Hi this is my first post, please excuse my lack of knowledge, but I am looking to add a power meter to my bike.

I have a Canondale SuperX Ultegra 2016 Cyclocross bike, with the following relevant components:
CRANK – Cannondale HollowGram Si, hollow forged, BB30, FSA rings, 46/36
BOTTOM BRACKET – FSA BB30 Bearings
PEDALS – Shimano XTR M9000 SPDs
Garmin Edge 820

Please can you advise my options and your recommendations for compatible power meters. Preferably around or under £500.

Thanks in advance.

Mike

There is a big thread on power meters somewhere but just as a left-field suggestion check out the PowerPod by Velocomp (they stock it on PBK I think) which depends on none of your components and works by finding power from the “P=Fv” formula where F is your driving force and v is your velocity.

DC Rainmaker seems to like it, and of less significance, so do I 😉

Cheaper, more transferable, seems to work…

Sorry for the hyjack. Out of interest do you use the powerpod off road? In the DCR review he says that it struggles with accuracy on cobbles which makes me wonder about off road use.

Power tap hub is another option. Quite a fe around second hand too

Out of interest do you use the powerpod off road? In the DCR review he says that it struggles with accuracy on cobbles which makes me wonder about off road use.

Ah no, good point, I only use it on road so maybe ignore me. There was, however, a firmware update recently that was meant to compensate for rough road surfaces. Whether that translates to mountain bike or CX riding I don’t know.

Presumably a no no for turbo and rollers?

I can’t see any way the PowerPod can work properly off road where significant effort is going into rolling the tyres through mud for example – because it has no way of measuring that. I’d be surprised if it even does that good a job where the rolling resistance is simply down to rolling over rougher surfaces.

It does apparently work on the turbo/rollers but I’ve no need to do that so have never tried. Anyway, as I say, works well for me on road, I’m not on commission for the thing buy what you like hehe.

The bossman is very active in answering queries on the official forum so if your interest is piqued, ask him on there maybe?

At that price point your best bet is probably a 4iiii or a Stages with a change of chain set. Shame though as the Hollowgram is a lovely chain set.

You could look at power2max for your existing chain set maybe, or a rotor one, but all a lot more money.

How does it know what the resistance is?

How does it know what the resistance is?

Dunno, DCR talks about it on his review. As I say, never tried it.

PowerPod on the turbo just uses wheel speed and a known trainer power curve and works out a “virtual power”. Much like Zwift or TrainerRoad does.

Single sided Vector or Powertap pedal system?

I’m a big P2M fan, I’ve got a posh one (Rotor 3D) and a cheapy (FSA gossamer) that was £650 inc. the cranks. Prices may have gone up now as it’s done in Euros.

Wow lots to look at!

I have found ‘Stages Power Meter Cannondale Si HG – G2’ at £532, looks like it should be compatible with my current setup too. Shame it’s only one side though.

Will investigate the others when I get home, but year offroad is a must and SPDs, cant believe they dont make SPD metered pedals..

They’d be massive – stack height is already high on pedal based meters.

For £500 you won’t get double sided yet. I’d go for 4iii myself I think. That said, not sure they do a Hollowgram option. Check DCRainmaker for some comparatively impartial reviews of all the options. There is no single correct option.

4iiii will retro fit the sensor to your cranks if you want to keep them

Only certain cranks still though.

Stages or 4iiii? Any real difference?

My default recommendation is Stages but I’d be wary of putting one on a bike you’re going to be powerwashing, or is likely to suffer a lot of rock strikes.Te one-sided measurement hasn’t really made any difference to me, but YMMV.

I dont powerwash, im a damp cloth guy! The G2 stages seems really good device. I was thinking of getting an mtb one for over winter. My tourer runs mtb xt chainset, so would get plenty of winter rides and work. I like i can also put it on my xc mtb.

Could the Rotor INpower be an option? Just over £500…

Best bet would be Stages for the reasons you’ve mentioned. PowerTap is an option, but my Stages is miles more reliable than the PowerTaps I’ve had have been (G2 by the way!)

Thanks everyone I went for the stages in the end.

Stages is light, convenient and relatively cheap. It can suffer battery drainage issues and the one sidedness can mislead. It’s great for training and pacing but based on my comparison with Powertap and the Hunter/Coggan power table I’d be very cautious about using Stages data for comparison. Not really an issue once you realise Xwatts/kg means very little when it comes to predicting results