potential to be really interesting"
VO2 Max - 79 ml/kg/min
W/kg - 4.9

DavidMLee
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by DavidMLee

1 vote for Garmin vector S!
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Martin.F
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by Martin.F

Having ridden Powertap hub (1 season), Quarq (3 seasons) and vectors for 1 season, I am definatly the most happy with the Quarq. The Vector was just a lump of shit. Impossible to get repeatability, impossible to get a full work-out without deadspots, impossible to move from road bike to time trial bike without having 3 or 4 workouts on it for it to "settle in". Just horrible. Quarq was no trouble what so ever over the 3 years I used it, and when I sold it to an acquaintance of mine he has used the same one for a year now with no problems.

I have 3 friends that has the same problems with their Vectors, and they have all gotten rid of them in favor of something better. The same with Stages. Couple of friends that have used them, but they all died after some weeks of cold norwegian rain.

I just got the Vector 2's, but sold them and I'm putting the money into power2max. Only heard good things about those

Stueys
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by Stueys

I think all we need to say is Vector firmware 3.5, release date 24th April, 2015. Garmin are currently on beta 3.73 correcting the issues introduced. Issues which are a communication issue that ensure the meter under reads and captures power inconsistently, effectively making the device useless. 6 months to respond and make the device usable.....

If anyone thinks that's acceptable on an expensive piece of kit then knock yourself out and purchase. Bear in mind that the garmin pro team don't use them, the closest they get is using vector pedals without the pods to stay 'on brand'.

Personally my power2max goes on next week and the vectors are moving onto the winter bike. I had two events this year trashed with no power.

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