Power Meter - Crank vs Pedal

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amngwlvs
Posts: 162
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2018 2:45 pm
Location: Barrie, Ontario

by amngwlvs

This will hopefully be a pretty quick thread here since I'm not really worried about the specifics about the different units, more so the application. I think I've pretty well narrowed my choice of a power meter down to Favero Assioma Duo's or a 4iiii Podiiiium but both have pros a cons.

First off, I have two pairs of shoes and two bikes with SPD-SL cleats. Main bike is a TCR with Ultegra pedals and the second is my Propel with 105 pedals that I use on the Kickr and will probably use for the odd crit this year but may (at some point) try to pick up some deeper wheels and use it for more racing.

The Assioma's have a ton going for them - dual sided, easy to install, easy to swap between bikes. The main pitfall for me is the Keo style cleats which makes my two current sets of pedals obsolete. That means I either have to buy a second set of Look pedals for the training bike or swap cleats or pedals as I go back and forth between bikes. This would rear it's head mostly in the spring and fall when I could be riding either bike on any given day. Less of an issue in winter and summer when I'm using the trainer or I'm not. Secondly the pods still look a little goofy to me.

The 4iiii would mean I could keep all my current pedals as is and the PM would go on the TCR. Because the Propel doesn't have an Ultegra crankset, when I ride it outdoors I'd just have to forgo the power meter and it would be a non-issue for me when it's on the trainer. It's cheaper, but only because I'd get left side only.

So... what would you do? Crank based or pedals? Are the dual sided pedals worth the switch over a single sided crank?
2018 Giant TCR Advanced Pro 0 Disc
2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2
2013 Trek 520

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biwa
Posts: 411
Joined: Fri Sep 21, 2018 8:39 pm

by biwa

Also interested in this, particularly the Assioma. My primary concern is the q-factor impact (if any) by those pods, the look is trivial once you start pedalling. The other thing is I wonder if there is going to be a new model from Assioma soon-ish, given the recent sale at multiple retailers.

ParisCarbon
Posts: 1918
Joined: Mon Feb 05, 2007 5:39 am
Location: Winnipeg Canada

by ParisCarbon

I guess it depends on how "picky" you are about "accurate" power numbers... remember LH only just doubles your output... so in some cases if you have an imbalance, wattage will be inaccurate.. if that matters to you, I wouldnt do the LH only... Im putting Super Rec 12 EPS on my new bikes and went with the SRM Exakt dual setup on mine.. mainly because I wanted the new 12s Super Record crankset.. to keep the crank i was left with pedal based option, or Stages arm.. in the end, the SR crankset plus stages arm and look Keo ti pedals was actually more expensive then the Super Rec + Exakt combo...

dcorn
Posts: 427
Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2017 4:21 pm
Location: NoVA

by dcorn

I had powertap pedals for a year or so. They worked fine, power seemed accurate compared to my trainer. Problem was the cleat setup. Powertap uses a proprietary cleat that is very similar to Look, but not the same. I've always used shimano pedals, but swapped 2 pairs of shoes to the powertap cleat. Then I noticed the pedal was digging into the carbon sole of my shoes a little bit, which was not cool. I also noticed my shoe felt a bit loose in the pedal all the time, like it wasn't 100% clipped in and putting down power would allow the cleat to go further down in the pedal. Didn't feel right. Getting these specialty pedals made me realize how perfect shimano pedals are and that I shouldn't mess with that perfection. Plus, your feet/shoes/cleats/pedals are probably the most important contact point between you and the bike so if it's not absolutely perfect, it's going to throw you off somehow, or at least make you think about something other than just riding/racing.

Sold the powertap pedals and bought a power2max instead. Now I just bought a 2nd P2M crankset for my race bike. Swapping pedals was annoying anyway.

I vote crank based PM.

Bogan
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Location: Boganville, Australia

by Bogan

Crank based. Who wants to be swapping pedals between bikes. And you can use your pedals of choice.

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2lo8
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by 2lo8

Honestly, if you have two shimano cranks, it's almost as easy to swap LH crank arms as it is to swap pedals and the shimano crank arms are pretty much interchangable with each other.
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amngwlvs
Posts: 162
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2018 2:45 pm
Location: Barrie, Ontario

by amngwlvs

dcorn wrote:
Thu Apr 04, 2019 9:39 pm
I had powertap pedals for a year or so. They worked fine, power seemed accurate compared to my trainer. Problem was the cleat setup. Powertap uses a proprietary cleat that is very similar to Look, but not the same. I've always used shimano pedals, but swapped 2 pairs of shoes to the powertap cleat. Then I noticed the pedal was digging into the carbon sole of my shoes a little bit, which was not cool. I also noticed my shoe felt a bit loose in the pedal all the time, like it wasn't 100% clipped in and putting down power would allow the cleat to go further down in the pedal. Didn't feel right. Getting these specialty pedals made me realize how perfect shimano pedals are and that I shouldn't mess with that perfection. Plus, your feet/shoes/cleats/pedals are probably the most important contact point between you and the bike so if it's not absolutely perfect, it's going to throw you off somehow, or at least make you think about something other than just riding/racing.

Sold the powertap pedals and bought a power2max instead. Now I just bought a 2nd P2M crankset for my race bike. Swapping pedals was annoying anyway.

I vote crank based PM.
That's my biggest concern. If I don't like the Look style cleats I'm a bit screwed. I've had very good expereinces with both 105 and Ultegra pedals and am leary to switch because right now I have no issues with my pedals at all. I can certainly see swapping pedals being annoying but at least it gives me the option of having the power meter on both bikes relatively easily.
Bogan wrote:
Thu Apr 04, 2019 10:06 pm
Crank based. Who wants to be swapping pedals between bikes. And you can use your pedals of choice.

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No one wants to swap pedals between bikes but I think everyone wants to have a power meter on as many bikes as possible. :noidea:

Thanks for the input so far!
2018 Giant TCR Advanced Pro 0 Disc
2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2
2013 Trek 520

gurk700
Posts: 956
Joined: Fri Jan 20, 2017 7:40 pm

by gurk700

I hate anything other than speedplay so I think you can guess my vote. FWIW I find S-Works, Quarq for crank based and Assioma's for pedal based to be equally great power meters. Owned them all extensively.

If your bottom brackets are the same between bikes, swapping cranks between bikes is super easy IMO. I'd go far as to say it's easier than changing pedals.

robertbb
Posts: 2179
Joined: Thu Jul 23, 2009 3:35 am

by robertbb

biwa wrote:
Thu Apr 04, 2019 8:57 pm
Also interested in this, particularly the Assioma. My primary concern is the q-factor impact (if any) by those pods, the look is trivial once you start pedalling. The other thing is I wonder if there is going to be a new model from Assioma soon-ish, given the recent sale at multiple retailers.
The Assioma's are awesome. Both as a pedal and as a PM. Reports of the clip-in being finicky are around, but it's not an issue. Simply back out the screw till it no longer makes contact, dial it in until it's just touching, then never think about it again.

Not sure if a new model is coming out or not, but it's hard to imagine them producing a product much better than what they have now. They really knocked this out of the park. The only reason they aren't more popular is because they aren't a "big" brand so to speak. I almost didn't get them but was convinced to try by a forum member here and I've been grateful ever since.

Oh, and I came from speedplays (which I'd used for almost a decade) and found the Assioma's with grey look keo grip cleats to be perfectly fine. Actually, the are a far more stable pedaling platform than speedplays.

RossLB
Posts: 55
Joined: Sun Oct 21, 2018 7:18 am

by RossLB

I had the Assioma Duo. As a power meter it worked fine. But it reminded me why I ditched Look pedals some years ago. The cleats wear out ridiculously quickly. They break - one of them snapped on the second ride. They are loose, and noisy. And the pedals are more difficult to clip into than Shimano pedals.

I sold the Assioma and bought a Stages crank power meter. Much happier. I can use my Dura Ace pedals, which are far superior in every respect.

dcorn
Posts: 427
Joined: Thu Oct 05, 2017 4:21 pm
Location: NoVA

by dcorn

Oh yeah, that's another thing I hated about the Powertap pedals. They didnt rotate for easy entry, plus the backside of the pedal gave a false positive, having a position that felt stable enough to make me assume I was clipped in. It was extremely hard to find the right position to clip in on the first try or the 2nd and third. Another thing Shimano pedals excel at.

Honestly, having swapped out a few cranks recently, ill have to agree and say swapping cranks is damn near as easy as pedals, if you have the exact same BB.

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pdlpsher1
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Location: CO

by pdlpsher1

Any powermeter that requires me to ditch my Dura Ace pedals is a non-starter for me.


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marioc
Posts: 32
Joined: Sat Mar 26, 2016 2:26 pm

by marioc

pdlpsher1 wrote:
Fri Apr 05, 2019 8:38 am
Any powermeter that requires me to ditch my Dura Ace pedals is a non-starter for me.
^^
I was deciding between P2M or Vector 3/Assioma and because I own 2 sets of Dura Ace pedals and I really like SPD-SL i went with P2M.

moyboy
Posts: 492
Joined: Thu Aug 18, 2016 12:19 am

by moyboy

prefer crank / spider so i have the option of cleat and can control my stack with whatever pedal i want.

amngwlvs
Posts: 162
Joined: Fri Apr 20, 2018 2:45 pm
Location: Barrie, Ontario

by amngwlvs

Thanks for all of the replies everyone!

Heres another thought - does anyone know if I we're to buy a dual sided 4iiii or Stages could I use the left crank independant from the right?

That would let me put new R8000 cranks with PM on my TCR, move the R8000 cranks with no PM to my Propel and then I could potentially just move the left crank arm with the PM to the Propel if I needed to because both would have the exact same cranksets...
2018 Giant TCR Advanced Pro 0 Disc
2015 Giant Propel Advanced 2
2013 Trek 520

by Weenie


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