Help with power meters

x2

This is what I did and it has been the perfect solution.......

I've been in the same spot.  Back in 2007 I got a great deal on Zipp 404s and Dura Ace upgrade when I bought my tri bike.  Then I wanted a power meter a year or so later.  What to do that didn't make me throw away what I'd paid good $$ for already?

No one would re-lace a 404 to fit a Power Tap hub.  One guy said he'd do it for $100 and no guarantee it wouldn't crack (and thus ruin) the rim.  This was obviously the "hey, you're stupid to want to do this, but I'll take your money if you want me to" price.  So going PT route meant a new rear wheel, which jacks the price.  Ultimately I bought a used SRM Dura Ace Pro unit, wired.  I recently sold it since I plan on getting a new power meter. 

I've researched like crazy and here are my opinions:

The weird ones - no way.  Why bother with units that calculate your power rather than measure it with strain gauges?  There will be people who swear by them, just like those people who say Saabs were the best cars every built.  And hey my last car was a Saab.

SRM - no way, never again. Sending the unit to Colorado for a battery replacement every year is not something I will do again. Quarq is just as accurate, and SRM is in Dreamland if they think they keep on selling technology with only incremental improvements at sky high prices. 

PowerTap - good choice if you don't already have wheels, or if you want it only in race wheels, or have one bike.  If you can have your wheel relaced to fit a PT hub, great.

Quarq - yes, my plan was to buy one of these.  Don't get stuck on needing Dura Ace, which Quarq can't build due to the design.  Several of the cranks are same level of quality as Dura Ace.

Garmin - well now this is the outlier.  As per Garmin's usual marketing strategy, they announce six months before availabiity and throw FUD into the minds of people like me.  On paper, they sounds great.  Multi-bike / multi-wheel easier than crank systems and the advantage of separating power from left and right feet.  The disadvantage of making me switch pedal systems, but similar enough to the one I use.  Also they're not here yet and may not live up to their marketing, or come March they may just say "oh, sorry, we mean June now".  But Garmin so far has a good reputation of delivering what they say they're going to deliver even if it is a bit late.

All said and done though, I'm waiting for Garmin's system.  I'm in no rush to have a power meter again on my bike, so I could wait until March or June.  Heck I could wait until next year.

This is what I am waiting on.  Not sure if I will go the power route but I want to see how this works out first.  PT has no appeal to me at all.  I see so many folks have issues with it.  I know it is not everyone but my personality is such that I just don't want to deal with something that appears to be that troublesome.  I've not heard anyone complaining about crank based systems though. 

I have Flashpoints......had no issue lacing in the PT. 

I am not sure what you mean by this.......you can have a  powertap and multiple bikes. I just swap my wheels back and forth between my P2 and my R3. 

What problems have you heard regarding PT's?  I try to read as much as I can here and elsewhere regarding power meters.  I went with the PT because of price first, and second because people had very few problems with them.  Just curious.

Geez, how many times can I post in this thread??  

Sorry.....stuck on the couch and a wee bit bored......

I was curious about this as well? I have had a PT for almost 18 months now and have had ZERO issues. It always picks up. It is always reliable. I would recommend one  wholeheartedly.

I have many friends that are happy with their PT units.

I think the finicky reputation of PTs is largely historical and based on the early wireless units which always seemd to have problems with this that and the other thing.  Many times we'd have people with PT head units not using power on a group training ride because they weren't bothering to fix whatever was wrong that day.  These days that seems to have gone away.

As for my one bike comment, I've found that swapping rear wheels among different bikes often needs a little tweak of the derailleur to shift correctly.  It's not quite as easy as it might seem, but not a big deal. 

That's why I say if PT is ideal for a one-bike, one-wheel setup.  Reliable, good value, low hassle.

The issues are just the PT not picking up.  User issue or PT issue I do not know.  But I read it enough in the logs to know it just isn't for me.  And I know it is not everyone that has this issue, or even most people, I just know enough to make me stay away.  I have heard both wireless and non-wired having the issue.  Could be as simple as a battery or something wrong with the unit.  Irrelevant to me.  But they have to be half decent if so many folks have them and still continue to buy them. 

My PT calibration went out.  But here's one of the great things about Cycleops, they covered it under warranty even though the warranty period had technically expired.  Replaced all the internals in the hub, which gave me a new warranty for a year, and I've had no issues since.

I do like the idea of crank or pedal based systems, but can't justify the cost since I train and race (with wheelcover) on the PT.