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Polar announces new Keo Power systems, and V800/V650 power meter update plans, and more!

www.dcrainmaker.com/2014/08/announces-v800v650-update.html

Simply moving the crank arms wakes it up, just like other power meters. … Today at Eurobike Polar announced and showed off a slew of power meter specific features and products – all of which are scheduled to hit the market in the next 60 days.

InsideRide E-Motion SmartPower Rollers with Floating Fork: In-Depth Review

www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/08/insideride-smartpower-floating.html

As usual, I put the trainer…err…rollers up against a number of power meters to see how well it handled everything from resistance control accuracy, to speed of change, to any other weird quirks along the way. … Next, there’s the smart control unit (aka ‘SmartPower’ resistance control unit), which costs $365.

Elite Direto Trainer In-Depth Review

www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/09/elite-direto-trainer-depth-review.html

In order to validate that I’m comparing against a number of ‘known good’ power meters at once on the same bike. … This status includes ANT+ status, Bluetooth Smart status, and overall power.

Garmin’s new Vivoactive HR & Vivofit 3: Hands-on & First Run

www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/02/garmins-vivoactivehr-vivofit3.html

It does NOT support ANT+ power meters, however you can get ANT+ power meter support through some Connect IQ apps already (but you can’t record that data quite yet until the next Connect IQ software update is released). … I spent a few hours this afternoon with the new devices, including a 10K run.

Stages Bike (SB20) In-Depth Review

www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/07/stages-smart-review.html

The Stages Bike technically has three power meters on it: One per crank arm, and then a secondary reference one at the flywheel. … Sure, you might know them as a power meter company, but the rest of the world knows them as an indoor bike company, both with their own lineup of bikes, but also for numerous high profile brands too.

Elite Justo Smart Trainer In-Depth Review

www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/07/elite-trainer-review.html

Specifically, their own internal quality policies dictate that the trainer box must survive a fall from 2 meters (on any side). … The Justo sports new Flex Feet that provide a bit of side-to-side tilting movement (kind of like the KICKR AXIS feet), it’s got a new automatic calibration system, alongside increased accuracy to +/- 1% (with a power meter inside), as well as 22% bigger flywheel (now 6.2kg/13.7lbs) to increase inertia.

Huge Spring Sale Begins: 20% off All Trainers & Most Power Meters, $150 off Fenix 5 Plus and 30% off Suunto

www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/05/garmin-trainers-percent.html

And while my title says all trainers and almost all power meters, the reality is that this applies to boatloads more devices/products too. … But I don’t think anyone’s complaining about the chance to buy a brand new trainer or power meter for 20% off…or a heck of a lot of other things.

The Apple Watch: Sport and Fitness In-Depth Review

www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/02/apple-watch-review.html

Specifically, about 100-150 meters of somewhere. … It allows you to compare power meters/trainers, heart rate, cadence, speed/pace, GPS tracks and plenty more.

Garmin Fenix 5/5S/5X In-Depth Review

www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/03/garmin-fenix5-5s-review.html

But many metrics can be tweaked – such as whether you want to see altitude in meters or feet. … power only in cycling, at least without Connect IQ add-ins), and then also how certain metrics are displayed.

Garmin Forerunner 955 (with Solar) In-Depth Review

www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/05/garmin-forerunner-solar-review.html

Sure, I could have gone a few more kilometers, but to be within a couple of kilometers of exhaustion after 120KM and 10,000ft of climbing? That’s solid. … And finally, the first time we’ve seen native running power in a Garmin watch.

Garmin Running Power App: The good, the bad, and the ugly

www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/12/garmin-running-power-good.html

So for example, all of their current running watches are using wrist-based accelerometers to help taper pace against GPS pace oddities (just as Suunto and others do). … Today, Garmin released their running power app that they announced back in October.

First hands-on look & rides with the Garmin Vector power meter

www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/08/hands-on-garmin-vector.html

That takes time, specifically, lots of riding time with lots of comparative power meters at once. … Typically I dedicate at least 30-45 days for power-meter related reviews for data gathering.

Huge Fall Sale: 20% off All Trainers & Most Power Meters, $150 off Fenix 5 (including Fenix 5 Plus)

www.dcrainmaker.com/2018/11/trainers-meters-including.html

And while my title says all trainers and almost all power meters, the reality is that this applies to boatloads more devices/products too. … And it's not just power meters and trainers, it's almost anything.

Tacx NEO 2T Smart Trainer In-Depth Review

www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/11/smart-trainer-review.html

As usual, I put the trainer up against a number of power meters to see how well it handled everything from resistance control accuracy, to speed of change, to any other weird quirks along the way. … – Power Cable Required: No, it can operate powered or standalone sans-power.

Garmin Forerunner 255 In-Depth Review: Now A Full Multisport Watch

www.dcrainmaker.com/2022/06/garmin-forerunner-multisport.html

Nor did Garmin’s previous Forerunner 245 support power meters, which the FR255 now supports. … Oh, and it now has native running power (wrist based).

Garmin Forerunner 265/265S In-Depth Review: AMOLED in Two Sizes!

www.dcrainmaker.com/2023/03/garmin-forerunner-review-amoled.html

Additionally, there are some subtle quirks between the FR265 and FR965, specifically in the realm of Garmin cycling power meters (Rally/Vector), whereby the Forerunner 265 series does NOT record the Cycling Dynamics data, but the Forerunner 965 series does. … Beyond the screen and Training Readiness, it also gains some new software features, such as the wrist-based Running Dynamics, joining the recently added wrist-based Running Power.

Tour de France 2016: The Trainers & Power Meters of the Pro Teams

www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/07/tdf2016-trainers-power.html

Meanwhile, in the power meter (PM) world you’ll often get teams trying out new tech in the later days of the Tour, and that includes new power meters or updated prototypes of previously known power meters. … One each in the trainer and power meter section.

How To Use a Cycling Power Meter With a Garmin Vivoactive or Venu Watch

www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/05/cycling-power-vivoactive.html

Officially, power meters are not supported on Garmin’s Venu & Vivoactive watch series. … That’s because (in Garmin’s eyes) the target market for those watches is a more mainstream consumer that doesn’t have $1,100 cycling power meters on the bikes in their garage (or $299 power meters).

TrueKinetix TrueBike In-Depth Review

www.dcrainmaker.com/2021/05/truekinetix-truebike-review.html

And it’s not because those other bikes are faking the power numbers, because I know they aren’t since I’m actually measuring/comparing it to external power meters. … It’s also got a large battery to be able to operate without a power plug, plus it’s got a smallish screen up-front.

Polar’s Unite Fitness Watch: Hands-on Details and First Run

www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/06/polars-fitness-details.html

– So it’s only short by 70 meters, when it should in reality by far shorter. … It allows you to compare power meters/trainers, heart rate, cadence, speed/pace, GPS tracks and plenty more.

CycleOps Joule and PowerTap Wheelset In-Depth Review

www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/02/cycleops-joule-and-powertap-wheelset-in.html

Of course, the bulk of my testing would be aimed at the Joule and how it interacts with the PowerTap – as well as how it plays with other power meters on the market. … The folks at CycleOps sent me both a Joule and PowerTap to try out for a few months.

Garmin Forerunner 630 In-Depth Review

www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/12/garmin-forerunner-630-depth-review.html

You can see the purple (FR630) track nails it each time, versus the FR920XT was very close, but just a few meters away from where I actually ran. … It allows you to compare power meters/trainers, heart rate, cadence, speed/pace, GPS tracks and plenty more.

Giro d’Italia 2017–The Trainers, Power Meters and Gadgets of the Pro Peloton

www.dcrainmaker.com/2017/05/ditalia-trainers-powermeters.html

With that, let’s start with power meters. … Starting with the Tour Down Under back in January, we’ve seen a bit more stabilization of power meters within the pro peloton.

Garmin Forerunner 965 In-Depth Review: Now with AMOLED Display!

www.dcrainmaker.com/2023/03/garmin-forerunner-965-depth-review.html

For example, in running/hiking you’ll get the prompt about 50 meters out, whereas in cycling it’s about 150m out. … In addition to the display, the new Forerunner 965 adds wrist-based native running dynamics (plus the wrist-based running power recently introduced on the Forerunner 955), as well as new training load metrics around Chronic Training Load and Training Load Ratio.

Stryd: Hands-on with the first running power meter

www.dcrainmaker.com/2015/01/stryd-first-running.html

The pod itself is effectively not much different than your average modern running footpod, similarly with some accelerometers in it. … In December a Boulder based company with only a handful of employees announced that they had put together a running power meter.