Powertap pedals.

Amprodude

Anyone use the new powertap pedals?
Questions i have are

1. Are they reliable and accurate?

2. Any known problems with them that I should know about?

3. How long do batteries last?

I Have few bikes and need something fast that I can switch powermeters over to.

Thanks.

godtabh

Have you read DC Rainmakers review?

Amprodude

godtabh wrote: »

Have you read DC Rainmakers review?

I have but want to know more about them before purchasing.

Lumen

Amprodude wrote: »

I have but want to know more about them before purchasing.

His reports are a bit light on detail alright :pac:

Amprodude

Lumen wrote: »

His reports are a bit light on detail alright :pac:

I have had my problems with powermeters. Stages and Garmin vector so far. Returned both units. Now I am looking for something that will work and won't break.the bank.

joey100

Anything I have read about them seems very positive. Don't seem as complicated as the vectors to change from bike to bike and are dual sided so that's a plus. Battery change is simple enough too and they take standard batteries too. If I was looking at a new power meter it would more than likely be these. Another review for you, but your not going to get a more detailed one than DCrainmakers one.

http://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/A_PowerTap_P1_review_5525.html

Quigs Snr

Amprodude wrote: »

I have had my problems with powermeters. Stages and Garmin vector so far. Returned both units. Now I am looking for something that will work and won't break.the bank.

Power2max type s... have 2 myself. Flawless for the past couple of years.

fat bloke

Couple of lads in the club now with the Garmin Vectors now- single and double sided and no bad reviews yet. Neighbour has the first gen single in constant use for a good 8 months and no issues. My wife has the doubles for 6 months, constant use no issues. I've just picked up a pair and hoping for similar trustworthy reliability.

tunney

godtabh wrote: »

Have you read DC Rainmakers review?

His reviews need to be taken with a large pinch of salt, he often doesn't "see" the issues that end users do. (Wahoo kickr for example)

Lumen

tunney wrote: »

His reviews need to be taken with a large pinch of salt, he often doesn't "see" the issues that end users do. (Wahoo kickr for example)

Most reviews are unavoidably limited since you can't really assess something properly until you've used it for a few months, but the manufacturers won't want reviewers sitting on their opinions for six months while they lose out on sales so are only going to send out new kit for immediate review.

tunney

Lumen wrote: »

Most reviews are unavoidably limited since you can't really assess something properly until you've used it for a few months, but the manufacturers won't want reviewers sitting on their opinions for six months while they lose out on sales so are only going to send out new kit for immediate review.

Very OT but its not that.

He reviews.
Manufacturer changes product.
Review never updated and slow to acknowledge the reviews are useless.
With the kickr the issues are instantly obvious for example.

Also for some brands a little too nice, others too harsh.

tunney

Amprodude wrote: »

Anyone use the new powertap pedals?
Questions i have are

1. Are they reliable and accurate?

2. Any known problems with them that I should know about?

3. How long do batteries last?

I Have few bikes and need something fast that I can switch powermeters over to.

Thanks.

On the hardcore tech forums the P1s are getting good feedback for accuracy, and consistency.

Does it really matter how long the batteries last when you can buy 48 for a tenner?

DirkVoodoo

The biggest issue with them, and what turned me off them, was the cleats. You have to use powertap specific cleats (I think they are exustar) that are similar to look but not look compatible.

I think DC rainmaker says in his review that brand new Look cleats work fine, but worn ones don't engage properly.

Having to either change all my road pedals to Exustar, or have another pair of shoes for the P1, is pretty limiting.

If you want a powermeter that ticks your boxes, you need something proven, which generally means it's been around for a while. That leaves you with a powertap hub or a power2max crank.

tunney

DirkVoodoo wrote: »

The biggest issue with them, and what turned me off them, was the cleats. You have to use powertap specific cleats (I think they are exustar) that are similar to look but not look compatible.

I think DC rainmaker says in his review that brand new Look cleats work fine, but worn ones don't engage properly.

Having to either change all my road pedals to Exustar, or have another pair of shoes for the P1, is pretty limiting.

If you want a powermeter that ticks your boxes, you need something proven, which generally means it's been around for a while. That leaves you with a powertap hub or a power2max crank.

Good point on the cleats.
there are also the quality issues with the PT hubs.

After all these years and new power meters the two choices for "ones that work" are two german crank based ones.

Lumen

tunney wrote: »

After all these years and new power meters the two choices for "ones that work" are two german crank based ones.

Never had any problems with my Quarq either.

Hmmzis

There is also the BePro pedal option. While a lot cheaper than the P1s there is a bit more hassle with the setup and you might have to wait 3 months or so to get a pair.

In my humble opinion the p2m cranks/spiders are currently the best combination of ease of use, price, consistency, acuracy and reliability. Once set up and calibrated it's just a matter of getting on your bike and riding it. The downside is that you can't use the same version for road and track and maybe the fact that the bottom brackets of all your bikes will have to match to the same spindle diameter and type (i.e. SRAM GXP and Shimano are not compatible).

tunney

Lumen wrote: »

Never had any problems with my Quarq either.

Never really took off as much as the P2M but I suppose the principle is the same. (reasonable uptake in the US granted) Measure at the cranks. Maybe the C1 when there is more options will work too.

Amprodude

P2M or Quarq I be interested in getting but problem is I have 3 bikes, 1 race bike, 1 winter bike and a TT bike and swapping out the crankset would be a big job between bikes especially in a stage race where I would have to swap out crankset from race bike to TT bike and back to race bike again. Again it's probably an easy job for someone who is familiar with all of this but ihaven't any experience in this and I know it would be problematic for me in general. Pedals be great but I already had the garmin vectors and they were a disaster they never worked for me even when they were torqued correctly and all.

I really don't know. I could get two powertap hubs one for race wheel and one for winter wheel but then I have a disc wheel on TT bike and I would have no way of measuring my efforts in a TT.

Mr. Grieves

Amprodude wrote: »

I really don't know. I could get two powertap hubs one for race wheel and one for winter wheel but then I have a disc wheel on TT bike and I would have no way of measuring my efforts in a TT.

Stage race TTs tend to be very short, I think the best strategy is to go flat out.

Amprodude

Mr. Grieves wrote: »

Stage race TTs tend to be very short, I think the best strategy is to go flat out.

Pacing is everything thats why a powermeter is handy in a TT.

tunney

Amprodude wrote: »

P2M or Quarq I be interested in getting but problem is I have 3 bikes, 1 race bike, 1 winter bike and a TT bike and swapping out the crankset would be a big job between bikes especially in a stage race where I would have to swap out crankset from race bike to TT bike and back to race bike again. Again it's probably an easy job for someone who is familiar with all of this but ihaven't any experience in this and I know it would be problematic for me in general. Pedals be great but I already had the garmin vectors and they were a disaster they never worked for me even when they were torqued correctly and all.

I really don't know. I could get two powertap hubs one for race wheel and one for winter wheel but then I have a disc wheel on TT bike and I would have no way of measuring my efforts in a TT.

If you lack the knowledge to change a crank set I'm not sure a power meter is for you. It's bikes 101

custom_build

tunney wrote: »

If you lack the knowledge to change a crank set I'm not sure a power meter is for you. It's bikes 101

That's pretty unhelpful.

Amprodude

tunney wrote: »

If you lack the knowledge to change a crank set I'm not sure a power meter is for you. It's bikes 101

I know nothing about the internal structure of my own heart or heartbeat? Does that mean a heart rate monitor isn't for me?

Or I'm not as good as Peter Sagan, does that mean I shouldn't race?

fat bloke

tunney wrote: »

If you lack the knowledge to change a crank set I'm not sure a power meter is for you. It's bikes 101

I have to say, I'm struggling to see the link between the two.

Maybe if he was setting up a business offering a power meter installation service, specifically crank based meters, but as far as just using one for training purposes.... nope, you got me there.

MAntoD

I have the P1s. Really happy with them & have had no problems. Bought them because I regularly use 3 different with different crank lengths & I don't have to time to disassemble cranksets if I want to swap between bikes. I was scared away from garmin vectors after seeing many of my friends have issues with them. The cleats are the only drawback with the P1s but one I'm willing to put up with considering the quality of the product.