Weight Weenies

Practical curiosity; for how long it shows correct numbers ( lifespan ) ? Any deteriorations over time ?

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Can't speak to many others but I have had several friends with wired SRM units from a decade ago that still get calibrated and work. In regards to all meters I am pretty sure they are meant to be lengthy purchases in ideal circumstances.

^this

my srm is 7+ years old, i only had it 'officially' calibrated once, other times i did it myself with weights, it's just had it's third battery swap (last time done as standard when calibrated by srm, other times i did it)

in general electronic systems have a long operating life, for something on a bike the main hostile factors are vibration and moisture, both can be managed with correct design and manufacture

unless there's a component quality issue, the only limited lifetime part is likely to be the battery, mechanical parts like the casing/cranks/etc. are probably the limiting factor

not familiar with other pm units, but i'd assume they all require periodic calibration to maintain good accuracy

I am still using a 7800 SRM that I got back in 2004 or 2005 and it still works perfectly. I just got it back from having the battery replaced for the third (or it could have been the fourth) time and there's never an issue with it.

Got a 4 year old quarq sram red and that seems to be very consistent still on the roads I ride regularly seen nothing odd performance wise with that.

My oldest SRM is 17 years old now. It is just fine, thank you. One of the reasons to buy an SRM is that it will be still running in 20 years...

Here's my list - includes mine and my wife's power meters. Years are approximate to when I think I got them.

2008 PowerTap 2.4SL (upgraded later to SL+) - 5 years when Torque tube died.
2010 Sram Quarq - 3 years then sold it.
2013 Specialized Quarq - Still in use but my wife says it is starting to act funny
2013 Sram Red Quarq - 9 months, then died
Warranty Replaced Red Quarq - 3 months, then died
Warranty Replaced Red Quarq No. 2 - 6 months, then died
Warranty Rplaced Red Quarq No. 3 - Sold on eBay upon arrival
2014 Sram SRM - Still going
2014 Cannondale SRM - Still going
2015 Rival Stages Version 2 - Still going.

I've killed two Quarqs plus one that died and came back to life. The two died because the weather sealing failed, which is kind of sad since I'm in So Cal and it rains here like 5 days a year. The third's battery compartment came slightly undone and then I was able to resolve that with the help of Quarqs technicians.

I've had 3 srms so far. One has gone on to Kode54, one to a stranger and the other I'm currently using. The latter two were bought second hand so I have no idea how old they are. The battery on my first srm did die prematurely (5 months).

2013 quarq - 2nd hand worked for a few months then died. Replaced under warranty then sold last year as was getting temp drift where i was living.
2013 stages - never worked, replaced under warranty - faultless except for battery door breakage. Replaced out of warranty for free due to battery door issue last year. Remains perfect.
2015 stages gen 1. Faultless except battery door. Replaced out of warranty last year due to battery door breakage.
Stages carbon 2016 - nil dramas.

I've had Powertaps that have lasted 10 years+ with zero issues. It's partially luck, but I suspect also how hard you are on your equipment (i.e., do you ride in the rain, perform routine maintenance, etc.).

As an electronic device there would be no issues except the battery.
Powermeters are crucial but still overpriced.. I currently wait for the prices to drop..

Echo the SRM users... mine have been faultless. Got my first one in 2010. Was talking with SRM yesterday. The 1900 hours of battery life came up (I was trying to get authorization to be able to provide battery replacement for people). I mentioned that the non replaceable battery, and price of the unit, seemed to be the only “issues” that I ever hear. On the battery replacement, he told me that some people diligently send their units in every year for a battery replacement and in a lot of cases the battery is so far from needing replacing that they call them back and let them know, but they usually just want it done for peace of mind. For normal folks, it’s pretty much years between battery replacements.

Ive has a powertap hub since 2008 I believe. On it’s 3rd wheel build now and the only thing original is the shell. The internals died at least 3-4 times due to water penetration, and it has had the electronics replaced at least twice more due to unknown reasons. This was my first, my only, and my last power meter!

wow that is some serious loyalty to that POS PT PM. It's like a 100 year old axe that has had 5 new handles and 3 new heads haha....

From personal experience:

Powertap - used for two seasons of training (2011+2012,~30,000KM?) in all conditions. Then died, repairs were quoted at nearly the price of a replacement hub.

Quarq Riken - used for three seasons of training & racing (2013-2015, ~50-60,000km) in all conditions. Worked well throughout in terms of power measurments however was prone to dropping out for a few seconds at a time. Updated the firmware halfway though ownership to not require frame magnet. Afterwards the battery life deteriorated significantly down to only about 3,000km.

My brother has used a different Powertap, Quarq Elsa, 4iii single arm, and stage single arm, each for 1-2 seasons of full time racing+training and zero failures apart from the Powertap which shat itself the same time mine did.

We currently both have R-9100P cranksets for the last three months which perform almost flawlessly (very very occasional power dropout for 1 second, likely due to using inferior head units (Garmin Edge 520's)).

My best mate had a Quarq S975 back in 2011-ish and it was a piece of garbage, died after just a few months. Another mate has been using the same SRM crankset for 5 years. He recently snapped the crankasrm however the unit itself work perfectly apart from needing to be shipped off for battery replacements.

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