I bought an old Powertap Standard from a dude on slowtwitch for $500. It's been a great tool for my steady state training. I'm using it in conjuntion with one of Crucible's Power Plans. Some of the workouts look easy until I'm deep into a set. Maintaining output over a chunk of time is tough work!!!
Anyway, below are a few things I'd look for:
- Smoothing. When riding on the road with my PT, the power jumps all over the place. It's impossible to keep even power reading on the road without the smoothing that's standard on most power meters of today. However, it's great for the trainer. If I were to do it again I'd consider getting a trainer that shows power instead of the PT.
- Changing Wheels. As stated above, I use my PT primarily on my trainer. This means I keep an old tire on this wheel. You know how trainers eat up tires. I would never use my trainer wheel on the road cause I'd flat like mad. So, I'm always changing out wheels. It's not that big of a deal, but sometimes it feels like a hassle.
- Battery life. My old PT standard sucks batteries pretty quick. Maybe the newer ones are better? A battery will last me a few months or less.
Overall, it's been a great investment. I've learned what I want in the future (Ergomo) but it will be awhile. If your considering a new PT for $1200, why not save a few hundred more clams and get an Ergomo?
Hope this was helpful.
Alex
http://www.trihive.com