Hi there!
Looking through the posts I could not fine one dealing with my question so here it comes:
I am finally looking to invest in a power meter but immediately the question comes up which one.
So here is the context:
I own a roadbike that I use for my tri races as well and a MTB for the winter and off-road rides. Given the age of my roadbike I am planning to invest in a new roadbike probably a year from now.
Thus I was thinking that a pedal based power-meter would be the best solution for me given teh fact I could use those on my road and MTB bike and would be able to easily transfer those to a potential new bike next year as well.
Are there pedal power meters available that work on MTBs?
Thanks for any advise or recommendations to what kind of model makes sense.
I own two Power2Maxs, one for my road double (FSA Gossamer) one for my CX bike (Sram CX-1) and will be grabbing one for my my MTB (Sram Eagle Boost). I have never once ever had a problem with these, they are reasonably priced, they look good, they seem to just fit the bill perfectly for my applications. So there’s my recommendation.
@AllTypeBikeRider unfortunately at present there are not MTB specific power pedals. Depending on the type of riding you are doing you could use road pedals but clipping in and out would be a significant issue in most cases.
If you have the same cranksets or even the same bottom brackets then using the same powered meter such as a stages is possible.
The DC Rainmaker link above is a good one for information on all things power meter.
Based on comments in this thread, I’ll be waiting to see what power2max’s sale is. I have one on my disc brake road bike as my other powermeters are powertap wheels. I really like my wahoo element bolt in response to someone who asked about it above. It just works which is my criteria for all things consumer electronics
The current pedal based power meters have not been recommended for mountain biking. I suspect they aren’t built to withstand things like pedal strikes that happen out on the trails. Perhaps for something like Leadville where you are mainly riding roads they would be ok, but not for other uses.
Depending on what your road bike set up is, a Stages would be a reasonable option in the short term, especially if you have an older model crank and you can get one on sale. You may also want to look for a used option if you are ultimately planning to upgrade.
Alternatively, you could go pedal based and try and score a deal with upcoming Black Friday sales. Check DCrainmaker.com for fantastic reviews. The newest generation of Garmin pedals have reviewed well.
There have been teases that there is a company out there working on a MTB pedal option. Even Jonathan has hinted at it if you listen to some of his comments, but we’ll see if something transpires. I’ve done Stages and Quarq on various mountain bikes. Both have worked well for me but Stages is a little more cost effective.
I would absolutely love an SPD style power meter. You could put it on any bike. I’d gladly give up the stability/power transfer of using road pedals if I could have one meter for every bike. Today I have Powertap pedals on the road bike and a Quarq on the MTB. I just bought a gravel bike…I’m not sure I’m willing to pay for a 3rd power meter. Might see if I can switch the quarq over to the gravel bike and just go back to RPE on the MTB.
Personally, I’d go with Quarq, given how long they’ve been catering to both Road and MTB markets.
Their power meters are very reliable and their customer service is second to none.
Let me just rage a little on this one… It has been 12 months since I ordered the Vector 3. After some major wonkyness and battery cap issues… and a static weight test showing the R pedal reading low, Garmin replaced them. I sat them on the shelf for 6 months. Problem avoidance. Given the DCR review, I’ve unboxed them today for my final ‘revisit’ before I throw them away. Flat batteries. Right… .$10 later. New batteries. WAIT… firmware update required. Now I’m 25 minutes into watching alternating red and green lights flash. Sitting here… waiting.
I really really want these pedals to work. They are light, they look nice, but god damn they’ve been a total pain in the arse.
Well… it’s not all bad news. The 2nd set I have read within an acceptable range of the Neo. Phew. They wonked out after a sprint, then came back into line with the Neo after another zero-offset. I’ll put this down to ‘bedding in’ as I’d just installed them on the cranks. Heading outside now to smash … er… ride them over a few bumps.
(RE: The firmware updates. They report having 3.50 on them. The Garmin Connect app keeps telling me there’s an update… I minor-rage quit trying and just rolled with it after three hours of trying to make it happy)
Just to add a +1 for power2max, and to highlight that another plus point for them is the fantastic customer service and response time for any issues. In my case there appeared to be a power spike issue, which on the same day I emailed them they were able to identify the cause (edge 520 taking torque reading instead of power occasionally) and provide the fix. Since then, zero issues, fit and forget!
I have one Stages I bought for the same reason. I have FSA cranks on both my cross and old road bike, and I can switch it back and forth based on what I’m riding more.
When I buy a new roadbike this year I’ll likely get the Panasonic Ultegra L/R. I’m a dedicated Wahoo ELEMNT user (new firmware supports the detailed dual leg analysis panasonic captures) and more importantly, I have a long term significant hip injury on the right side, and I’d like to know if I’m creating a power mismatch because of it, otherwise i would stick with Left side only. I have zero issues with them, and versatility wise they are great.
