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new power meters

mcohenmcohen
in General Training Discussions

 Just read an article this am re: new pedal based power meters from Garmin and Polar that are coming out this winter and spring. Does anyone have opinions about how they may be versus either a Quarq or a PT? The article discussed issues/limitations of them but I am curious if anyone here has any advanced inof about them. Price wise they look like they are going to be comparable to the price range for what is already out there so price is not going to be a huge factor in any decision. Thanks for any thoughts.

Comments

  • jburbattjburbatt
    Michael: check out this discussion http://members.endurancenation.us/Training/TrainingForums/tabid/101/aft/6842/Default.aspx
  • mcohenmcohen

     Thanks Jennifer. I do now remember reading that thread a few weeks ago now. I am still curious though now about what to do because of the concerns in the article today re: the potential touchiness of setting up the pedal power meters to read properly. It seems that if this is in fact going to be a problem that the Quarq may still be the way to go for someone like me that wants to be free to change out wheels and still have power. That is what I was planning on getting until I saw the article today and decided to do some more checking. Thanks again for your info. Any other thoughts appreciated.

  • NortonNorton
    Power meters are famous for their late delivery. I've learned to go with what's currently available rather than waiting "just one more month".
  • manconamancona
    On top of getting to market late, they usually have quite a few bugs in the first versions. My suggestoin is to wait until they have been on the market for a few months and either have been proven or have firmware updates to fix the intial bugs. I am an early adopter but I always keep a current proven PM on my bike while I test the new one. I had a Quarq, PT, and Computrainer running at the same time for a few months before I sold off my PT. I plan to run both a Vector and Quarq on my bike this spring (likely while on a computreainer) before deciding which device will be my primary device.
  • NortonNorton
    Posted By Matt Ancona on 15 Sep 2011 01:00 PM

    On top of getting to market late, they usually have quite a few bugs in the first versions. My suggestoin is to wait until they have been on the market for a few months and either have been proven or have firmware updates to fix the intial bugs. I am an early adopter but I always keep a current proven PM on my bike while I test the new one. I had a Quarq, PT, and Computrainer running at the same time for a few months before I sold off my PT. I plan to run both a Vector and Quarq on my bike this spring (likely while on a computreainer) before deciding which device will be my primary device.



    See? This is why Matt is a WSM and I'm....not.

  • GMAN 19030GMAN 19030
    I don't see any reason why anyone would buy the Polar product. It's $800 more than the Garmin and you have to buy their head unit because their PM is not Ant+. The Polar will actually be $1000 more than the Garmin assuming you already have an Ant+ head unit like the Garmin 800/500/310, Joule, etc.

    Dumb, dumb, dumb move by Polar.
  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Highly, highly recommend you do NOT purchase a 1st or even 2nd generation powermeter. The proven systems on the market are Powertap, Quarq, and SRM. Stick with those and let everyone else volunteer to be beta testers for the new stuff.

  • jhbinscjhbinsc

    +1 on using the proven PM's. A used SRM for $1000-1500 is a great deal for a PM that's been around since Lemond was using them over 20 yrs ago. I had 5 last year but sold 2 to friends for $1000 ea. My experience has been nearly 100% positive whether buying new or used SRM's. Only had an issue w/ a bad charger once. Need to send it to SRM every other year for battery swap and calibration is the only issue I dislike.

  • Tom GlynnTom Glynn
    I agree too. Buy a proven system with a huge resale market on ebay now, and after one or two revs of the new stuff - probably a year or more from now - if everything is glorious, sell the stuff you bought today and move to the new system. If you are thinking about waiting for a better power meter and not using power now, think again.
  • Coach RichCoach Rich

    Sawiris is at Interbike this week and I'm sure will have all kinds of scoop about new stuff coming out.

  • Steven FordSteven Ford
    Posted By Rich Strauss on 15 Sep 2011 04:34 PM

    Highly, highly recommend you do NOT purchase a 1st or even 2nd generation powermeter. The proven systems on the market are Powertap, Quarq, and SRM. Stick with those and let everyone else volunteer to be beta testers for the new stuff.





     

    What he says.

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