Originally Posted by bbp
Primarily so you can use any wheelset other than 404 and 808s. Price wise, 2 powertaps and a DA crank isn't too far from the price of a SRM. Plus, the massive SRM powercontrol is much cooler than the egg shaped powertap computer.
I figured you would say that. My pro deal on Powertap is sick. I can buy 5 PowerTaps for the price of one SRM with their "pro deal". Their pro deal is only 10% of MSRP. Not a deal at all.
Customer service with Saris (Powertap) is OUTSTANDING. Everytime I call they take care of it on the spot. They have warrantied things for me without me sending in the bad unit.
In addition, as a cycling coach I can do field tests with my clients much easier with a Powertap than with an SRM. All I do is place the wiring harness with 4 zip ties and replace their rear wheel with mine and in less than 2 minutes we are doing a field test. And if I had the wireless 2.4ghz system I wouldn't even need the wiring harness. Furthermore, the "weight penalty" of the Powertap system is a hub which has such a small rotational arc that it isn't a weight penalty at all.
While the SRM is considered the "gold standard" many independent studies have shown the data from Powertap and SRM are so close that it really isn't worth the extra expense to me. SRM measures somethings higher/lower than Powertap and vice-versa.