A little on the power front.
I discussed power with Ex, Heathie and IBO quite a lot over the last week. DC Rainmaker came up, and @
Hermes, the take was exactly as you mentioned. I appreciated his in depth comparisons, but his tests reminded me of Motor Trend. Sweetheart.
I've used a PowerTap hub laced into an OpenPro wheel for several years now. It started as a wired unit, and it's been upgraded to G3 since. It's the same unit with new internals, updated by Saris for a flat fee. Other than needing a firmware update to correct some battery issues, that powermeter has been Stone Reliable. I swap it between the Look (training bike) and the Felt (TT bike), using a Wheelbuilders clam shell over it in that application (Hermes and Ex have seen it). However, the Venge is a black hole. It has no power. I had thought that it would stay that way because "I don't ride it much, I just race it". Doh! There are some high numbers that come out of mass start races that I rarely make in training, and Coach and I are lacking this data.
IBO piqued my interest in looking into power for the Venge. I know a PT hub won't work, the Roval wheels are 21 spoke and Saris hubs have even numbered spoke counts. And they make for a heavy wheel. I have the Specialized FACT crankset on the Venge, so I could use the Quarq/Specialized spider, but Coach has expressed a dislike for Quarq. I'm trying to control costs, so SRM is out. Power2Max is a thought. The Garmin pedals solution looked intriguing, but now that I've heard from Hermes they're out. The PT pedals are expensive ($1200), and PT C1 chainrings are only 110 BCD. So, I'm watching used on eBay and elsewhere for something in the $600 range. I know. Good luck with that!
That's what I'm up to with that Garmin inquiry.