How accurate is the Kurt Kinetic Power Monitor?

Triathlon Forum
1

A powertap is not in the cards right now. I have a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine on its way. How accurate is the speed and power measurements the Kurt Power Monitor? Their website indicates that the curve they use can get +/- 3%. Doesn’t have to be dead-nuts on, but would like a fairly accurate speed measurement and an at least in the ballpark close power measurement. Thanks.

2

It is close enough if you set it up the exact same way every time. You may be surpised at your real power if you do get a power meter someday, but the KK computer will be within 10% and consistent.

3

the power reading will not likely match a powertap/srm etc, as the actual power depends on tire, tube, inflation, and how tight you screw the roller onto the tire.

if you are very careful to always inflate the tire the same, use the same tire/tubes, and use the same roller pressure, it can at least be somewhat repeatable

however power will fluctuate as the tire warms up too

4

JackMott hit the nail on the head; I haven’t been able to get a PM yet because of cost, and have been using the KK as a metric to track my own improvement. Be leery of the number if you don’t apply much resistance to the tires… pretty confident my FTP number is 380 watts.

5

Thanks for the responses…I think I’ll just put the $80 in savings toward a used PowerTap setup.

6

I find the Kurt Kinetic trainer power/speed chart to match closely with my PT. I normally put 4 turns of tension on the wheel.

jaretj

7

That was my problem… I had only put slightly less than three the first time I used it.

8

Last time I rode on the KK trainer the calculated power (based on speed) was between 6 and 11% higher than the actual power measured with a powertap. The more accurate numbers were at higher power levels around 275W. It seems fairly consistent though.

9

Save your money. The real value to training with power comes from downloading and analyzing your ride later. You can use any rear wheel bike computer and get the same thing as the kk. No real benefit to having the “power number” as opposed to speed. When comparing the kk numbers to my pt they were always high and not that consistent across a range of power. I found the kk computer to be annoying to use and that it burned out batteries really fast as well.