12strings

I am starting from a place of having no gadgets on my bike at all...no computer, nothing...

If I would like to have the relevant info (Speed, cadence, power, etc)...what's the cheapest way to get there?

Computer first, then add power-meter?

Or is there a Power Meter that comes with a computer read-out that will also tell me my speed, that would be more economical?

How much should I expect to spend, if I want to spend the least possible?

Athens80

If you're definite about wanting power, and have $650+ now, go with a GPS computer at $150+ (e.g. Garmin 500) and a power meter at $500+. Or cheaper second-hand.

You can get it all but power and GPS for well under $100 with a non-GPS bike computer.

And if you have a smartphone, you've already got the GPS there, and you can mount the phone on the handlebars or use the Wahoo RFLKT ($130 or less) to display key info.

Seattle Forrest

Your best bet is probably a used PowerTap wheel. You can also get a Stages crank arm pretty cheaply but you need to think hard about whether you're willing to spend $400+ to have your power estimated instead of measured directly. (Stages measures and doubles the power from your left leg, but your left/right balance is going to change a lot while you ride depending on a million factors, leaving one-sided measurement off by anywhere from 0 to 60 %.)

Some PT wheels will come with a computer, but they don't need that specific unit. Most likely if you're buying a cheap power meter you'll need an ANT+ computer; if the PM you buy doesn't come with one, get a cheap older Garmin.

MattFoley

That's pretty hyperbolic. Any differences in left/right power are going to be within the few % that is the device's margin of error, so it's not even an issue. Team Sky feels that one-sided measurement (they use Stages) is accurate enough for their riders, so your average weekend warrior certainly isn't going to know the difference.

More to the OP's point, you can save yourself a little coin if you pick up a power meter that is Bluetooth Smart, which somewhat negates the need for a dedicated bike computer since it'll work with your phone. Stages has BT, as does Powertap. In fact, I think the Garmin Vectors may be the only PM in the last couple of years to not have BT.

fietsbob

have enough talent the team coach gives you One.

Seattle Forrest

From the last several rides I've done:

• 9/21: 60/40
• 9/19: 53/47
• 9/16: 54/46
• 9/15: 55/45
• 9/14: 56/44
• 9/13: 55/45

I've seen larger discrepancies but apparently not overall for an entire ride within the last 10 days. I can show how much it fluctuates over the course of a ride if necessary. Above is L/R %; any one-sided power meter would be off by 20 % for last night's ride. That's not hyperbole, it's measured data. Device's margin of error is 1.5 %.

Of course many riders won't notice ... that's why they pay for a device to tell them!

datlas 

If you are not in a rush, there are several newer entrants to the power meter game (4iiii, power2max, etc.) and although their first iterations are buggy, it's likely that in the next 1-2 years you may be able to get a good power meter for well under $400.
Maybe just get a good computer that will support BT and ANT+ PM now and get the actual power meter next year?

JohnJ80

DCRainmaker has a long and detailed description and review of just about every power meter out there and then correlates them to each other. This will satisfy almost everyone's inner geek when it comes to power meters.

I believe that 4iiii is the cheapest out there at $399 for a one sided power meter. I thought it was interesting that Ray found that the one sided ones closely correlate to the two sided ones or wheel based ones are a few percent off at most.

J.

MattFoley

Meh.

Seattle Forrest

I'm glad we agree: if a rider's L/R (im)balance is consistent then this isn't a big deal for training purposes. For most people, it's not consistent within a ride (as I said above). It tends to be larger in Z1 and Z2 and shrinks above, for example, that's something a lot of people have noticed. It's consistent within the ballpark for multiple rides.

If you're ok with the trade-off (less cost, somewhat less data accuracy) then more power to you. But let's not pretend it doesn't exist.

SS HEART

Due to my budget i am also in favour of Power2max. , and at ~600$ it measures the data on each crank arm.Is also very light system.
I am debating weather to wait for next spring to invest in one(maybe will get an even better deal then 600bucks) or get one now and use it in winter training.It would be of little use since the winter rides are just endurance.

unterhausen

that's a big leg imbalance, if it's not based on some physical problem aren't there things you can do about it?

Robert C

Quick measurement here, 4cm from up from the knee. Right side, 54cm, Left side, 45cm. I expect to see a difference that exceeds a "few % of the device's margin of error."

I sometimes consider a power-meter just so I can see how much of a difference there is on my output and I sometimes consider tuning with different length crank-arms (oddly enough, the right side is about an inch shorter). However, I am not the OP, I just have an interest in the topic.