Power Meter
#51
Senior Member
Joined: Mar 2024
Posts: 1,948
Likes: 784
From: San Diego
Bikes: Columbine, Lynskey GR300, Paramount Track Bike, Colnago Super (4), Santana Tandems (1995 & 2007), Gary Fisher Piranha (retired), Bianchi Track Bike, a couple of Honda mountain bikes
IF they do. And Quarq is obviously GXP which is a bb I wouldn’t care to use again vs H2 which all my other bikes have so I went for pedal (Favero Duo Keos) this time and have swapped them many times. That is a genuinely quick job and also means I can have the crank I want. Still got a brand new DA 9100 crank gathering dust on the shelf because of the Quarq PM.
I found my crank, pedal and Wahoo trainer power (once I calibrated the latter) all read within 1-2% of each other. I’m usually very close to 50/50 these days so not sure I need dual sided but I think they’re worth the small extra cost. Never tried Garmin or Shimano. Stages on a number of spin bikes at the local gym seems to read a bit high. I would get Faveros every time.
I found my crank, pedal and Wahoo trainer power (once I calibrated the latter) all read within 1-2% of each other. I’m usually very close to 50/50 these days so not sure I need dual sided but I think they’re worth the small extra cost. Never tried Garmin or Shimano. Stages on a number of spin bikes at the local gym seems to read a bit high. I would get Faveros every time.
#52
Perceptual Dullard

Joined: Sep 2009
Posts: 2,916
Likes: 1,754
Prior to the 18th C., every French village had a steel bar affixed to the outside wall of the local city hall that was used as a standard length. There would be similar standard weights. You could build a building in that village using the local standard length without a problem -- but it was hard to create a market for cut lumber or to negotiate a price for goods in a different village.
That's sort of the situation with most power meters. As long as you're doing things related to training for yourself, you don't need to worry about how different power meters work for anyone else.
A counter-example is when you *do* need to communicate or interact with someone else. Right now, Zwift is having a problem with their elite racing league because inaccuracies in different trainers. There was prize money on the line, and inaccurate trainers meant they had to annul some races.
More broadly, there are uses for power data that don't require accuracy and other uses that do. Certified e-racing is one; measuring differences in rolling or aero drag is another; measuring VO2Max or sprint performance or acceleration are others.
But, as I said above, not many people do those things. Mostly, people just use power data to train, and training yourself isn't a very demanding use. For training, single-sided PMs are fine unless you have some obvious physical problem (like my friend who's left leg had to be amputated).
That's sort of the situation with most power meters. As long as you're doing things related to training for yourself, you don't need to worry about how different power meters work for anyone else.
A counter-example is when you *do* need to communicate or interact with someone else. Right now, Zwift is having a problem with their elite racing league because inaccuracies in different trainers. There was prize money on the line, and inaccurate trainers meant they had to annul some races.
More broadly, there are uses for power data that don't require accuracy and other uses that do. Certified e-racing is one; measuring differences in rolling or aero drag is another; measuring VO2Max or sprint performance or acceleration are others.
But, as I said above, not many people do those things. Mostly, people just use power data to train, and training yourself isn't a very demanding use. For training, single-sided PMs are fine unless you have some obvious physical problem (like my friend who's left leg had to be amputated).
#53
But, as I said above, not many people do those things. Mostly, people just use power data to train, and training yourself isn't a very demanding use. For training, single-sided PMs are fine unless you have some obvious physical problem (like my friend who's left leg had to be amputated).
For competitive Zwifting I’m not at a level where accurate power really matters either. But I can see how that becomes a major issue at elite level.
#54
Senior Member

Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 8,162
Likes: 647
From: Brooklyn NY
Bikes: Kuota Kredo/Chorus, Trek 7000 commuter, Trek 8000 MTB and a few others
The link below says it is 24% but then uses 25% as the factor. There is wiggle room there but no calculation is going to be perfect anyway, and as they point out if you just use joules (watts x seconds) as a substitute for calories you are close enough anyway since the joules/calorie and the efficiency almost cancel out.
https://www.welovecycling.com/wide/2...d-on-the-bike/




