Power meters selection - pros/cons

[RichTheRoadie]

iBike Pro - it's not real power per see but it may well be good enough and is a lot cheaper. Worth looking into as part of your survey of what is available. Pez and I think a couple others were positive on iBike on a recent thread in the road forum.

I'd forgotten about these - just looking them up now. Seem almost too good to be true that they track other power meters so closely on their readouts, but given their price by comparison I'm definitely willing to consider them.

Can't seem to find any info regarding how they give a power reading with no actual force sensors attached though - I'd like to know more about this I think.

[prendrefeu]

Force sensor on the Ibike is in the head unit. It measures air movement/pressure on the unit. Despite what you might think about wind hitting it, it will remain accurate.

[Stoo]

Hi guys, apologies if this may have been covered before, but I'm about to potentially do my first build and want to know how to go about it.

The frame is a 2012 Giant TCR Advanced SL ISP and I am going to use DA9000 mech groupset.
Wheel wise, I have been looking at Cosmic Carbone SLRs (Unless you can suggest better alternatives for similar cost)

My question is, what is the best way to incorporate a powermeter in to this set up?

Buy the groupset as seperates and add rotor/quark set up for the crank/chainset?
Or is the a better way of doing it?

[angrylegs]

Since the Carbones are proprietary, you'll need to go with crank-based power and I'd choose Rotor, as you mention. You can go Quarq or you can go with Rotor's own newer power meter. I have the former. It's awesome, and of course has the bonus of allowing you to run whatever wheels you want and still have access to power.

To this, I'd add that Carbones are heavy and not particularly aero, for their price, as compared to newer options. They sort of hark back to 5-6 years ago in terms of qualities. If it was me, I'd go ENVE SS custom or ZIPPs. You can source a custom ENVE wheel set close to the full retail price of the Carbones, which means yes, if you find a good deal on the Carbones the custom ENVEs will be a bit more. So worth it though. The bonus here of course is a 5 year rim warranty and easily replaceable wheel build components, not to mention a seriously superior wheel set.

You could, depending on your preferences, even put a Power Tap into a custom ENVE wheel set, saving money vs the cost of getting a crank-based system, but this would not be my preference. I'd really miss the ability to be able to swap out wheel sets per conditions. If I was to build a Power Tap wheel set, I'd build them up on a nice custom set of low profile AL rims and use them as my main training wheel set. If I had to choose power vs carbon aero wheels - getting one before the other for budgetary reasons - power wins.

As for gruppo vs collecting your parts individually, well, this is WW. If you already know you are going to use a different crank, I'd lean towards collecting my gruppo parts individually online - some good deals out there - and maybe upgrade the brakes while I'm at it. Depends on your budget. Make a spreadsheet.

FWIW I have way more fun making a spreadsheet, planning a build and collecting the parts individually than just buying a gruppo as-is, a set of machine-made production wheels as-is, and slapping them on a frame. Often you get a better value seeking the parts individually and you invariably end up with something superior. YMMV though.

Good luck! Post pictures when you are done!

[Stoo]

Well, that's a read!

Thanks for your time!

Would a set of Zipp 303 or 404's be a better alternative than carbones then?

I'm not on a 'strict' budget as such, but I'd like to buy wheels and gruppo w/powermeter for between £3-3.5k!

Feasible?

[Tinea Pedis]

Been through pretty much every PM. If you plan to race, go crank based. Don't muck around. And in saying that, go SRM.

You'll read it a lot through here, about how good they are, for good reason.


New G4 Powertap on some something like Enve 45 rims (like a mate of mine has) would not be a bad option at all. Can be used for racing and training, but ultimately I like the fact I can run my Aksium training wheels all week then slip on race wheels on the weekend, all the time having my PM running.

[angrylegs]

Thanks for your time!

You're welcome!

Would a set of Zipp 303 or 404's be a better alternative than carbones then?

My opinion, mind you, but yes. Are we talking Firecrests by the way, or a used set pre-FC? Personal preference, I'd still put custom ENVEs a notch above these, but newer Zipps are quite a nice wheel.

I'm not on a 'strict' budget as such, but I'd like to buy wheels and gruppo w/powermeter for between £3-3.5k!

Feasible?

I'd say probably not? Make a spreadsheet and explore options and then decide? Spreadsheets of fantasy bike builds are half the fun! You can play with the parameters and eventually get it to a price you can afford, or a price you're willing to spend.

[angrylegs]

New G4 Powertap on some something like Enve 45 rims (like a mate of mine has) would not be a bad option at all. Can be used for racing and training, but ultimately I like the fact I can run my Aksium training wheels all week then slip on race wheels on the weekend, all the time having my PM running.

Absolutely agree with this.

[Stoo]

Thanks again guys.

I'm copmletely new to all of this really. I need to do a lot more reading I think.
I didn't realise the power stuff was so expensive!!

I want crank based power for the same reason that if I go powertap, I'm limited by wheels.

If I go Zipp, they'd be firecrests.

[angrylegs]

I didn't realise the power stuff was so expensive!!

I want crank based power for the same reason that if I go powertap, I'm limited by wheels.

Yeah, that's why I said if it did indeed came down to power vs aero, getting one before the other, absolutely go with power first. That's the most benefit to you. Build the bike up with a crank-based power system and have some nice AL hand built wheels done up. Then a little later invest in a racing set of aero wheels. Although sure - if you can do it all it once do that instead!

[Tinea Pedis]

There are plenty of second-hand G3 Powertap wheelsets going for a song now that there are G4 and new crank based options, I'd recommend looking at those. As you sound like a novice, so (as angrylegs said) a powermeter is certainly going to make you a lot faster, in a lot less time, than Firecrest Zipp's will.

[angrylegs]

There are plenty of second-hand G3 Powertap wheelsets going for a song now that there are G4 and new crank based options, I'd recommend looking at those.

Agreed. This is a good option - the best option probably if you're on a budget. Pick up a PT rear wheel used. This way you can finish your bike build and come in on budget while gaining the benefits of training with power right away.

Then, do two rounds of future upgrades (like it ever stops at two! lol). First, get a crank-based system along with a nicer set of AL hand built clinchers, selling the PT wheel. Then, later, purchase a nice set of carbon aero wheels. I'd recommend tubulars for these, all else being equal, but it's going to depend on if you race and/or if you wish to take that step. Recommended if you race, but there are some nice enough carbon aero clinchers out there if you were to decide tubulars are not for you (in this case you'd probably still end up looking at ENVEs or Zipps).

[Stoo]

Thanks yet again!!

I have been looking around, and could get a set of 50mm carbon clinchers (gigantex) built around a G3 for c.£1500

2 birds, one stone, on budget... novice stepping stone?

[petepeterson]

Power2Max check it out

[angrylegs]

I have been looking around, and could get a set of 50mm carbon clinchers (gigantex) built around a G3 for c.£1500

Looks to me as though you could get an SRM power meter built into Rotor 3D+ cranks for around £1900 or Rotor's own power meter with your choice of round or Q-rings for around £1630, just doing a monetary conversion from a direct order of either off Rotor's site. Imho, both those choices would be far superior to a G3 laced onto Gigantex rims. IME as mentioned up thread by Tinea Pedis others you are going to want to be able to swap out to non aero wheels in some circumstances. Gigantex rims aren't the best either.

I'd invest the significant portion of my budget into a crank based power system if you are at all serious about racing. I don't know anything about Power2Max. Early reviews had some issues that I understand have now been addressed, and it's an even cheaper option than the two mentioned (SRM, Rotor). You could probably also get a used Quarq. All of these are the best choice imho as compared to trying to do an all in one wheel set.

However, it is a fine choice to simply lace a G3 into an AL rim and be done with it, at least having access to power-based training, on a wheel set you know you can use in all conditions and easily service. Your options here would be to eventually move over to crank-based power and get a couple wheel sets, get a used set of aero wheels to race on in the meantime (you wouldn't have power data from races), or get a cheap set of carbon rims (check out the Far Sports thread).

Any or all of this in one or several steps I feel is better than trying to do all-in-one using a Gigantex rim. If you were going for the two birds one stone thing then I'd do it with ENVE rims, but even then I would choose an above option vs building a PT into ENVE rims. At some point if you are serious about power and racing you will want it crank based. I'd simply start there - or - do the cheapest and most functional PT build on AL rims as a temporary holdover until you can go crank based. Imho.