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JohnnyKay
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CycleOps PowerTap SL review

  • Price Paid:$1,199.00
  • User rating:
    (4.5)
  • Would buy again from this company: Yes
  • Used product for: 6 months
  • # of logged workouts:

"While SRM is considered the "gold standard" for power measurement, in my view most people will be best off with the PowerTap as it is ready to use out of the box and requires no adjustments over time. Newer versions allow you to go wireless and will soon support ANT+ so you could use your own display (e.g. Garmin 705). But the wired SL continues to be a great value (for an admittedly large investment in training tools)."JohnnyKay

(5)

Ease of installation

Since I bought it as part of a whole wheel (from wheelbuilder.com), installation was a breeze

(3)

Ease of use

Menu system is not very intuitive to use with only 2 buttons, but once set-up it's easy to use

(5)

Quality of Construction

Everything still works perfect

(5)

Durability

No issues with water in the hub and the head unit has survived a few accidental drops on my part

(4)

Value

A little pricey, but the best training tool I have used

(4)

Appearance

Head unit is reasonable in size (not too big) and wires easy to install 'clean'--wireless option would make it even cleaner

(5)

Customer Service

Have always gotten quick responses from Saris/CycleOps regarding the PT and my Fluid2

(5)

Performance

Best bike-focused training tool you can own in my view

Strengths

Real time feedback for training & racing
Easy to calibrate (basically, you just coast)

Weakness

Limits rear wheel choice, but a sub-$100 disc cover turns a training wheel into a racing wheel
Included software is OK, but TrainingPeaks WKO+ offers more analysis (and so adds another ~$100 investment)

Buyers clubPowerTap SL
  • 3 people use
  • 8 workouts logged
  • 2208.81 miles / 120.85 hours logged