I have had my Ibike for about a month now and have about 4 rides with it due to weather. I have not experienced any truely abnormal spikes to the likes of 1200+ watts. I have seen some 650 spikes at the base of hills when I stand up and really push it (I weigh 200 lbs and am pretty strong so for an instant I might be pushing that kind of wattage ) but nothing outrageous.

I love data. That's the reason I bought this unit. I was able to cut out one computer as I was using two plus a heart rate monitor. I could not afford the PT SL 2.4 that I wanted and didn't want the lower end unit. Ditto for the SRM. I bought the cadence mount so I could have the abiltiy to monitor cadence on the trainer and also have a separate non-cadence unit for my commuter bike. Very handy for me.

I love the way it measures gradient of the road. It's instant. I live in Charlottesville, VA on the eastern slope of the Blue Ridge and I have no flat roads to train on. So for me, having an accurate way to measure gradient was important. If you read the article Wattage per Kilogram by Richard Wharton

http://ibikesports.com/documents/pow...ining_book.pdf

you'll gain some insight as to how to train with the Ibike. I thought it was a very good read and a great way to measure your improvment through out the season. The fact that you can do it by yourself and not go to a lab or sit on a trainer was worth my money. My race team sponsor also sells them so I got a discount which didn't hurt.

For me, YMMV, the IBike is a great training tool that make my cycling experience more enjoyable. I can't tell you if it very accurate as I don't have a PT or SRM but I can tell you that I know when I'm working harding my watts increase and my pedal input to wattage ratio is very accurate as far as the LCD readout is concerned. I have ridden in temps around freezing and haven't noticed any real abonormalities but my usage time is limited so take that with a grain of salt. I was very careful when doing the Tilt and Coast down calibrations but only did the coast down twice for each bike. I am a set it and forget it type of guy but I like to get it right the first time.

In my opinion the Ibike is not a gimic. It gives me a very useful way to measure my performance when used with my HRM. I also get an altimeter (again, important for someone who rides in the mountains on a daily basis), an inclinometer (sp), cadence, temp and speed. For me, its a great package that I can use on two bikes for far less then a two bike PT or SRM set up.

I hope this has helped someone who is on the fence. Time will tell if Velocomp is a success financially and for now I will support them because I think they have a good product. Is it the best power meter out there? Don't know. For me it was, stealing the analogy from DrPete, a wonderful Gateway drug into training with power. I'm not making a living from racing my bike nor do I have the disposable income to spend thousands of dollars on an SRM or PT (the top of the line version that I would want) and get the extra wheelset that I would want.

If you are such a serious competitor that you have to have the most accurate data then pony up the cash for an SRM or PT. If accuracy is that important to you then buy something that you know will satisfy that need. But, those units also have to be calibrated too and are not perfect.

Regards,

Sean (I used to have an account here but I forgot my password and my old email account was torched. And I don't work for Velocomp/Ibike I just like the product and wanted to share)