AeroPod, PowerPod and Newton

So, Went for a ride with new PowerPod, and the powered seemed much lower compared to my old Newton. I was expecting higher by maybe 20%

I've included the calibration ride and first ride files

Was this a group ride?

If you were using a Newton previously, then you should take the time to do an O&B calibration with your PP. It will take just a few minutes and then it will be easier to figure out what is going on.

Yea, was a group ride. Pretty frisky. I did notice that when I looked at my computer (Wahoo Elemnt Bolt) the wattage seemed to fluctuate quite a bit even though I perceived steady(ish) power.

I do plan on doing an O&B ride soon(ish). If it's too hard to tell without it don't worry about it...

Oh wait,maybe I missed a step?

Instructions on "better accuracy" calibration say to click button after calibration, it should flash then spin wheel to solid green.

I don't think I pressed the button after the 5 minute calibration ride. Would that be a problem?

Planning on going out early to find a good spot for O&B calibration tomorrow...

Nope, you did fine.

You will need to use "Device/Setup" to set your PP to Best Accuracy calibration. I think O&B instructions are printed and included...just follow them!

OK, did my O&B calibration. And included my first ride. Since today was a recovery ride not sure the NP was right, but will watch that going forward.

I was still seeing some pretty big fluctuations in power readings. I tried to provide relatively steady power on most of the stretches and was watching the display. Most of the time on the ride I would notice it fluctuate about 30-50% over the course of maybe 5 seconds or so. For example, I would see about 350 then it would drop to 210 then back up toward 360 then back down to 220. Like a sine wave.

Included calibration and ride files

Was this a group ride?

Velocomp wrote:Was this a group ride?

Yup.

Oh, and I double checked and made sure that power smoothing was set to dynamic.

I think your results are completely normal.

Group riding has a lot of power surges because of stop/start pedaling. Look at your cadence...

Power also varies according to position in the draft. When you are following the wind conditions are highly variable.

It also looks like you were riding in some significant cross winds. Those, too, will cause watts to vary.

Finally, slope is constantly changing. It is very tough to maintain constant watts when you're going up/down.

There are a few places where your cadence is constant and where you aren't drafting. There, your watts are stable.

OK, it was a small data sample. I'll watch it over next few rides and see how it fares compared to my old Newton..

Thanks as always John! Have a great weekend.

Hey John, I was thinking more about this on my ride today (not using PP on it though so no more data).

the hills and wind should increate the wattage; they would just contribute more to the forces I would be working against. I know that there were absolutely sections of the ride where I was riding with as steady power I could apply on pretty flat straight sections. I was still in a group, but I am pretty confident that I was not varying my power from 360 - 220 and back during a 5 second period repeatedly.

During my ride today I mentioned this to a friend who also made the transition from the Newton -> and he said he sees the exact same thing. He's tried changing the smoothing to 5s without much success.

One thing we considered is that we both use magnetless cadence sensors. So during setup there isn't an option for us to choose. I guess I would expect that to have an impact on the PowerStroke feature but not general power measurement.

Anyway, just my thoughts. I'll try to collect more data and see what I can understand.