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In Depth Product Reviews
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Read My Sports Gadget Recommendations.
Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
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DCR, any input on p2max honouring the discount for those who very recently purchased a PM from them?
I wondering the same thing! Very frustrating since I just received mine in the mail 8 days ago. I sent an email tonight… let you know if I hear anything.
Same here…I installed my Type-S on my road bike less than 2 weeks ago (moved my P2M classic to the cross bike).
MY GF and I bought 2 of them 2-3 weeks ago about discounts but got nada. Sent note this morning as well asking.
You should learn, never buy bike stuff right before eurobike/interbike, never buy consumer electronics right before CES, and basically never buy stuff of product category X right before trade show about product category x
I feel like Ray has been saying this on the podcast and on the website for a while: never buy before trade shows. I feel bad about the price differences for people that just bought, but it’s the same for any other industry. You buy your shoes from the running store on Tuesday at full price, and then Saturday, they have a sale on that shoe. Or you order you iPhone and a week later they put up the new one for the same price. That’s why I never buy anything, so I don’t feel regret!
Only difference is.. Most stores have a 30 day grace period for this sort of thing. If an item goes on sale or is reduced within 30 days, you can bring in your receipt and get back the difference. All we can hope is that P2M will do the same. For me… It was only 8 days.
This is great. Will be interesting to see how others respond. ~€1000 for a quality crankset with reliable left/right power and great rings is an aggressive market position.
Its not true left/right as it just assumes all power from one part of the pedal stroke is all one side
Glad to see power meter prices continue to drop.
I have owned a Power2Max meter (Rotor 3D+) for about a year now.
I have had no problems with it. (My friend has two Quark power meters and has suffered two complete failures and often has wireless transmission problems). The battery lasts a long time and is relatively easy to replace.
I rarely obtain obviously spurious results (22,300 watts!), less than five a year and they are easily corrected in Golden Cheetah.
I needed some advice in regard to migrating the system to a new frame and the rep at the company gave me specific advice regarding compatibility and the needed parts.
Great company, great power meter.
New quarqs are pretty rock solid, but the first two I had several years ago had water issues, new one is great. Poweremax seems to have killed stages with this and in line with powertap and I bet quarq will drop another 10%. The real outlier right now is srm, I am not sure how they are going to stay in business.
Hey DCR,
Do you foresee any more price drops with the likes of watteam coming to market?
Do they have immediate plans to produce the Shimano Dura Ace 4arm 110 bcd crank?
I’m waiting for this one as well. Any news?
Power2Max – 1
Stages – 0
Looking forward to more shake-ups in the powermeter market tomorrow and @ interbike.
Is the Rotor model (w/o cranks) compatible with the Flow cranks?
Q: does the classic Rotor 3D Plus unit fit Rotor Flow and 3D+ MAS cranks? i assume i would also need the special tool to install the power meter on my cranks, is that true and do the classic and S-type share the same tool?
A: yes, the tool is the same and the classic p2m fits also on Rotor Flow and Rotor 3D+
Best wishes for 2015
Your power2max Team
It’s too bad most of the crank options are pretty ugly. I wish they’d come out with a version that uses the same Shimano Dura-Ace-ish crank and 4-bolt pattern that SRM has available.
I have a Power2Max for Cannondale – provided you have the right tools for job it is very easy to install and once installed that’s it. It is very hassle free to use, you just pedal and it spits out the numbers. Sadly I paid the old price for mine a month ago, gutted!
Any reason for the North American prices to be so much lower than the European prices?
They are after all a European company so you would expect it to be the other way around if any difference at all.
I know that US prices are without VAT but nevertheless it does not explain why the upgrade for Gossamer to Gossamer BB386EVO is 50€ vs. 20$
Off course – the difference is more or less spot on with the 19% German VAT.
Odd about the Gossamer BB386EVO difference though. Perhaps just a typo?
Hi Ray,
First of all, my compliments – I love your in-depth reviews on your website! Keep up the great work.
This post has actually made me curious. I was pondering purchasing the Stages power meter, as it was probably the cheapest and most convenient choice until now. The price drop makes the Power2max ones seriously more affordable… but: I can see that there are different models on the North American website compared to the ones on the Australian site (where I am situated).
For my 2014 Tarmac SL4 Comp Ultegra Di2 with FSA Gossamer Pro (BB30) crankset, the US version suggests this one for US$630 (would be around AU$878 right now if you just quickly use Google).
However, the Australian version seems to be a bit behind, since they caveat that you have to have an adapter to be able to use them on BB30 (check compatibiliy: they show a “**” next to BB30 in the list).
I wonder if the Australian one will be updated and maybe even decrease more in price? Or could I just order from America?
Any more ideas on this topic?
I have the same bike frame (Tarmac) with a BB30 bottom bracket. The Gossamer p2max model has a 24mm diameter spindle, which is why it would need an adapter to work on a BB30 bottom bracket, which is made for a 30mm diameter spindle. The Gossamer BB386 model has a 30mm diameter spindle but is 18.5 mm longer than the spindle for a BB30. It can work, but you’ll need some spacers to take up the additional spindle space on the outboard side of the BB shell. While that seems to work, it won’t move the bearings any farther apart, so you won’t get the benefit of the BB386 spec. The cranks on a BB386 will also flare out less, decreasing heel clearance compared to a BB30, but supposedly still more than a megaexo (according to FSA). Here’s a video from FSA on installing a BB386 crankset on a BB30 bottom bracket: link to youtu.be
In short, neither of the Gossamer models are an exact mate for a BB30 bottom bracket. For that, you need to go up to the Rotor 3D+ model, which comes in at some $300 more. At that point, though, it seems the Quarq Riken AL at $829 is worth a look.
Superb info, kw – much appreciated. I’ll look into your suggestions. Maybe I’ll just go with Stages in the end… looks much easier to install. ;-)
Quarq: “Fitting BB30 power meters in a Specialized OSBB requires spacers found in the SRAM BB30 Assembly Kit.”
( link to quarq.com )
This looks like another option gone… Does the Power2max Rotor 3D plus fit without any adapters or spacers?
Hang tight, Marco. If what you have on your Tarmac is currently a crankset for a BB30 bottom bracket, then either the Quarq or Rotor 3D+ should give you an equally good fit. In other words, any spacers you might need will be the same for both PM models, and also the same as what you have now. The Quarq statement you link to is probably due to the evolving way in which Specialized have built their bottom bracket shells over the years, which sometimes involved spacers and sometimes not. This also varied between aluminum and carbon frames.
I, for one, have both a 2013 Tarmac with “OSBB” bottom bracket and a Cannondale CAADX with a “BB30” bottom bracket. Both use the exact same crankset: an FSA Gossamer BB30 model. I have taken the cranks off both bikes over the years for servicing, and can attest they are identical.
In any event, this is an issue of how a BB30 crankset will install into your Specialized bike, and not one about Quarq’s BB30 model being differerent from Power2max’s Rotor 3D+ model. They’ll both work.
Thanks, kw. I also asked a prominent Specialized reseller bike shop in Melbourne. They suggest Infocrank for $2k or a complete Stages Ultegra 6800 crank set for $1.3k. I don’t really understand the latter, as I could only go for the Stages FSA crank arm…
I’ve also contacted Power2max and Quarq directly. We’ll see what they say.
Never thought that finding a power meter would be that complicated. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Marco – there is the albeit expensive. sworks crank option.
I’ve checked with my LBS, and the Quarq AL would come at AU$1,399, whereas the FSA Stages would be $799. I can’t decide which one I should choose. (The p2m, however, is out of the question now.)
Is there an absolute no-go for the Stages? I’d love to have the better accuracy and love the fact that the Quarq sits on the crank, but does it justify the money I’d have to pay more (which is quite a bit)?
Thanks for the info and the pointer to the video kw.
I also have bike frame (Cannondale Synapse) with a BB30. and am considering the Type S Gossamer model which is BB386EVO. By installing the spacers to take up the extra spindle space, am I correct to assume that it will require adjustment on front derailleur? Do I have to worry about the chainline pushing outward (compared to the original position) and have a higher chance of cross chaining? or is that negligible?
hi,
can I buy just the type-S POWER METER without cranks for campagnolo?
I have the old crankset super-record(2013) like the photo you post. And I have too the new 2015 chorus crankset.
For campy I have always to buy with P2max crankset?
regards.
Think we’ll see Pioneer react to this and some of the other big moves in this market? I’ve got my eye on that since I have the Ultegra 4-arm crank that I just got on a new bike… not trying to buy a new crank/chainrings.
this is awesome.
Alas, no bluetooth support. :-(
Yeah… coming into eurobike I was hoping someone like P2M would announce an updated Type-S with dual protocol.
Oh well. Time to decide how critical BT is for me. In general I am ANT only, but on the trainer having BT may be nice to use an iOS device without a silly dongle.
Will these be compatible with SRAM Red 2012?
Ray, thanks for the heads up. I installed a Type on my tri bike over a year ago, and just order another for my road bike. Great, great product–I have been very happy.
PITA to change the battery with a oversized BB shell on my Felt B13, but otherwise this is a solid product (my mech had to remove the crankarm to change the battery).
I was considering Vector 2 for the road bike, but at this price its a no brainer. My cost was $660.00 shipped.
Quint, for what its worth, my tri bike has Force22 BB30 crank. My road is Rival22 BB30. I bought the powermeter without crank. On P2M site looks like it works for the Red 3-piece crank as well.
But, email them and they will respond same day…support at P2M is stellar.
DCR do you think you’ll ever do (or actually want to to do) a comparison of different cranks with and without oval/osymetric rings vs a powertap hub? I run an oval on my MTB and fancy trying ’em on my road bike but I’m concerned about the power readings from my P2M.
WOW, this is awesome news…. Way to put pressure on the market!
Looking for some power meter advice. My Quarq S975 (Cinqo Saturn) has lost its mind and it’s time to replace. I can get a Riken as an out-of-warranty replacement using my existing S900 crank arms for less than the Power2Max for SRAM without arms that’s now at $640. Is there any reason to go with the latter? I’m not interested in left-only power and I’m not sure how useful the P2M estimated L-R power would be. Thanks for your thoughts.
Ordered last Friday, received (from Canada even) yesterday. That was with regular, non rush shipping option.
P2Max rocks.
Hello Ray,
Can you tell me wich one do you recommend the best, Power2max or the C1 powertap?, I got a specialized shiv expert and the best option for power2max is the FSA light for $930, and the C1 is around $775 with all the taxes, wich one is the best?.
regards
Hey ray just noticed what looks like a new power2max power meter here being used in the TDF this year… link to road.cc
Did price went up again? Looking to get power meter for Cannondale Hollowgram SI, price is $740
Looks like prices went up by 200-300$ with no innovation last 5 years.
Seems like the discrepancy is the result of Power2max adding Canadian pricing to their north American store. Doesn’t look clear on the website.