Power meter lifespan

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stormur
Posts: 1173
Joined: Tue Aug 12, 2014 3:50 pm
Location: FIN

by stormur

Practical curiosity; for how long it shows correct numbers ( lifespan ) ? Any deteriorations over time ?
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itsacarr
Posts: 1008
Joined: Fri Nov 14, 2008 4:55 am

by itsacarr

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.
Just ride ..

sungod
Posts: 1702
Joined: Fri Dec 24, 2010 9:37 pm

by sungod

^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

BdaGhisallo
Posts: 3250
Joined: Wed Mar 17, 2004 1:38 pm

by BdaGhisallo

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.

c60rider
Posts: 871
Joined: Mon Feb 27, 2017 11:12 pm

by c60rider

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.

Geoff
Posts: 5395
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2003 2:25 am
Location: Canada

by Geoff

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...

topflightpro
Posts: 829
Joined: Tue Jan 13, 2009 2:35 am

by topflightpro

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.

RyanH
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Location: Los Angeles, CA
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by RyanH

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).

NiFTY
Posts: 1493
Joined: Sat May 26, 2012 11:26 pm

by NiFTY

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.
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NJCyclist
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Location: NJ
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by NJCyclist

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.).
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Ringo
Posts: 168
Joined: Tue Jan 23, 2018 10:06 am

by Ringo

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..
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Calnago
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Posts: 8612
Joined: Sun Nov 07, 2010 9:14 pm

by Calnago

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.
Last edited by Calnago on Thu Apr 12, 2018 10:00 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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dgasmd
Posts: 1953
Joined: Sun Apr 15, 2007 5:10 am
Location: South Florida

by dgasmd

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!

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otoman
Posts: 553
Joined: Wed Sep 17, 2008 6:25 pm
Location: Nashville

by otoman

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....
Age and treachery shall overcome youth and skill

trentmorey
Posts: 3
Joined: Thu Apr 05, 2018 2:44 am

by trentmorey

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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