For many gadget lovers, cycling is a great sport. Pedal power meters are one of the fastest moving technologies in cycling. There are a multitude of power meters and some options are more suitable than others depending on an individual’s circumstances and needs. People are different on the type of bike they use, the nature of racing and riding, experience and knowledge on how to use them and one’s ability to maintain and install mechanical things.
PowerTap is the second oldest well established power meter options. They are unique, flexible and have a restriction for different racing and training wheels. It uses a unique design which uses six primary fields with an addition of two secondary fields at the bottom. Within the primary fields, one altitude metrics is shown and along the bottom, the 2nd and 3rd related metrics are shown. This allows you to get detailed information on one screen.
Advantages;
· Have a long battery life.
· Tons of customization options.
· Never lost single data
· Barometric altimeter
· Have many power meter training metrics which include IF, NP and TSS.
Disadvantages;
· The price is a bit high compared to competitors.
· PowerTap hub is tied to a single wheel set and a person has to pick either training or race wheels.
· Joule doesn’t have a GPS and therefore not versatile as competitive devices with GPS
· Installation
Compared to the competitors, the Power Agent software is fairly impressive for vendors and does not shortcut on this area. Despite its high pricing as compared to other devices, it is the only Garmin device which is flawless when it comes to ride file integrity.
Installation
They are installed just like a pair of normal pedals. You do not need specific alignment tools, you only require a 15mm pedal wrench. Small electronic unit is connected to the pedal spindle and to each crank.
Always make an informed decision by choosing a power meter that meets your training and cycling needs.