PowerTap Wheel Options
 

I've decided that I would like to get a power meter and the PT seems the best all around approach - fairly cheap, reliable, established.

Problem is, I kind of want somewhat nice, light-ish carbon wheels and have been pondering something like Enve rims and CK hubs. Should build into a nice riding and good looking set. Throwing the somewhat ugly PT hub in there just feels wrong.

Whatever I get, they will be my main wheels for all types of riding. It doesn't seem to make sense to build a cheap wheel around a pricey hub, but I'm not sure it makes sense to go for fancy carbon wheels either. My current thinking is to go for something like the new Boyd Altamont with the PT option or have something built with Hed C2 rims.

Any other options to consider?

Power Meter aspects aside, is the PT hub a good riding hub? Does it build a good wheel?

I have PT on a HED C2 and it has been all you are hoping for: smooth, durable and provides consistent power. And it is the discontinued PT Pro, which is heavier, clunkier looking and had worse geometry than the G3 (although I don't know their 11sp geo).

That said, if I had money to consider Enves I would go straight to a crank based PM. As it is, I have switched to a Quarq on my race bike and put my PT on my wife's bike (although she doesn't know it). I like the option of being able to switch wheels and still have power. And with Stages and P2M now available, the crank based market is better than ever.

I don't have the bike yet, but it will have a hollowgram crank. Just can't bare the thought of swapping out that crank. I don't really have money for Enves at the moment but eventually would like to put some nice carbon wheels on the bike which either means using the PT only on certain rides or going all in for PT/carbon wheels.

Thanks for the feedback on the C2/PT wheels.

The PTG3 isn't as bulky and ugly as the older hubs.

Couple more things, I should mentions in favor of a PT that up until recently when my wife started training for an Ironman and gave it to her, the PT did go on my winter training bike and rack some mile in some pretty crappy salt and slush with not a problem. Also gets better battery life than my Quarq.

But on the other hand a warning: once you have power you will probably want it most of the time if you are training and racing. It worked out well for me after I got the quarq because it went on my race bike allowing me to swap wheels and the PT could passed between my other bikes.

Also, Stages makes a Hollowgram crank arm: http://store.stagescycling.com/stage...---si-p19.aspx

I've thought about the Stages approach but not sure the one-sided power isn't, well, one-sided.

Do you know if you buy a new crank arm or just attached the power device to your existing crank? Their info is somewhat confusing.

You have to buy a new crankarm; the bonding has to be done by them.

I believe they always sell you at least the arm and on some models they have a whole crankset.

I have been considering a Stages either for me or my wife, you may have seen this but it's a pretty detailed write up: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/06/s...ew-update.html

But I have also been trolling ebay, and if I come across a deep clincher with a PT for a good price she may end up with that and I'll take my HED C2 back.

I think you should go crank. If you love your particular wheel(s), you will likely have more than one wheelset, so go with crank-based.

If you lace a Powertap to one wheel, it's either that wheel for racing/training or no power. I like this setup for myself, and it certainly doesn't look ugly (not bulky at all) but it's true I'm using that wheel or no power.

How much is a set of a PT wheelset? I'd imagine it'll cost around $800-900. That's almost the cost of a Power2Max crank or Stages crank.

I had gone the PT option last year but as a climber I hated lugging in a 2000g wheelset on races. I used it mainly for training at home. Even if it was 1500g a set I still wouldn't like the idea of training and racing in the same wheelset.

I've gone to a crank based pm option for this yr.

The Boyd option would run close to $1400 for a set of wheels with the PT.

I don't race so that's not a problem, but it would still be the PT wheel vs whatever else I might want to ride meaning you either get power or your nice wheels. I'm not sure yet they can be one in the same.

The Stages option seems maybe more ideal as I get to keep my cool crank and build up a nice set of lighter wheels for all around riding. What do I do with an extra crank arm though...

Don't build the Enves with a powertap. Get a Quarq or used SRM instead.

Buy psimet's 50/58 clinchers with an Alchemy front (he still has some left) or CK R45 and CX Rays, custom decals. Sexy and acceptably heavy.

Those are my next wheels if I can explain to myself and my wife why I need them.

Can you clarify? No PT with Enve but the carbon rims Rob uses are fine? Or are you saying something else? What rims is he using? I'm not seeing that info on his site.

yes explain… my 3.4 is built with a PT hub ? is it just because Enve's are $$$.. well I happen to like my Zed2 cranks on my Look.. so a SRM is not really a great option.. I could do it.. but the weight penalty would probably be a wash between a Enve/PT hub vs new crank with SRM.

I was advised to get a power based wheel set. That way you could swap out wheels between the trainer bike to race bike. Otherwise setting up a crank base power option you will have to use one bike as a trainer/racer. Unless you want to take the time to swap cranks per need. Comments? :twitchy:

If you're going to do power, you'll want it all the time. You've got to do that calculation yourself depending upon how many wheels and bikes you have and how comfortable you are swapping cranks around.

Power2Max doesn't get much love around here but that's what I'd get if you want to be able to swap different wheels around for racing and training.

BTW, talk about first world problems.

My powertap wheelset sees the most action. Year round, including days like today when the roads are in bad shape. The Enve rims are expensive. I don't want to feel bad about using them every day.

I'm admittedly the lousiest mechanic here but swapping cranks is easy. Trickiest part is to tune both bikes but assuming you're using an identical set up (FD, RD, cassette) then it's a 5 minute job.

I have no clue why the rep spends lots of time @ WeightWhiners. Maybe because the demographic there is different? He should reach out here and to RoadBikeReviews. They should do a better job of marketing their product.

If you have the same BB on both bikes then swapping cranks isn't particularly difficult. However, I use different length cranks on my road and TT bikes, and for me shorter TT cranks decreases overall drag more than a fancy rear wheel, so if I went the crank-based power meter route I'd need to have two of them.

Thanks. I'm starting to think maybe Stages is the best option. I can keep my crankset and the hollowgram spider (not compatible with Power2Max) and I'm not tied to a particular set of wheels. Not sure it's as good as the other options but I'm a recreational rider and it's more for fun and some effort to improve myself.

Does anyone know if they will give you a discount if you send them your crank arm (either to install the PM or as a trade in)?

I have a PT G3 and my only complaint is the alloy free hub. I dug some 3mm bite marks into it while doing sprintervals. I downgraded to a tiagra cassette after taking a double chain whip to un-bed them from the hub. LBS who built my wheels (which otherwise I love) called cyclops and they said the had a steel freehub for $50... but wouldn't warranty mine... which is 2 months old. I will most likely never purchase another PT hub, but I am happy with my current configuration... the tiagra cassette was $10 cheaper than the new free hub ironically, so it was an acceptable fix; granted I would never had to do it if it hadn't been so soft.

oh and on stages, they will not accept your crank arms on trade.

I have the Enve 3.4 PT wheelset. They are amazing in terms of ride quality and braking. However I will have to accept that they came untrue right out of the box. So much for the amount of money being paid for them. Anyways, easy fix. 25 bucks to true them both at the local shop.

I have Boyd 58/50 - G3 hub and in 2 1/2 yrs they have needed one turn on one spoke.