I have had two reputable Powertap dealers try and persuade me from purchasing the Pro model over the SL. Both wouldn’t even consider the standard. Can anyone provide some info on
A. - what set up you have
B. - If you are using they pro, do you experience any problems with water contamination?
C. - Any other info that might convince me one way or the other
I have searched the forum and found a lot of good information but I was hopeful someone might post that was recently faced with this decision. I am not too concerned about weight only the best value for my $$
Thanks!
Right - thanks but I was looking for real world feedback specifically on why the Pro is a bad option and if in fact there have been significant issues with water in the hub since that was the major reason both shops suggested I go with the SL.
my own experiences with my PT pro have been all good…i have ridden in the rain on a couple of occasions and had no issues with water contamination in the hub…i have lost the signal from sweat getting into the contacts of the head unit, but this should be common to all the units as the handlebar mount is the same. to solve it i moved it on my bars a bit so i am not flooding it with sweat dripping off my head.
i only have my own to vouch for…my guess is that the problems with water getting in the hub are a result of the very thin and fiddly gasket on the hub being installed incorrectly during a hub battery change…or failing over time, but this is pure speculation from doing my own.
i think best value for $ would be a used pro or sl, especially as the wireless PT is now coming out. hope this helps.
Get the SL. I’ve actually had good luck with both in crappy weather, but in talking to others, the SL holds up better in the rain. Over 6 years and a lot of miles, I’ve had one hub go out on me (a pro), and it was fixed within a week–you only read about people who have problems.
The bigger issue with the Pro is the cartidge bearing on one side, loose ball on the other. Even after upgrading to the Dura Ace cassette body, it’s still a big PITA, and I was going 3-4 cassette bodies a year. It’s a really crappy design, since in order to get play out of the cartridge when it starts to wear, you have to over-tighten the loose balls. The SL’s I’m using have yet to have any bearing problems. It’s a way better design.
Every wheel I’ve seen that uses the loose ball/cartridge design (lots of 13T BMX wheels use this) ends up being problematic. For that reason alone, I’d get the SL.
The only downfall to the SL is that you can’t convert it to a fixed gear (if that’s an issue for you).
I have the SL and ride in a in a lot of humidity and rain. Did IM Moo this year in the rain and had no problems at all with my PT. I have two friends that I train with and they both had the Pro had a lot of trouble with them.
I was worrie about my bike shop doing the same. So I walked in and said, “are the guts of the standard and pro the same?” He said yeah, the pro was just programmable with regard to the display options. I’m poor = I’m getting the standard.
I’ve had a PT pro for 18 months.
I’ve had problems 2 or 3 times in the rain. The first 2 times I took the lid off the hub and it dried out and worked fine the next day or so. On the last occasion, after riding in very heavy rain, I had to send the wheel back to Saris. They serviced it free of charge but I was without it for 3 weeks. They put a later version of the pro on the wheel which is supposedly more water resistant.
More recently I’ve had problems, possibly due to small amounts of gatorade getting into the computer, via the buttons. For IMFL, I managed to get a loaner from Wheelbuilder (great guy !). It seems to be functioning OK at the moment.
Did you use a disc cover for the rear and if so how do you like that set-up?
Thanks.
Did you get the standard and if so do you like it?
I have two of them. One on a Zip 404 that I race with and the other on a pretty generic training wheel. Wheelbuilder did the race wheel for me and did a great job.