Which power meter is the most rain resistant?
 

I'm in the market for a power meter and have been pointed in the right direction by EDR and Vino. One consideration I need to be aware of is water resistance. I will be moving to the Seattle area in the near future and want to be sure that I will be set for that long rainy off season.

I'm going to say polar.

Polar is the decent, but because the watch has metal contacts with the handlebar mount, it cna be subject to problems. My SRM has never failed me, though time and time again, everyone warns about pressure washing them. Seattle rain is never heavy, and so I can imagine it being a problem (I lived there for three years). People on BF have said no probs with power tap in rain, but I have a number of teammates who frustratingly beg to differ. PT has had the most rain issues I have heard of. Ergomo? I really don't know, but being inside of the frame with sealed bearings, I would guess that you cant touch it with the rain, but that might be pure naivite speaking (writing). I-bike? No clue.

I've narrowed my choices to SRM, PT, and ergomo. Based on conversations with Vino and EDR it seems that ergomo or PT are probably the best for me. I just need to get a handle on the rain issue along with multiple bikes so I can finalize my decision. DrWJ, i had the same thought as you that the ergomo should be sealed and protected.

I've done a fair bit of rain riding with the Ergomo - no problems. Like others have said, the bottom bracket is completely sealed. The wires also go straight into the bottom bracket, so are not connected on the exterior, but rather the interior.

For multiple bikes, you would have to buy multiple bottom brackets, and just move the computer around. It has settings for multiple bikes, so that wouldn't be too much of a problem.

As an aside: how does the ergomo communicate with the head unit? What powers the BB part?

Wire runs from the bottom bracket to the head unit. Head unit is charged with an AC adapter separately, and the head unit provides power to the bottom bracket.

how long does the battery last on a full charge? what's the expected lifetime of the battery (how many full charge cycles can it handle)? Is it Li-Ion battery, NiMH, NiCd? sorry for the questions, i'm a bit of a battery nerd.

The quoted battery life on a full charge is 23 hours. From my experience, that's about right. Battery takes 4-6 hours to charge, which is pretty long, but when charged, it lasts forever. The literature I found says the battery durability is around 14,000 hours.

Not sure about the battery type. I checked around quickly and came up with nothing. Something to add: before first use, the battery must be fully charged. That might help in figuring out what type of battery is in there, if you know more about that kind of stuff than I do.

Someone on my team has an SRM, and seems to do just fine. Really nice unit btw.

Just curious anyone has SRM on CAAD8 frame?

I've been in all out down pours. I've never had a problem with my PT SL purchased in Oct 2006.

I've had my PT SL for a year now and have ridden it in the rain without any problems.

I think the PTs that had problems were the standard one with the yellow cover.

My friend has a PT sl and its bugs out from riding in the snow.

Strain guage powermeters are not going to be acurate in the snow anyway(extreme temps), save it for another day.