I write this purely as curiosity and the possibility that maybe some power meter manufacturers will take notice. I have raced all distance triathlons for over 15 years including 10+ full Ironman races, 30+ Ironman 70.3 races and used only 2 different brands of power meters since 2009. The latest power meter on my TT bike is about 2 years. It has worked flawlessly over these past 2 years EXCEPT at Ironman Texas. It failed me in 2015 with my numbers bouncing all over the chart...every second it would change from 50, 430, 210, 100, 75, 30, 0, 600, you get the idea. It was useless on race day. In 2017 it failed to ever even power on. I even stopped and there was no red light. At first I was trying to figure out why my garmin 520 or fenix 3 both would not pick it up. Turns out that it never had power. I changed the battery earlier in the week and test rode a good 15-20 miles and it worked flawlessly as normal. On race day however, it failed me again. My day was salvaged b/c it's a pretty flat course, I just went by feel and life truly does go on. Not the end of the world. That being said, we pay a good price tag for a power meter and I'd prefer to train AND race with it. I feel it is my choice to do so, but that choice was taken away. The one thing I'd like to point out for those of you not familiar with Ironman Texas is the level of humidity in Houston. When I arrived at my bike, it looked like my bike just swam 2.4 miles. I wiped it down and all was okay. I'm from Texas and only a few hours from there, but it does make me curious about humidity.
I'm not really whining, but I'm curious of a few things. Maybe vendors or others have thoughts on this.
1. Do you think the humidity/moisture/sitting out all night long at full ironman races can have some effect on these power meters?
2. Has anyone else experienced similar issues with their power meter at any full distance Ironman races (where you have to leave your bike outside all night)? Trying to find a common theme (humidity, rain, or other moisture issues).
Yes, I have contacted the vendor and they are having me send my unit it for testing since this is my second failure on the power meter that doesn't really add up.
Thanks ST'ers.
I'm not really whining, but I'm curious of a few things. Maybe vendors or others have thoughts on this.
1. Do you think the humidity/moisture/sitting out all night long at full ironman races can have some effect on these power meters?
2. Has anyone else experienced similar issues with their power meter at any full distance Ironman races (where you have to leave your bike outside all night)? Trying to find a common theme (humidity, rain, or other moisture issues).
Yes, I have contacted the vendor and they are having me send my unit it for testing since this is my second failure on the power meter that doesn't really add up.
Thanks ST'ers.