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MTB Power Meter

Mark MaurerMark Maurer
in Announcements 🎙
Does anyone have any recommendations for a power meter to use on a mountain bike? I have a Sram 11 speed single crank with a XD driver.

Comments

  • Joe KelzerJoe Kelzer
    My powertap P1 pedals were great for a season but the dirt and mud ruined em. I would stay away from them and go crank or hub based especially since the cleat pattern was very limited to road shoes. (look style anyway)
  • Scott AlexanderScott Alexander
    I used powertap p1s only on gravel and "urban" mtb'ing, because they're easy to muck up. I've since switched to a single-side stages PM. However, I get lots of dropouts, even though my garmin 510 is mounted stationary on my stem (Stages is known for dropouts).

    Also, when I woke up and sync'd my stages before my xterra, it never connected when I actually mounted the bike and rode the course thru the xterra. So mad about that.

    Other than that feedback, I don't have any advice for anything other than it, sorry.
  • Gabe PetersonGabe Peterson
    I have a Stages XT power meter on my MTB.  I got it during one of their clearances for like $350.  While I love my power on my other bikes, I'd say it is mostly useless on my MTB.  I ride on highly varied terrain, and my power is all over the place.  A typical MTB ride will have a VI > 1.2.  I occasionally look at it on a long steady climb.  Your mileage may vary, particularly if you ride flatter terrain.
  • Mark MaurerMark Maurer
    Thanks for the answers. I did some research and found out a few things. 1) PT Hubs are not available for Boost 148 bikes (which I have); however, Wheelbuilders does machine an adaptor for a Boost 148. (An owner at my local LBS said that PT is redesigning their hubs so it will be Boost compatible.) 2) My crank, a Sram 1X11, is not supported by Stages nor most other crank based power meters. However, Power2Max does make one for less than $600 making it the cheapest alternative. 
    Gabe, I have a feeling that my results will be like yours in most instances, but I do have some rides with long rides on forest roads. After doing this research and thinking about it some more I decided to look at my TSS and compare it to my hrTSS which I found out I could do in Training Peaks. What I found there on my road and tri-bike is that my TSS is higher than my hrTSS in punchy rides like FTP and Vo2 max workouts but the hrTSS was higher than my TSS in longer lower intensity rides. Since my MTB rides tend to be more high intensity than longer low intensity stuff then the power meter might be beneficial. (Of course I might be trying to convince myself to buy a power meter. ;-) ) If I do I'm leaning toward the P2M spider so I can use whatever wheels I can get a good deal on in the future. 
  • scott dinhoferscott dinhofer
    @Mark Maurer I find myself having this argument with myself often. my problem is too many bikes, 29er hardtail, 27.5 Full Suspension, gravel bike. All of these use MTB pedals. I do use my PTs with the gravel bike. I will be doing a lot of gravel road biking in VT, many more gravel roads in my area than paved, and some technical biking.

    My issue is ensuring i capture my work efforts to aid in keeping my PMC on target. I clearly need to read up on how to do this via HR. Like @Gabe Peterson's experience I think it's useless due to the spikes in MTB riding vs steady road riding. Even in a long climbing effort like you endure going up Columbine in the LV race, while power can be useful, I find HR a better governor at altitude. But again, I want to capture the work effort for PMC. what to do?
  • Scott AlexanderScott Alexander
    @Mark Maurer, I have a SRAM 1x12 drivetrain on my MTB and have the single-side stages. I'm no expert but I wonder why they don't support 1x11 but do support 1x12. Maybe my shop didn't realize what my use would be and just ordered one without knowing the specific application. Who knows!
  • Mark MaurerMark Maurer
    via Email
    Scott,

    They do have some Sram MTB cranks, but just not my particular one at this
    time. The P2M is about the same price and it is upgradable to capture power
    from both sides since it's on the spider. It also gets good reviews from DC
    Rainmaker and, perhaps more importantly, the guys at my LBS have sold a few
    and they haven't had any come back with issues.
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