PowerTap P1.

1. I wanted total power (versus a 1-side and total estimate)
2. I wanted to be able to switch it over to my old road bike
3. I did not want to be locked into a particular wheel

Two Quarqs. Because switching over *any* component gets really old when you do it 2-3 times per week.

I have a PowerTap G3 hub that I use on my road bikes. I like it because it's simple, reliable, and was reasonably inexpensive. I also have a second free hub body for it so it's easy for me to swap from a 11sp to a 10sp cassette with no tools. (The free hubs just slide off by hand and the cassette is mounted to it.) I don't like that I'm getting the itch for an aero wheelset for the road and if I get one I feel I'll "need" to buy another PT.

I have a Stages on my cross bike. It honestly felt like it was the only option for me. I wasn't going to spend the $$$ for a new crankset-based or pedal-based meter, didn't want to deal with the PT disc option and there was a deal I couldn't pass up. I feel like the Stages is simple as well and that it's adequate for the way 98% of PM users will use their PM (this includes me) but I still prefer the PT. It's odd, but when I use the Stages I'm very aware that only my left leg is being measured. It makes me wonder if I start to favor the left side if I'm trying to hit a specific number.

x2

SRM. Because it's the gold standard.

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blog

SRM.

I moved to SRM about 10 years ago for the reliability, and even with all the new stuff on the market, I have no urge to switch.

My recommendations for noobies to power would be the P1 pedals. My friend recently bought them and loves them.

I've got 1 Quarq and 1 SRM.

A quarq.

Powertap and stages had to be sent back. Powertap read very high and was unreliable.

Quarq has their app that allows you to adjust slope and do self calibration with hanging weights. No need to send back to factory.

No problems since

2 G3 hubs
1 GS hub (in the mail)
1 Stages D/A9000 about to be replaced under warranty

PowerTap P1. It doesn't get any easier.

SRM- I tried a Stages this summer.
I found that the data jumped all over the place and I got tons of dropouts.
So I went back to my SRM.

I have a dual pedal Vector and single Vector S because I have 4 bikes and put the 2 pedal PM on the bike I'm doing most of my training. Switching between bikes is pretty easy with the newer system. I bet not much more difficult that the Powertap P1. I like the torque wrench anyway. No drop outs to my 920 or 520 and I get the cool cycling dynamics.

I bought 2 slightly used Quarqs (road and tri) several years ago. Perfect.

I have 1 quarq and 1 pioneer. I think moving quarq between bikes is easier than Powertap P1 if your cranks are at the same length.

Quarq - ease of use, customer service and reliability.

Pioneer on two bikes. You are limited as to your choice of cranks (either Ultegra 6800 or DA 9000 crank only) but if those work for you it is excellent. I get to use my preferred pedals and wheels and I don't have to pay the ridiculous SRM premium price.

PowerTap C1 and PowerBeam Pro trainer. The C1 does what it's supposed to outside and the PowerBeam Pro is perfect for ERG mode and use on Zwift.

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Madison photographer Timothy Hughes | Instagram

SRM on tri bike, Vector 2 on road bike. Both bought used (in great condition and cheap). Didnt want to buy Stages for easy swap-ability due to many negative experience on readings. The Vector has easy swap-ability, and both havent failed me yet.

Two Quarqs - one with compact swapped between my road bikes and one with standard aero on my tri bike.

Bought when the choice was SRM, Powertap and Quarq. PT not feasible (I run Campag wheels) and SRM too expensive. And Quarq CS is exceptional.

1 x Quarq and 2 X SRM for me.
As mentioned, swapping components several times a week is a pain

Had a quarq on last bike and loved it.

Changed bikes and went with stages for shimano crank preference.

Not good.
Works well indoors, but in races outdoors too many drop outs.
My np is always like 30w less than ap for example.
It can be used as rough guide, with zeros excludedo from Ap figure to give a theoretical reasonable number, but it gets old fast looking at power dropping out or files with drop outs and lower np.

Likely soon return to quarq.
Pioneer an option but quarq proved excellent before.

I bought power2max S with Rotor Cranks Praxis rings.

Fits with my existing rotor bb on my P5.
Accurate, easy to 'calibrate,' super reliable, dual sided power measurement at a reasonable cost.

Couldn't be happier and will buy another unit for my road bike. I too have a huge aversion to switching over components from one bike to another and felt the P1 pedals would be too large for some of the technical riding I do on my road bike.

Quarq x2

Quarq ELSA 50/34 gxp on trainer bike
Quarq Riken 52/36 gxp on tri bike
PowerTap G3 on road bike

All have been solid performers so far and the Riken and G3 have been through some very wet days.

Powertap (hub). Easiest to change between bikes, and cheapest dual sided PM I could find used.

Garmin Vectors (with original pods). Why? Because 1) I gave away one SRM and the battery of my other one needs replacing, 2) the Garmins were given to me, and 3) it has helped when developing and testing the WKO4 pedaling metrics and iLevels.

I have a Powertap G3 and the P1 pedals, I really like the pedals but have never had an issue with either.

Is the SRM still considered the gold standard? Or has that become a myth that only people who actually own them still try and carry on?

I have been very happy with my ROTOR InPower cranks/power meter.

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David
* Ironman for Life! (Blog) * IM Everyday Hero Video * Daggett Shuler Law *
Disclaimer: I have personal and professional relationships with many athletes, vendors, and organizations in the triathlon world.

Quarq Riken, 3xPowerTap G3, and a pair of Powertap P1 pedals.

I use them for aero testing.

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AndyF
bike geek

Powertap G3 hub.

Power2Max Crank based (only ride one bike so that made the most sense for me)

As others have said, easy to calibrate, reliable, L/R measurement, cadence, good pricing, it just works.

I can't comment on customer service because in the 2-1/2 years I have had it, there have been zero issues.

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Proud Member of Chris McDonald's 2018 Big Sexy Race Team "That which doesn't kill me, will only make me stronger"
Blog-Twitter-Instagram-Race Reports - 2018 Races: IM Florida 70.3, IM Raleigh 70.3, IM 70.3 World Championships - South Africa, IM North Carolina 70.3

I have a Powertap G3 hub on my TT/Tri bike. There were far fewer options when I bought it. But after a couple years I don't think I'd change a thing. It is reliable and accurate. After getting the hub for the TT bike I became addicted to power and purchased a Powertap Pro (a cheaper option at the time) for my road bike. It too has been ultra reliable and accurate. Now that I've got the motor as good as it's going to get I finally want to get better wheels for next season. I had thought of changing over to P1 pedals and getting rid of the hub. But then Powertap went and put the RS on sale for a ridiculously low price so I picked up one of those and will have it laced into some sort of race wheels over the winter.

I have found the hubs to be bulletproof. I see no reason to change.

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Pete Githens
Reading, PA

Three bikes in our stable. Powertap hub on wife's tri bike, Power2max on my tri bike and a Powertap hub on my roadie.
Tri bikes are BSA bb so P2M can go on either. Roadie is BBright.

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A false humanity is used to impose its opposite, by people whose cruelty is equalled only by their arrogance

1 Quarq: TT bike, works outstanding, had a stages on this bike but the stages had issues and switched, i don't worry about the quarq at all plug and play.
1 Stages: road bike, works well on this bike.

-- if i did not need to be on speedplay would take a hard look at power tap pedals

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2024: Bevoman, Galveston, Alcatraz, Marble Falls, Santa Cruz

Power2Max on Tri bike
Power2Max on Road bike

Power2max on my tri bike and two of my road bikes. They just work, no hiccups. Calibrate quickly on my garmin 520 when I need them to. Two were purchased new, one was purchased used.
Stages on one of my other road bikes. Purchased used because it was a quick solution and fit on my dura ace crank. Works ok, kind of finicky when I want ot to calibrate.

Power2Max on both my tri and road bike. Same thing for my wife's bikes.

As others have said, extremely reliable, easy to install, and inexpensive.

bought a used Quarq off classifieds, works flawlessly. Lets me change wheels for training/racing. Will probably buy another Quarq for my roadie at some point as the cost is still near equal to one set of P1 pedals and would eliminate any switching.

Power2max here too for same reasons as already mentioned and very affordable as well

Power tap G3 hubs in both race and training wheels. The information is as good as it gets, they are amazingly easy to setup and use, and they are completely bulletproof. Also, being close to the factory they are amazing if any questions or issues happen. Mine have been bulletproof, but I did have an issue with a wheel being out of true shortly after getting it (from another manufacturer). I contacted them as to whom they might suggest to fix it. I really did;t want the expensive shipment of a wheel to deal with. They told me to bring it over which I did. Before I got back to my parking spot at my home they called that it was done....no charge. They are amazing with support, information and just plain kindness. Plus I have the benefit of having the best information available with a power meter. Whether it be the hubs, chainring setup, or pedals, I would definitely recommend taking a VERY close look at them.

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Gary Geiger
http://www.geigerphoto.com Professional photographer

TEAM KiWAMi NORTH AMERICA http://www.kiwamitri.com, Rudy Project http://www.rudyprojectusa.com, GU https://guenergy.com/shop/ ; Salming World Ambassador; https://www.shopsalming.com

QUARQ, own 2 and about to buy a 3rd, their customer service made me a lifelong customer. I used powertap previously, hub, and had no problems at all.

Powertap P1 for Tri and road bike; it literally takes less than a min or two to change between bikes.

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

Garmin Vector2....for easy of installation and transfer between bikes.

The only bummer is you can't use speedplay, or I would seriously consider the powertap pedals for the super simple transfer between bikes. From what I have read they are rock solid.

I honestly think you can't go wrong with quarq, powertap, or SRM. If SRM comes down in price again they will become a top contender due to their customer support and long warranty.

I had Pt: pain in the butt too switch between bike + disc cover on race day... it was rock solid tho
I had 2 Quarqs: I had to send them back 4 or 5 times total and it was usually before a race... ANNOYING - will never buy or recommend a quarq.
I had Garmin: it was GARBAGE; unreliable, PITA to change between bikes, and their customer service acted like they didn't know something was wrong (even tho some of their own people post on their website about the issue with the radio transmission).

One year with the P1 without not even one issue... none!!!

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

I had the same issue with the old quarqs, I now have a riken and elsa with no issues at all over 3 years. Water damage was the primary problem, but seems like they figured that out.

2 PowerTap G3C hubs for racing
1 PowerTap GS hub for training

1. Garmin Vector on my road bike racer - I need as much data as possible, and like to know seated and off the saddle time plus additional WKO+ data
2. P1 on my TT bike, I was sick and tired of changing pedals, P1 are way to thick for road racer bike, but ideal for TT bike.
3. PowerTap for my commuter/rain bike
4.Stages on my Cyclocross bike because stages seems bullet proof, I have 45-55% imbalance and stages are alwyas lowballing my power, but it is "good enough" for CX bike

P1s...now I only need one PM and can compare across my TT, both road bikes, and can use on my fat bike for winter commuting.

Quarq Elsa = set it and forget it. It just works.

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AV8 | Team Wattie Ink Elite 2019

Quarq S-Works on my TT bike. I would like to buy another from my next road bike. As others have said plug and play.

I still think SRM is the gold standard...

Yes... I do own one :)

I have 2 Power2Max meters for Rotor 3D+ (or the cheaper Rotor 3D30). They could fit any bike I currently own (4 different bottom bracket "standards"), but mostly just stay on the same 2 bikes. Never had an issue that required contacting customer service.

Just an old wired Powertap 'cause I'm cheap.

2 road bikes, tri bike, and gravel bike all with Powertaps. The gravel bike is the new addition...with a Zipp 303 disc with Powertap (custom from wheelbuilder). Perfect for intervals on the levee road with no cars, stop signs or lights...and few other riders. I've convinced myself (and the wife) that all rear wheels need a powertap hub :-).

Quarq Riken* AL x2. One on roadie, one on 'cross bike. Cheap. Works.

Cross: Gen II stages (good enough for cross)
Road Bike: Quarq Riken
TT bike: Quarq Cinco (still going strong)

Stages warrantied my gen1 to a gen2.
Quarq warrantied my road-cinco to a Riken.

Had a powertap (it was cool but went crazy after much riding in wet conditions), had a SRM gold standard all you want, wasn't very practical. I'd stay away from pedals, P2M are looking promising, gen2 stages are becoming good enough but used quarqs are getting really cheap thesedays

Exactly. My two units have been working well too.

I sold both of my Quarqs because I was tired of dealing with their great customer service. I purchased (2) units, an Elsa and a Red, but ended up with 5 (or was it 6?) different spiders over the years. At one point, both were broken, I'd had enough.

pretty much my experience as well...

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

I was leaning toward pedals, why do you suggest to stay away?

Same here, except I'm past leaning. Purchased and waiting for delivery. I've heard a few negative reviews of the Powertap P1's, but they were few compared to the good reviews. LBS had nothing but good things to say when I mentioned I would probably need some adjustments to my fit since I had them coming in next week.

Only drawback I see is the weight, and that only matters on my road bike. And in reality, the weight of that bike is only important because I randomly decided I wanted it to be light. Not because of any performance reasons.

They are so easy to swap too! I have had good luck picking up basically new take off's of Rotor 3D+ or 3D30's so most of my bikes have decent cranks and I can throw a power meter on to whatever I want easily.

I sure wish I could find some shorter 3D+ cranks though. 170 is easy to find. It seems anything 165 or lower isn't going for under $300 and I haven't paid over $200 for a new crank (with rings).

I have been staying away from pedals because they take more time to swap than my GXP quarq. One bolt to loosen and tighten as compared to two. Also didn't like the fact that pedals are one of the few contact points on a bike when you crash while also being a lot more expensive with a lot less battery life compared to say a P2M or replacing my Quarq through their loyalty program.

Pedals would be ideal if I travelled a lot and rented bikes...but I don't do that much at all.

I have a Quarq Riken on a Transition. That bike is ridden for about 3 or 4 hours on Saturday during the summer, and then sits in the family room on a dumb trainer all winter.

During the week I ride a 10 year old Allez that is my first love. No power meter, I just ride the bike like a roadie and hammer all the time, when I'm not stopped at a light, avoiding traffic, or zipping down a hill at 40 mph. That bike has the original 5600 system on it, first year Shimano made a 10 speed version of 105, and it has never failed me. I started out as a crit racer and bike club roadie and I enjoy pretending that I can still keep up with the kids in the Open Ride.

The wife is just the opposite. She has a Powertap C1 on her bike and that is the only bike she ever rides.

Both units are reporting to 910/920's, and both units are transparent to the user. That is very important for my wife, and I like it as well. One less thing to fuss with.

Why the difference? Cost. I've been using the Riken for years, when the wife wanted/needed one the C1 was much cheaper.

Why not pedals? We both use Speedplay.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

4iiii

It was cheap and functions perfectly for a one sided power option.
It's light weight
Easy to change battery and update software

Ditto.

I bought a PowerTap C1, and then coincidentally 3 weeks later won a set of PowerTap P1 pedals from Sportstats. (front door brag).

I settled on the C1 originally because it checked all the boxes - it needed to be able to be moved across 4 bikes (my 2 bikes, plus my wife's bikes) - that's asking a lot.

My wife rides 650c wheels with 165 cranks (both ultegra) and mtb pedals; whereas I ride 700c wheels with 172.5 cranks (both Gossamer) and look pedals. That restriction eliminated: pedals, single crank arm, and hub power. We both happen to run a 50/34 compact crank so that worked out - although the C1 is 50/36.

I had also considered re-sale options and future-proofing, and was worried about limiting myself with the chain rings because you're restricted to a 5-bolt 110 bcd pattern.

But now that I won the P1 pedals, I can use those on my bikes, and leave the C1 on my wife's bike. (and we don't have to fight for dibs on using the pm).

Agree, they really are great power meters - I use them too. But we are at the point where there are several other quality offerings that work great. All depends on budget, bike compatibility, etc.

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Power Meter City
Your Power Meter Specialists

Hello Calvinbal6 and All,

I have an SRM V (wired ... no ANT + compatible) on my old bike and I liked it but I wanted to go ANT + with the new gear and it seemed to make sense to go all SRAM.

My new bike has a Quark Red eTap Quark ..... and I use a Garmin 520 (against my skin inside the top of my bike shorts) relaying to a Garmin Varia on my sunglasses.

The setup works great so far ... no power meter or other data display gear mounted on the bike .... bike is clean .....

I had some dropouts with the Varia when the 520 was in my back jersey pocket .... putting the 520 in the upper front of my bike shorts fixed the problem .... looks like the Varia likes the 520 closer and my body may have been blocking the signal when it was in the back pocket.

I should note the Varia thickness doesn't play well with some tight fitting aero helmets (the ear flaps) and I am working on this problem.

So far ....... as Ray Rainmaker says ..... the Quark just works .......

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

On my collection of bikes I have 1 Quarq, 1 Stages and 2 old Powertap hub-based powermeters. If I were looking to buy a PM today, I'd go with a Quarq.

Power2max and vectors. Had the vector since it was launched, struggled to get consistent performance from it after some firmware updates. To be far Garmin support worked well, they swapped the pedals twice but I never got to the point where the thing was consistent. It now sits on my winter base bike. Power2max just works, every time.

Stages. Their was a compatible one on Closeout for $349. It's hard to beat that.

Quarq on my tri bike and PT wheel on my road bike

I have one too, it is starting to malfunction a bit, but it has served me well. I think I'll get P1 pedals just because of brand loyalty and they seem to be a pretty good power meter too, can't afford SRM.

I have a quarq red 22 and I haven't had any issues with it. It seems to give steady readings... I'm happy with it and would buy it again. I only have a tri bike so it's all I need and can swap between my trainer wheel and outdoor training wheel and my race wheel without worrying about my pm.

I went through several within just over a year:

1. Vector 2 - it was ok, easy to switch between bikes. A bit too much drama with calibration and had to Cary a huge torque wrench with me to the races and bike trips, but all doable. All was until my wife has displaced big pods, rendering them useless

2. Pioneer - sounded solid on paper. Unfortunately instead of using accelometers, like everybody else, this one uses magnets attached to the frame with some stickers. I had a chain drop during a race, the magnet has stuck to the chain, chain has wrapped around crankset. 7 min loss on HIM + loss of power data. Fuck that.

3. Vector 2 - due to lack of options I had to go with this one again, because I had an IM race coming up and I really like riding by numbers. Especially long tri. After an hour ride we've hit cobblestone (seriously, felt like Paris-Roubaix for 10 min) and the pod broke off. Rest of the ride no power numbers. No cadence. Limited post race analysis. Fuck that.

4. Rotor 2InPower Flow - I think I am in love (as much as one can be in love with a crank based power meter)

What I should have done (and in theory I knew that, but I am also impulsive sometimes): a total crank / spider / BB based power meter with no external crap. No magnets, pods, clamps or sensors. Best ANT+ and preferably BT based.

Accuracy: as long as the variation is stable, it's ok. Higher variation means you'd better stick to the same system across all bikes.
Battery life: irrelevant
1 or 2 legs: up to you

Best contenders: Quark, Rotor, Power2Max, new Shimano Dura Ace.

NB these are my thoughts on my TT bike. Road bike conditions and environment is more forgiving.

Rotor 3d Power2Max Classic.
Why? Got a great deal here on the classifieds and it freaking works!

I was using a Power2Max which has worked well for me. I plan to be switching to P1 pedals as I will be renting some bikes in the near future and I would like to have power data.

I also am building up a Flo 30 rear wheel with a Powertap GS hub, so that I can have another power meter option besides the pedals.

Great post! I haven't pulled the trigger yet on a power meter.

I picked a GS up too :-)

A) Because I couldn't have afforded a PM without the current deal on the GS, B) Because Powertap seem to have a good rep on here with good customer service and C) I only have a 50mm back wheel and have been wondering about building a 90 with a option of a disk cover for a while ...

Crank based power meters were out for me, I didn't want to replace my crank as it pretty bling.

I liked the P1 option, but at £1000 ... ? :-(

WD :-)

Started with a Powertap hub, sold it 2 years ago and got my first Power2max for my road bike and this year I bought another Power2max for my tribike.

As most have said, solid and reliable.

Power2Max. I haven't thought about it for the last year. Everything just works.

My friend and I must be the exceptions. We both bought P1s here in NZ within a month or two of each other and both of us have had to send them back.

I had a Stages....actually 3 Stages. Rubbish. All sorts of problems.i then used a PT hub which was brilliant. Totally bullet proof. Sold that one so I could use my race wheels on my road and TT bikes.

Bought the P1s and they were great, but a couple of weeks ago I noticed no signal fro nthe right pedal so replaced the battery. Still didn't work. Replaced it again and the left one and still nothing. Am now just waiting for them to be replaced.

I miss them :-(

Started 15 years ago with a Computrainer, then the same year picked up a used Powertap. Over the years I've bought a few more new and used Powertaps. In my current stable I've got 3 wired PTs, one really old one that's been converted to a fixed wheel for the track bike. Another mounted to a 50mm deep rim. In December I picked up a set of P1 pedals and already have 8000+ miles on them. Last week I took delivery of a GS hub - at $300 it was just too cheap to not get. Built up the new wheel over the weekend and gave it a maiden spin Monday. Also have had an Ergomo in the past.

PTs have been pretty much trouble free. The early ones had the bearing issues, and I've had some flaky data issues a few times with the P1 pedals, but honestly they've been pretty stellar, getting well over 20,000 miles on a given hub. Ergomo? What a nightmare.

Took the P1 pedals off the daily training bike Monday to make room for the new GS, and I'll move the pedals to either a TT bike or cross bike.

Several months use with on my Pioneers and I love them. Excellent data, no drops, easy to change chainrings if I wish. Very happy I went with them.

Only thing I've noticed about them that's very different than the PowerTaps is that they are more sensitive to calibration (or rather, lack of calibration) before rides. With my PT wheels, if I forgot to calibrate, maybe the watts were a tiny bit off. But I once forgot to calibrate the Pioneer before a tri one morning when it was fairly cool at the start and my watts were way, way off. Like 80-100 watts off. I was wondering what was wrong with me before I realized what the problem was.

Almost the same, except I have a PowerSync trainer.

Roadbike- Specialized Venge w/Quarq
Tribike- Specialized Shiv w/Quarq
MtnBike- Marin Rocky Ridge 27.5 w/Stages
Trainer- Wahoo Kickr

Stages on the road (cx) bike.
P2M on TT bike.
Vortex Smart for ERG trainer needs.

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2014 P3 DI2 - RT6, CXR80, Power2Max S, 820, Fenix 3 HR. (gone)

Road Bike - Vector
TT Bike - Stages
Trainer - Wahoo KickR