Go Back  Bike Forums > Bike Forums > Road Cycling
Reload this Page >

Stages power meter drop outs

Notices
Road Cycling “It is by riding a bicycle that you learn the contours of a country best, since you have to sweat up the hills and coast down them. Thus you remember them as they actually are, while in a motor car only a high hill impresses you, and you have no such accurate remembrance of country you have driven through as you gain by riding a bicycle.” -- Ernest Hemingway

Stages power meter drop outs

Old 01-24-16, 11:51 AM
  #1  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Queens
Posts: 335

Bikes: Canyon Aeroad, Parlee ESX, Factor o2,Colnago CX Zero Disc,

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 47 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Stages power meter drop outs

so got a new stages power meter and getting a lot of drop outs with power/cadence. I have a trouble ticket with them since wed with no reply still :/

I have both my garmin 1000 and the meter up to date....anyone experience or know a possible fix?
Billy1111 is offline  
Old 01-24-16, 11:58 AM
  #2  
Super Modest
 
Trsnrtr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Central Illinois
Posts: 23,387

Bikes: Trek Emonda, Giant Propel, Colnago V3, Co-Motion Supremo, ICE VTX WC

Mentioned: 107 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10886 Post(s)
Liked 4,558 Times in 2,088 Posts
Almost always, it's the battery losing contact. They'll gladly send you new door covers but just take the battery out and gently pry up the center contact tab. Helps tremendously.
__________________
Keep the chain tight!







Trsnrtr is offline  
Old 01-24-16, 12:17 PM
  #3  
Senior Member
Thread Starter
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
Location: Queens
Posts: 335

Bikes: Canyon Aeroad, Parlee ESX, Factor o2,Colnago CX Zero Disc,

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 47 Post(s)
Liked 2 Times in 2 Posts
Originally Posted by Trsnrtr
Almost always, it's the battery losing contact. They'll gladly send you new door covers but just take the battery out and gently pry up the center contact tab. Helps tremendously.
do the new door covers fix it??
Billy1111 is offline  
Old 01-24-16, 12:24 PM
  #4  
Super Modest
 
Trsnrtr's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2002
Location: Central Illinois
Posts: 23,387

Bikes: Trek Emonda, Giant Propel, Colnago V3, Co-Motion Supremo, ICE VTX WC

Mentioned: 107 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 10886 Post(s)
Liked 4,558 Times in 2,088 Posts
Never fixed mine. Tech at Stages is the one who told me to gently bend the tab up.
__________________
Keep the chain tight!







Trsnrtr is offline  
Old 01-24-16, 01:00 PM
  #5  
Senior Member
 
aggarcia's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: Houston,TX
Posts: 479

Bikes: 14 Ridely Noah RS, 09 Trek 2.1, 10 Trek 7.1 FX

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Never seen that issue in the 2+ years with my Stages. I would try the adjusting the battery tab like mentioned as it seems an easy to do fix.

Can you recreate the dropouts to make sure it's really the Stages unit and not the Garmin?
aggarcia is offline  
Old 01-24-16, 01:06 PM
  #6  
Gold Member
 
K.Katso's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: Haarlem, Netherlands
Posts: 1,313

Bikes: Pinarello Dogma F8, Pinarello Bolide, Argon 18 E-118, Bianchi Oltre, Cervelo S1, Wilier Pista

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 34 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Maybe one thing to check, I don't know, but I've seen "drop outs" from my PowerTap P1 pedals every now and again and I discovered that it wasn't because they weren't sending data to the Garmin. Quite the contrary - they were sending out-of-range values of 40,000+ watts and the Garmin wouldn't display it. I only found it by looking at the ride in GarminConnect later and saw the bizarre values. Strava also showed it as a drop. Quite frankly I'm not convinced that it's not a Garmin bug. Maybe it's worth a look.
K.Katso is offline  
Old 01-24-16, 02:28 PM
  #7  
Has a magic bike
 
Heathpack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,590

Bikes: 2018 Scott Spark, 2015 Fuji Norcom Straight, 2014 BMC GF01, 2013 Trek Madone

Mentioned: 699 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4456 Post(s)
Liked 425 Times in 157 Posts
I had continual problems with power dropouts with two Stages power meters that I had. I worked with Stages and Garmin both to solve the problems for over a year, never could solve them and eventually Stages refunded my money for both meters. I have zero complaints about their customer service or willinigness to try to solve the problem.

The basic issue with Stages PMs is that they transmit very weak ANT+ signals relative to more expensive/reliable PMs. There are times when the info simply does not get to the head unit. Yes, this issue is made worse if the battery contact is poor- ie if the doors aren't perfect or the contacts bend. Yes, it can seem like your problem is "solved" when you tweak those things. But IMO you're not really solving anything when you do that. It's just an intermittent problem and it comes and goes of its own accord.

The fundamental issue is the weak signal. I have no idea why some people (like myself) have issues to the extent that the meters are completely untenable, while others just have minor annoyances. Some of it may have to do with how religously you are training and how much you care about glitches in your power data (I'm in the 99th percentile of caring).

The actual solution is to buy a better power meter. I now have three SRM power meters on my three bikes. Very trouble free. However this is a very expensive solution, the SRMs are $2300 each vs maybe $300-$400 each for a Stages now. Powertap hub power meters are equally reliable to SRM meters at way less cost. But you need one in each rear wheel that you own. If you swap wheels, the Powertap hub units have their limitations.

Last edited by Heathpack; 01-24-16 at 02:33 PM.
Heathpack is offline  
Old 01-24-16, 02:29 PM
  #8  
Senior Member
 
MagicHour's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: NYC
Posts: 877
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 85 Post(s)
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
Yep pried up contact slightly on mine, and also put a small piece of electrical tape on inside of battery cover as shim. Worked like a charm.
Dropouts could be affected by position of head unit. Google this, I think was on the Garmin forums. Guy did a test that seemed to favor stem mount vs out front. I did a test (indoors on my trainer) and I did have 1 or 2 short dropouts with my Cateye Stealth 50 on a Barfly mount vs. none for stem mount. Completely unscientific but want to test this further.


Originally Posted by Trsnrtr
Almost always, it's the battery losing contact. They'll gladly send you new door covers but just take the battery out and gently pry up the center contact tab. Helps tremendously.
MagicHour is offline  
Old 01-24-16, 02:41 PM
  #9  
Has a magic bike
 
Heathpack's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: Los Angeles
Posts: 12,590

Bikes: 2018 Scott Spark, 2015 Fuji Norcom Straight, 2014 BMC GF01, 2013 Trek Madone

Mentioned: 699 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4456 Post(s)
Liked 425 Times in 157 Posts
Originally Posted by MagicHour
Dropouts could be affected by position of head unit. Google this, I think was on the Garmin forums. Guy did a test that seemed to favor stem mount vs out front. I did a test (indoors on my trainer) and I did have 1 or 2 short dropouts with my Cateye Stealth 50 on a Barfly mount vs. none for stem mount. Completely unscientific but want to test this further.
Yes, this is very well-known. Stages will tell you this readily and it's on their website as well.

The reason for this is because the ANT+ signal is so weak with the Stages, it can barely make it the distance from the meter to the front of the bike. If you don't care about seeing the power data during the ride, carrying your head unit in the rear pocket of your jersey will result in far fewer data drops.

Compare this to an SRM power meter where a coach can be 1/4 mile away from the athlete in a follow car and pick up the power data, no problem.

I'm not saying that the SRM is the solution for everyone. For many people, the power data is not worth the price differential. But it's worth understanding the difference between the units and what the additional cost for the SRM buys you.
Heathpack is offline  
Old 01-24-16, 02:43 PM
  #10  
Stand and Deliver
 
FLvector's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2008
Location: Tampa Bay
Posts: 3,340

Bikes: Cannondale R1000, Giant TCR Advanced, Giant TCR Advanced SL

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 0 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by Trsnrtr
Almost always, it's the battery losing contact. They'll gladly send you new door covers but just take the battery out and gently pry up the center contact tab. Helps tremendously.
This solved my problem as well. Carefully inspect the battery door covers to make sure the small tabs are in good shape and the gasket is in place. It's good to have an extra battery door on hand in case it needs replacement. The metal tab inside can be gently lifted to bend it slightly. This is a known issue and their tech suggests it as a fix. It has been behaving very well since I've done this. I've also been happy with their customer service.
FLvector is offline  
Old 01-24-16, 03:03 PM
  #11  
Senior Member
 
MagicHour's Avatar
 
Join Date: Aug 2013
Location: NYC
Posts: 877
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 85 Post(s)
Liked 12 Times in 10 Posts
Makes sense. When I use my Stages indoors with Zwift, i need to position ant+ USB extension cable directly under bottom bracket or there is a chance I may get a dropout and booted from a group ride.
Was much less critical when I was using just a Speed/Cadence sensor and thats further back on the bike.

Originally Posted by Heathpack
Yes, this is very well-known. Stages will tell you this readily and it's on their website as well.

The reason for this is because the ANT+ signal is so weak with the Stages, it can barely make it the distance from the meter to the front of the bike. If you don't care about seeing the power data during the ride, carrying your head unit in the rear pocket of your jersey will result in far fewer data drops.

Compare this to an SRM power meter where a coach can be 1/4 mile away from the athlete in a follow car and pick up the power data, no problem.

I'm not saying that the SRM is the solution for everyone. For many people, the power data is not worth the price differential. But it's worth understanding the difference between the units and what the additional cost for the SRM buys you.
MagicHour is offline  
Old 01-24-16, 11:53 PM
  #12  
Farmer tan
 
f4rrest's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2008
Location: Burbank, CA
Posts: 7,986

Bikes: Allez, SuperSix Evo

Mentioned: 38 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2870 Post(s)
Liked 28 Times in 23 Posts
No dropouts on my out-front mounted garmin with stages. I guess I'm lucky.
f4rrest is offline  
Old 01-25-16, 06:54 AM
  #13  
RJM
I'm doing it wrong.
 
RJM's Avatar
 
Join Date: Jun 2009
Posts: 4,875

Bikes: Rivendell Appaloosa, Rivendell Frank Jones Sr., Trek Fuel EX9, Kona Jake the Snake CR, Niner Sir9

Mentioned: 85 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 9742 Post(s)
Liked 2,812 Times in 1,664 Posts
I haven't seen dropouts but I did recently get a reading of over 6000 watts when I was easy spinning. I'm pretty sure I didn't push that hard.
RJM is offline  
Old 01-25-16, 09:13 AM
  #14  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Oct 2013
Posts: 58

Bikes: 2015 Wilier Cento 1 Air, 2014 Trek Remedy 8 27.5

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 4 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Trsnrtr
Almost always, it's the battery losing contact. They'll gladly send you new door covers but just take the battery out and gently pry up the center contact tab. Helps tremendously.
Same setup with Garmin 1000 and Stages. Have had it happen a few times and has always been the battery losing contact so far. Easily fixed but no permanent fix that I have found so far. Will try the tab trick.

Last edited by linsdog; 02-01-16 at 09:07 AM.
linsdog is offline  
Old 01-25-16, 09:29 AM
  #15  
TFO
 
Join Date: Jan 2010
Location: MSP
Posts: 304

Bikes: Trek Emonda SL7 eTap, Felt AR-B, Colnago Master Mapei

Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 44 Post(s)
Liked 20 Times in 7 Posts
Originally Posted by MagicHour
Dropouts could be affected by position of head unit.
Even very subtle changes will help. I was having occasional dropouts with my Garmin Edge 520 mounted on a SRAM out front mount which mounted to the right side of the stem and put the Garmin in front of the stem. I moved the mount to the other side of the stem so the Garmin was to the left of the stem and all the dropouts went away.
dbf73 is offline  
Old 01-25-16, 09:46 AM
  #16  
Senior Member
 
TexMac's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2013
Location: Texas
Posts: 1,602

Bikes: Ridley Noah fast, Colnago CLX,Giant Propel Advanced, Pinnerello Gogma 65.1, Specialized S-works Venge, CAADX,Cervelo S3

Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 74 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by Billy1111
so got a new stages power meter and getting a lot of drop outs with power/cadence. I have a trouble ticket with them since wed with no reply still :/

I have both my garmin 1000 and the meter up to date....anyone experience or know a possible fix?
I had same issue 2 weeks ago. Called Stages and they were going to send me a new door but in the meantime I took the battery out, put a small piece of paper where the battery contacts the door and it worked. Stages just sent me a new replacement last Friday. They say the new PM solved this issue. They were quick to fix this but i realized they moved faster when you call them not email.
TexMac is offline  
Old 01-25-16, 11:22 AM
  #17  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jul 2006
Posts: 1,114

Bikes: 2006 Raleigh Cadent 2.0, 2016 Trek Emonda ALR 6, 2015 Propel Advanced SL 2, 2000 K2 Zed SE

Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 115 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by MagicHour
Makes sense. When I use my Stages indoors with Zwift, i need to position ant+ USB extension cable directly under bottom bracket or there is a chance I may get a dropout and booted from a group ride.
Was much less critical when I was using just a Speed/Cadence sensor and thats further back on the bike.
Yeah, I have to have my ANT+ stick within 18 inches of the meter, too. My Garmin seems to pick it up better but everything that can cause minor interference causes dropouts.

I think I'm going to run Strava on my phone in parallel to the Garmin tonight to see if the Bluetooth signal is any better...
kc0bbq is offline  
Old 09-06-16, 04:08 AM
  #18  
Newbie
 
Join Date: Sep 2016
Posts: 1
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 2 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
I also bought a new Stages XT. Signal dropout multiple times pr minut. My Garmin 520 is up to date and Stages FM up to date. My Garmin 520 was mounted in front of the handlebar.

Moved the computer to the stem and no signal dropout whatsoever. Stages has poor Ant+ signal output and probably BT output as well. Moved the computer in front of the stem and the signal started to drop out again.

Battery cover etc is not the problem. Signal strenght is. Stages is trying to put the blame on Garmin.
AndreasDanielse is offline  
Old 09-06-16, 09:30 AM
  #19  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 612
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 99 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
I just dealt with the dropouts problem yesterday. In my case, like many, the problem is the line of sight, or signal deflections, for being mounted on the out front garming mount. It works fine over the stem.
How to test? Look online there is a software named "fit file repair tool", this tool can parse the fit file for you and show reception % of the data for all ANT+ devices connected.
download it, and go for a run with the garmin mounted on different places. on the stem it shows ~80% reception "or 20% data drops", in the out front mount I got the reception in the low 40's and the data drop.
So for me the solution is either keep it mounted on the stem or try a different out front mount, some people said the kedge mount works fine for some reason.
Also, I've a new 820 that I was going to return but decided to give it a try, the reception of the 820 on the out front mount was in the 820's. so they probably have a better receiver/filter hardware in the 820.
HazeT is offline  
Old 09-06-16, 10:16 AM
  #20  
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2010
Posts: 612
Mentioned: 2 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 99 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 1 Time in 1 Post
Originally Posted by AndreasDanielse
Battery cover etc is not the problem. Signal strenght is. Stages is trying to put the blame on Garmin.
Believe or not this is very like a conscious design decision from stages in order to increase the battery life. I guess at the time of development the front mounts were not that popular...
HazeT is offline  
Old 11-30-17, 01:42 PM
  #21  
Newbie
 
Join Date: May 2014
Posts: 4
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
Quoted: 1 Post(s)
Likes: 0
Liked 0 Times in 0 Posts
Originally Posted by AndreasDanielse
I also bought a new Stages XT. Signal dropout multiple times pr minut. My Garmin 520 is up to date and Stages FM up to date. My Garmin 520 was mounted in front of the handlebar.

Moved the computer to the stem and no signal dropout whatsoever. Stages has poor Ant+ signal output and probably BT output as well. Moved the computer in front of the stem and the signal started to drop out again.

Battery cover etc is not the problem. Signal strenght is. Stages is trying to put the blame on Garmin.
Totally agree here. I have / had 3 different Stages units and experience drop with all 3 on 3 different bikes and and 2 different head units, a Garmin 510 and a Garmin 820. Stage blames Garmin. My question is if it is an interference / Garmin antennae issue, why / how does a Power Tap hub mange to work from the back of the bike with the whole frame in the way****************************** In that context Stages has to realize it is their issue.
Tenspot is offline  
Related Topics
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
Ald1
General Cycling Discussion
2
02-06-18 04:43 PM
whitemax
Road Cycling
6
06-02-17 09:50 AM
KonaRider125
Road Cycling
5
06-11-16 03:23 PM
dilkes
Electric Bikes
3
04-07-16 07:02 PM
NEUROSPORT
Road Cycling
18
05-31-10 10:41 PM

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off
Trackbacks are Off
Pingbacks are Off
Refbacks are Off


Thread Tools
Search this Thread

Contact Us - Archive - Advertising - Cookie Policy - Privacy Statement - Terms of Service -

Copyright © 2024 MH Sub I, LLC dba Internet Brands. All rights reserved. Use of this site indicates your consent to the Terms of Use.