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"Best" power meter - money no object
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  Back when there were only a handful of players in the market, SRM used to be the 'gold standard'. Nowadays, I'm not so sure that's the case any more. It seems to me that the top offerings from many manufacturers rival the accuracy of the SRM, and most don't involve the hassle of having to send in your PM for service periodically. So, if you were to buy a power meter today and had an unlimited budget, what would you buy, and why? For argument's sake, let's assume that it will live on one bike permanently, so things like being able to easily swap from one bike to another aren't a factor.
Last edited by: el gato: Sep 12, 18 18:52
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [el gato] [ In reply to ]
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PT hub. That's what I have. It's been totally fit and forget. According to dcr, it's as accurate as anything out there. It's built into a training wheel that I cover for racing.

No muss, no fuss.
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]
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https://www.specialized.com/nz/en/s-works-power-cranksdual/p/134035
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [Tri2Bake] [ In reply to ]
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Don't want cranks. My cranks are 150mm selected as optimal for my fit. The sworks only go down to 170mm.

And $2k...for crank based power? Lots of cheaper options... What's special about s-works over one of the $500 options? I know the OP said cost is no object... But more money should still mean more <something>.
Last edited by: Tom_hampton: Sep 12, 18 19:48
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [el gato] [ In reply to ]
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I've been super happy with my Favero Assioma Duo's. Key point? They've been completely hassle free and 100% reliable. I've had them for about 9 months now and haven't had a single day that they wouldn't connect to my Bolt or Trainerroad on the PC. They've also never given me suspect power data despite the fact that I almost never calibrate them. Battery life is so long that its almost a problem, because I don't charge them regularly. In fact the only time they have failed on me was when I forgot to charge them before a race after like 3-4 weeks of not charging them. I actually bought them with the intention of switching them between my TT bike and road bike, but now I hardly ever do, as most of my training is on the TT bike anyways. However, it only takes <5 minutes to swap them if you need to.

Some people complain about the look of the pod, but its barely even noticeable once its on there.
Last edited by: Sikedsyko: Sep 12, 18 19:59
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [el gato] [ In reply to ]
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Quarq DZero.
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [el gato] [ In reply to ]
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It's no longer about the price - your main decision should be whether you want a hub based powermeter like powertap (always ride the same wheel, but free to choose pedals), or a crank based powermeter (choice in pedals and wheels) or pedals (choice in wheels only).

I have 3 powermeters - an old Powertap Pro+ hub, a Power2Max in a Rotor 3D crank, and a 3rd generation Stages (Left side only). They have all been very reliable, they give the same numbers, they're all set it and forget it systems. I think many powermeters give similar performance and are more than adequate as the training tools that we expect them to be.

Note I haven't tried pedal based powermeters because none of them use shimano cleats and I ride shimano tri and road shoes with shimano cleats on shimano pedals on all my bikes.
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [Benv] [ In reply to ]
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [el gato] [ In reply to ]
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el gato wrote:
So, if you were to buy a power meter today and had an unlimited budget, what would you buy, and why?

SRM with SRM computer.

It's the best.
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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What does that mean? Is there a capability that influences one’s ability to train, race or analyze data?
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]
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Don't want cranks. My cranks are 150mm selected as optimal for my fit. The sworks only go down to 170mm. //

Funny this is coming up right now, I just got my Infocranks in the mail for a new bike I'm building, 155's. For me that is my best option, they seem to be the class of crank based meters. It would be great to get the pedals I like with similar accuracy, but I think that is a few years down the road yet..
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [Benv] [ In reply to ]
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Sorry, I haven't investigated them thoroughly since they are too rich for me. I'm using an old Powertap SL+. But I'd guess SRMs still have better quality than the competition, and if anyone actually tested PMs for accuracy/precision they'd win. Lots of people who care about those features are still buying them even though they are 2-4x the price of other crank spider PMs. They can be easily calibrated also; I don't know which other PMs have that feature, but I think Quarqs do. BTW, new SRMs have rechargeable batteries.
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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I am not ‘rich’, i am a data driven scientist so when someone makes blanket statements saying ‘A is better than B’ I just like to understand what relevant (to the intended purpose) data exists. I think there is lots of data showing there are many great powermeters but I have not seen data that confirms your claims regarding accuracy / precision or ‘being better’ in other ways.
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [Benv] [ In reply to ]
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Benv wrote:
I think there is lots of data showing there are many great powermeters

Is there really data supporting that claim? ;)

For most people "ballpark" precision is all they care about, and then features are more important. If you mean that there are a lot of PMs that work pretty well and give kinda similar numbers, then I'd agree with that.
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]
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I don't. He doesn't do aero testing with his PMs and he doesn't test them for accuracy/precision.
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [monty] [ In reply to ]
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monty wrote:
Funny this is coming up right now, I just got my Infocranks in the mail for a new bike I'm building, 155's. For me that is my best option, they seem to be the class of crank based meters. It would be great to get the pedals I like with similar accuracy, but I think that is a few years down the road yet..

Infocrank looks promising. Don't hold your breathe on the pedals though....
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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rruff wrote:
I don't. He doesn't do aero testing with his PMs and he doesn't test them for accuracy/precision.

I don't understand what "aero testing" you mean.

He certainly does do accuracy and precision testing. You can argue the quality / validity of that testing, but you can't argue its existence.
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [Tom_hampton] [ In reply to ]
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Field testing for CdA, where you are using the PM as a scientific instrument.

The only "accuracy testing" I've seen is when he compares the numbers from different PMs.
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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+1 Quarq Dzero, been using it for a year without any problem, just bought another one for different crankset setup
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [el gato] [ In reply to ]
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SRM hands down. Set it and forget it. It works every single time.

The new SRM origin is rechargeable so no need to send in your pm to replace batteries.

blog
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [Benv] [ In reply to ]
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Benv wrote:
I have 3 powermeters - an old Powertap Pro+ hub, a Power2Max in a Rotor 3D crank, and a 3rd generation Stages (Left side only). They have all been very reliable, they give the same numbers

Do you have a frictionless drivetrain?

----------------------------------
"Go yell at an M&M"
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [klehner] [ In reply to ]
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klehner wrote:
Benv wrote:

I have 3 powermeters - an old Powertap Pro+ hub, a Power2Max in a Rotor 3D crank, and a 3rd generation Stages (Left side only). They have all been very reliable, they give the same numbers


Do you have a frictionless drivetrain?


:-)

My PT G3 hub is about 4 watts off from my Quarq Elsa and Riken with a static torque test, which is expected since it is upstream from the weight on the pedals. As a recreational level cyclist, these PMs have been great for me, but I know that most of the serious guys that frequent Wattage seem to generally trust SRM more. If I were to go with the OP's question and money was no object than I would no doubt go with the SRM Orgin.
Last edited by: Felt_Rider: Sep 13, 18 3:23
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [rruff] [ In reply to ]
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if accuracy is the driving factor... an old dual reed switch wired SRM is still the best.
Infocrank is interesting, but using accelerometers to measure cadence is meh.

My Blog - http://leegoocrap.blogspot.com
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Re: "Best" power meter - money no object [el gato] [ In reply to ]
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In my opinion right now the Favero Assioma Duo's are the best PM on the market. For starters it is one of the most elegant solutions for swapping among bikes, I regularly am swapping between my Tri Bike, Road Bike and Gravel Bike. I have never had connection issues and have seen accurate results compared to the readings on my trainer. These things are also bomb proof, at first I was apprehensive putting them on my Gravel Bike but wanted to collect power data on a 4 hour gravel ride a few months back. That ride ended up turning into a mudfest due to heavy rain mid and I never had any issues only thing I needed to do was give them a nice cleaning afterwards to get the gunk out of the pedals.
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