more questions - is it worth the $1k price? Are there other options? Stages Cycling?

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Linda
~Still recovering from IMLT

Avoid stages, really not worth the price for 1/2 of a powermeter. Look at Power2max. What crank does he currently have on his bike? Some cranks have a removable spider that make it a bit cheaper to buy just the spider from either quarq or power2max.

Other options are powertaps wheels and pedals.

Best price is probably through a discount at a shop.

If he has the Sworks cranks the power2max meter is relatively easy to install if you just buy the spider. It's also quite easy to change between bikes so long as they are both BB30.

Had a Quarq Spider Power meter on my Specialized Crank on the Shiv for last 3 years.
Bullet proof very good highly recommended so yes worth it imo.

The stand alone Quarq cranks (elsa, etc) are perhaps a better option as can be swapped to road bike also (the spider is only inside the crank if a suitable Specialized crank). It could be swapped to road bike also providing the whole crank is compatible with both TT and road bikes - not always the case.

Other more cost effective options like the Stages are good but depend on crank being used - only really suitable to certain cranks - e/g dura ace crank arm may not fit specialized crank.
Power2Max are also good but may cost a little more and cranks are different so it depends on spec the user has or wants to keep.

I don't agree with the previous poster that it's not worth buying "half a crank".
Speaking as a 3yr user of Quarq, the only time I looked at the left/right power figures was after a race and even then just to see if any issue.

The correct method would be to work on even leg strength through squats and weights, single leg drills on the bike regularly and then proceed with a single leg power meter as in all honesty barely anyone actually uses or has any real world value to power from both legs.

So much so that I am now proceeding with a Stages power meter for my Shimano crank on a new TT bike as sold my Specialized.
Had considered Quarq again, but the market indicates just as good reliability for cheaper cost these days, plus my crank is now Shimano so easiest and best option is Stages.
Also if I change my roady to be a similar crank then I can swap crank arm between each and have power on both.

So many options - dcrainmaker.com has all the best reviews and other options also.
Power meter is a personal choice so if he has given you his then may need to double check with him if looking at other options.

The issue with stages has nothing to do with not having pseudo left/right figures. The stages is only seeing the power of 1 leg and applying it as if it were 2. Check out the various threads on it.

Yeah...sort of like you and your spouse hiring a financial planner, and when you bring him all your spending and income information, the financial planner tells you that his method is to just take the information from one person, double it, then make decisions for the both of you based on that.

There's zero issues with stages if that's all you use as a power meter. You won't know any different (power number wise) and can therefore train/race just the same as you can with a quarq/srm/pioneer.

I don't have a stages so I'd recommend looking at the various threads on it. From what I understand it only works with certain cranks and I don't think you can set the slope on it.

I'm aware of this and that's why I mentioned not an issue as long as legs are even and balanced.

Having used a quarq for 3 years and seeing a near 50/50 split I either don't have an issue or else the quarq balance is flawed also.
Recently doing some single leg drills leads me to conclude perhaps the data is a load of crap as certainly felt like 1 leg is weaker.

As I said, solution is to do leg strength work and single leg drills, then be happy with a one sided power meter doubling up to total.

In the real world, I'd say 99.9% of us will not be able to tell or would not apply any real difference.
Especially as having used the quarq and seeing no issues, I dropped the single leg drills.
Recently going back to them leads me to think this was an error and the left/right balance was maybe a load of crap anyway.

Anyway, horses for courses.
It's another data point (left/right balance) a lot of us think we need that actually has very little to no real world application.

Can someone point me to actual, real word complaints with users getting inconsistent readings / results from their Stages? I know everyone likes to harp on the "1/2 a power meter" line, but I must be missing all the real word issues that have arrived from this.

That said, for the OP, my recommendation for you in this case is to get the Quarq spider for the Specialized crank. $1K at retail, but you also don't need to replace the crank (which you would if you went with a Stages).

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

Check out the DC Rainmaker power meter buyer's guide for other options. PowerTap P1 pedals seem like a viable alternative to the Quarq.

Well you do not get many complaints because people using stages do not know what they are missing. You only need to look at people with vectors, powertap p1s, and other ones that measure balance. You see it is very common to have balance changing between rides and over a single ride. For example just going from 50/50 to 48/52 would be a 4% change in watts with stages, even if the actual watts stayed the same. That is not a huge change that people have seen with those meters.

Ok, quarq balance is not a true left right balance (It is actually more like half of the crank rotation versus the other half of the crank rotation, so not left leg versus right leg). It also tends to underestimate true balance with some people that have looked into it. You saw it yourself with single leg drills, it should output 100%/0% during the drill, but it does not.

Second, show me the studies that show single leg drills will change your balance or improve your performance. Also, same thing for length strength.

First rule of marketing / product strategy.....expose the other guys weaknesses and trumpet your strengths.

Stages came into the market and largely disrupted it, causing significant reductions in pricing across the baord (yay, competition!).......were I one of Stages competitors, first thing I would have done was to expose the weakness of Stages with a bunch of data showing the differences between their PM and Stages.

Wonder why that never happened.....

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Chicago Cubs - 2016 WORLD SERIES Champions!!!!

"If ever the time should come, when vain and aspiring men shall possess the highest seats in government, our country will stand in need of its experienced patriots to prevent its ruin." - Samuel Adams

This plus it also changes from trainer to outside rides.

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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