$189/$299 power meter on Kickstarter
Options
NorthCascades
Posts: 10,968 Member
Linky.
My advice is: don't buy a power meter with a low serial number. It's very hard to get it right and you shouldn't spend your money on something that hasn't demonstrated accuracy and precision in all conditions that are important to you. Don't buy this.
That said, competition is good for everybody and I hope they succeed at this.
If I could have a dual sensing power meter for $300, I'd buy one to use whenever I rent a MTB and as a spare. In a heartbeat. (I spent $1,300 on a PM, Garmin's Vector 2.)
A power meter measures (objectively) how much effort you put into the bike. When you analyze the data, it becomes a great pacing tool. Speed = power * all opposing forces, so a PM and good technique lets you test and compare different riding positions and clothing. It's also the most accurate way to know how many calories you've burned on a bike.
My advice is: don't buy a power meter with a low serial number. It's very hard to get it right and you shouldn't spend your money on something that hasn't demonstrated accuracy and precision in all conditions that are important to you. Don't buy this.
That said, competition is good for everybody and I hope they succeed at this.
If I could have a dual sensing power meter for $300, I'd buy one to use whenever I rent a MTB and as a spare. In a heartbeat. (I spent $1,300 on a PM, Garmin's Vector 2.)
A power meter measures (objectively) how much effort you put into the bike. When you analyze the data, it becomes a great pacing tool. Speed = power * all opposing forces, so a PM and good technique lets you test and compare different riding positions and clothing. It's also the most accurate way to know how many calories you've burned on a bike.
0
Replies
-
There is a catch though. They're crowd sourcing Data so they are asking you up upload rides via their app so they can scan the data to make it more accurate. My question would be how would the compare it to something when, we the riders, are using it solely. It's almost like they would need a rider to have 2 Head Units, 2 PM and upload both rides so they can compere them.
1 -
The App supposedly has a monthly charge. Something too consider is the on going cost. Interesting concept.1
-
The App supposedly has a monthly charge. Something too consider is the on going cost. Interesting concept.
yep...
$189/€170 for the basic "stages/4iiii single side equivalent" (albeit with a crank made by stronglight, so it won't actually match either the 105,ultegra OR DuraAce in appearance (for those who care about such things... like me for example)) - plus $4.95/€4.46 per month IF you upload at least once, or double that if you don't...
so, TCO for the 2 year "development period" is $307.80/€277.04 - for a power meter that is still "under development" and therefore can't really be relied upon to be consistent - it may be consistent to itself between revisions, but every revision of the firmware could affect the accuracy, and therefore how your current rides compare to historic. If it was once every 2 months, then you could probably get away with just doing a FTP test after each revision to reset your own baselines, but if they're patching once a week, once a day ??
and $307 isn't THAT much cheaper than $399 for the ready to ride 4iiii in a 105 variety (or the same price for a factory install on your own crank...)
Plus, they're only doing 172.5mm crank lengths at first...
Oh yeah, and Pay Now, Ship in December/Next February...
all things considered, I think I'm out.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U_LsCRgs_Pg
1 -
I don't understand the subscription pricing. From the Kickstarter page it looks like it's basically optional (you get voting rights in a forum and fund further research), but DCR's post makes it sound like this will stop measuring power if you don't make your monthly payment.
It uses wind and motion sensors to estimate power, so no dice on a trainer.
My personal opinion is that a power "meter" that doesn't measure direct force isn't worth paying for. You can already estimate your power output from speed and elevation change. Factoring in local air conditions will make it closer to accurate, but still not accurate. People use power meters for a lot of different reasons (like targets for intervals, or how long to rest after a ride, or just how many calories did you burn) so that might be a big deal and it might not. But this costs a lot, it's not that much less than a Stages or 4iiii meter, and I feel the quality of the data justifies spending on a direct force meter.1
