the powertap because it measures both legs and is easier to swap between bikes.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

2nd the Powertap, although I know some people happy with Stages.

I've used a few different Powertaps over the last 5 years and they work well, have great customer service, and are easy to switch between bikes.

-Physiojoe

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-Physiojoe
Instagram: @thephysiojoe
Cycling coach, Elite racer on Wooster Bikewerks p/b Wootown Bagels

Even better, After 3 years I've yet to have any idea if their customer service is good!

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Haha...oh, to live in Texas...I'm in Ohio and it takes alot for me to stay indoors. Reliability with my PT's seems to be better after I started using liquid nylon (plumbing stuff from Home Depot) around the battery cap threads and seal to block out water.

-Physiojoe

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-Physiojoe
Instagram: @thephysiojoe
Cycling coach, Elite racer on Wooster Bikewerks p/b Wootown Bagels

PT hands down, on my 5th currently

PT easy, I have an quarq now but only due to an killer discount. My old PT was very simple and issue free. My next pm will be an PT on an disc for my tt bike, they just work.

At that price, I'd get the PT. I had different models for the last 6-7 yrs and only switched to Stages this year to open up wheel choices. I just can't wrap my head around riding a boat anchor on the rear wheel, even though I know it isn't an issue unless you are doing uphill TT's.

I have a PT. I want a Stages. Nothing wrong with the PT, just heavy, I can't race with it, and I have mismatched wheels front and back. Other than that, it has worked flawlessly.

I'm not sure what kind of endorsement that is. "on my 5th". Do they break that much?

Oh, and while the PT can measure power on either side, it can't differentiate between "push down" power on one side versus "pull up" power on the other side. You'd need a pedal based system to figure that out and they don't seem to do that calculation either.

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BC Don
Pain is temporary, not giving it your all lasts all Winter.

Why can't you race with it?

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

Roadie. I race with Flo 60s. I do, however, have a wheel cover for the mavic open pro rim. You know, for that once a year tri.

Again, no complaints with the PT. It has served me well.

ahh.
you could race with it, just a question if the after the fact data is worth the lost aero win =)

You *could* put a gen3 powertap in that flo 60 though! That is confirmed doable now.

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Kat Hunter reports on the San Dimas Stage Race from inside the GC winning team
Aeroweenie.com -Compendium of Aero Data and Knowledge
Freelance sports & outdoors writer Kathryn Hunter

I have the exact wheel setup they are advertising and used the wheel cover from Olympic distance all the way to Ironman. Love it and it's easy to switch out, 10 mins tops and your training/racing wheel is set. Wheelbuilder also stands behind their work.

I have a stages and enjoy it. Other than the Garmin Vector, it is the easiest to switch between bikes (assuming you have the same crank). You (allegedly) don't have to do a reset after you install because it has a temperature sensor (see DCRainmaker's review). It also gives you a nice cadence measure without additional equipment. Plus it is both ANT+ and Bluetooth compatible (not sure about the PT).

All of that said, I feel obligated to say I MAY be having an issue with mine. I have another thread up discussing a huge gap in my FTP. Some people are suggesting it could be an issue with my Stages PM, but there are still numerous culprits and nothing is certain.

Powertap. Stages may be good, but they're still unproven. Powertaps are great and their customer service can't be beat. I have 3 Powertaps and have only had to use their customer service once, and that's because I wore out the bearings in my training wheels.

I don't have a Power Meter but have been considering my options and I'd go for the Stages. Seems to work well and the fact that it only measures on one crank seems to be a non issue. It also allows me to measure power with any wheel I want so I can use my road/trainer training wheels and race wheels (Flos) and still get power.

I have no experience with stages, but training with a powertap is great. I have the older wireless model model and have had no problems with it at all (bombproof). I have replaced the batteries twice and the bearings once taking a combined 15 minutes (and I'm definitely not great with a wrench). A couple things I like about it are that it reads power at the wheel (so the real power transferred to the road post most mechanical losses which is good for some in depth analysis) and it's super easy to switch from bike to bike. It's nice to know the power at your legs but as stages is measuring just one I'm not sure how useful it is for further analysis. In any case if you are looking to start training with power it doesn't' really matter that much. As long as the power meter measures consistently you will be able to see your relative gains etc.

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Founder: BestBikeSplit
Amazonian

I've been using the Stages for 9 months and am happy with it. I don't switch it between bikes, but it gives me good power data to my Edge 500 for both training and during triathlons. I usually watch the 3 second average power number to not focus on short spike changes in power output. In my indoor training it has been tracking lower than a Computrainer measured wattage, but is consistent.

I started with Quarq and was switching between TT and road bikes. I added a Stages 2 months ago and couldn't be happier. I prefer crank based power because I am a wheel buying/swapping machine. I just can't help myself :)

I'd go with a PT. I had the opportunity to buy a crank based system, actually I would have been able to buy 4 brand new from the company for the price of 1.95 new ones.

I've got enough power files to see which ones have a lot of drops and which ones don't have many drops. Although I also blame mainly garmin for the drops. But there are several reasons I don't have 4 new crank based systems and stuck with my PT's.

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Brian Stover USAT LII
Accelerate3 Coaching
Insta

Huh? Why in the world would you want that? It doesn't matter how the power is produced only that you can accurately and consistently measure it. For that reason I'd choose the Powertap over the stages every single time.

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Heath Dotson
HD Coaching:Website |Twitter: 140 Characters or Less|Facebook:Follow us on Facebook

Feature creep! As more PMs are coming onto the market, more and more data is being thrown at us to analyze. Plus, the little graphs showing the amount of power around the pedal circle are nice and colored and pretty. Whether a "better" more uniform circle is better or not is not known ouch.

I have had good luck with a PT, using it primarily indoors on a trainer for 2 years with a DT Swiss wheel that wheelbuilder built. My trainer bike is also my travel bike, and I had no issues when I traveled with it and rode it outdoors - it is a solid wheel. Reliable and easy to calibrate daily. By the way when I put it on my bike with an SRM, the PT shows about 7% less wattage - drive chain loss I suppose. I can't comment relative to Stages as i haven't used a Stages. SRMs by the way are pricy, but easy to use in my experience and give you a lot of flexibility if you put your bike to various uses..

1. A Stages certainly can't, so the point is moot
2. Measuring something doesn't imply it's useful