New powermeter rumours

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maquisard
Posts: 3772
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 8:51 pm
Location: France

by maquisard

ParisCarbon wrote:
Sun Aug 05, 2018 6:20 pm
I'm not a fan of DCR's reviews on anything..
I'm curious why you say that, he has reviewed stuff I have worked on and have always found his reviews comprehensive and fair.

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bigfatty
Posts: 135
Joined: Sun Sep 28, 2014 11:53 am

by bigfatty

maquisard wrote:
Sun Aug 05, 2018 3:46 pm
Ha, but the signs aren't good for them either!

I still have a year for them to go out of business :thumbup:
I'd bet on seeing a pair of Brim Brothers before SRM going out of business.
Just for the record, I'm not a fan of SRM. Also, I am not trying to throw shade on your predictions. Just pure coincidence I found that old post. :D
However, seeing as it is 2 years, 6 Months, 2 days, 16 hours and 52 minutes, since you guessed "2 - 3 years", I'd say, you don't have that year.
but who is counting anyways :lol:

by Weenie


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Seedster
Posts: 672
Joined: Fri Jun 05, 2015 11:05 pm

by Seedster

I stick with SRM despite their prohibitive prices because of the horror stories I continue to read about 4iii, Stages and now Garmin.

My cranksets have been flawless and my PC8 keeps chugging along. I recently purchased the Exakt over Vector 3, but would give the Assiomas a shot if someone is looking for a reliable, well-priced powermeter

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12457
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

After putting in CR1/3N batteries on the Vector 3s and cleaning off some, uh, factory oil from the contacts, things seem better. The right pedal still falls asleep too quickly. On some long descents if I coast the pedal will sleep and my L/R balance for the ride will end up something like 54/46...

Assiomas are still the way to go IMO.

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

by topflightpro

I don't think SRM is going anywhere. They may shrink, but they still produce the most solid product out there, and they only product that is track worthy. If anything, all this new competition is forcing them to change their business practices an get more creative. The new Origin is a pretty cool concept. And regarding Specialized, all they are doing is making the spider, whish will still work on all the non-power Specialized crank arms, so there's not reason for it to go away.

As for DC Rainmaker, 70 percent of his reviews describe the packaging and how nice it looks and then how he installed it. He also spent years writing comments about SRM without ever having used one. I think 2016 or 2017 was his first year using one. He also gave lots of great praise to Brimm Brothers, and we all know how that turned out.

Lastly, between my wife an I, we've gone through 1 PT SL+ hub, 6 Quarqs, 3 SRMs and 1 Stages.
The PT hub lasted about 6 years before the torque tube gave out on my. The Stages has been spotty, but it hasn't been a big deal because it's just on my wife's back up bike. Two of the Quarqs worked fine (Sram 975 compact and Spec. S-works compact), but three of them lasted no more than 9 months before being sent back for warranty work (Sram 975 standard.) The last one went on eBay after it was replaced under warranty again. Haven't had any issues with the SRMs.

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

by ParisCarbon

maquisard wrote:
Sun Aug 05, 2018 6:31 pm
ParisCarbon wrote:
Sun Aug 05, 2018 6:20 pm
I'm not a fan of DCR's reviews on anything..
I'm curious why you say that, he has reviewed stuff I have worked on and have always found his reviews comprehensive and fair.
Like topflight said... lots of "fluff" in his reviews, packaging, how the install went.. could really care less.. open box, remove parts and instructions, toss box in garbage bin..... I just find him biased towards certain products... oh well... I know off experience SRM works great, and if requires servicing generally pretty quick.. except Im into a 2 week wait now for my last crankset battery/calibration.. usually have it back by now, this time it hasnt even shipped yet...

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

by ParisCarbon

Seedster wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 4:23 am
I stick with SRM despite their prohibitive prices because of the horror stories I continue to read about 4iii, Stages and now Garmin.

My cranksets have been flawless and my PC8 keeps chugging along. I recently purchased the Exakt over Vector 3, but would give the Assiomas a shot if someone is looking for a reliable, well-priced powermeter
Post a review on the Exacts if you have some time!

maquisard
Posts: 3772
Joined: Thu May 01, 2008 8:51 pm
Location: France

by maquisard

" I just find him biased towards certain products... oh well..." - can you give an example?

uraqt
Posts: 1108
Joined: Mon Apr 03, 2006 8:53 am

by uraqt

If you not a Fan of DCR's reviews, who do you trust?
C

refthimos
Posts: 411
Joined: Fri May 25, 2012 6:02 pm

by refthimos

Seedster wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 4:23 am
I stick with SRM despite their prohibitive prices because of the horror stories I continue to read about 4iii, Stages and now Garmin.
Why would you compare SRM to these? I've owned several SRMs and they were all fine, well other than the one that failed just weeks after I purchased it (direct from SRM). SRM did fix it of course. But after a while, I tired of the magnet requirement and having to send my PM away for several weeks at some expense just to swap the battery.

If you compare SRM to the current offerings from Quarq, Power2Max, Rotor 2Inpower, etc, you will likely find far fewer horror stories. I would choose any of these three over SRM.
EVO1 | 5.37kg
EVO3 (sold) | 6.51kg
EVO4 | build thread coming soon
S5 Disc
SystemSix (sold) | 8.01kg
P5 Disc | heavy but fast

TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12457
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

There is fluff in PM reviews because other than a few advanced metrics like Pioneer’s torque vectors, Rotor’s OCP stuff in Torque360 and Garmin’s Cycling Dynamics, there’s not much to talk about. Power Meters either work or they don’t. They’re accurate or not under a variety of test conditions. Installation, price, battery type, aesthetics are definitely worth talking about. Even packaging...it’s good to know what’s in the box in case something is missing from your own. It’s good to know if you need a special tool to install the PM and if it’s included. The crow foot adapter on the original Vectors for example or the special hex wrench on the Exakts.

Why would DCR leave any of that out when his audience comprises a full spectrum of cyclists and multisport athletes?
Last edited by TobinHatesYou on Mon Aug 06, 2018 9:40 pm, edited 1 time in total.


TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12457
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

topflightpro wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 8:48 pm
Not all power meters are accurate: https://roadcyclinguk.com/how-to/fitnes ... ling-think
I hate when this data gets linked. For one, the sample size is tiny. Second, they lump several models (generations even) of PowerTap, SRM, Stages and Quarq together. The basic message is fine, but the details need to be ignored.

Of course not all power meters are accurate. A left-only power meter can never be accurate. A power meter can have good precision, but a poor offset. A power meter can have no precision at all...

avispa
Posts: 262
Joined: Tue Mar 11, 2008 2:36 am

by avispa

maquisard wrote:
Sun Aug 05, 2018 6:31 pm
ParisCarbon wrote:
Sun Aug 05, 2018 6:20 pm
I'm not a fan of DCR's reviews on anything..
I'm curious why you say that, he has reviewed stuff I have worked on and have always found his reviews comprehensive and fair.
I don't want to turn this thread into I HATE/I LOVE DC RAINMAKER, but, I lean towards ParisCarbon. Here's an example:
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/10/ann ... tions.html
Go to discussion post #337 The response from Ray is not the best and of someone that has not really done a full "in-depth" review on things. IMO.

by Weenie


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TobinHatesYou
Posts: 12457
Joined: Mon Jul 24, 2017 12:02 pm

by TobinHatesYou

avispa wrote:
Mon Aug 06, 2018 10:40 pm

I don't want to turn this thread into I HATE/I LOVE DC RAINMAKER, but, I lean towards ParisCarbon. Here's an example:
https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/10/ann ... tions.html
Go to discussion post #337 The response from Ray is not the best and of someone that has not really done a full "in-depth" review on things. IMO.
What's inadequate about his response? He does not own a Campy bike. Do you think he needs to buy one? His response is basically that he's never seen anyone else with this issue among his readers/followers. That seems reasonable to me. Also my cassette carriers never get notched like that so my suspicion is his KICKR just shipped from the factory with a loose lockring, which was causing 1) extreme noise issues and 2) indexing issues.

SRAM's cassette tooth profiles are a bit wider than Shimano's at the pointy end though and they are slightly noisier...not game-breaking though.

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