been looking at power meters but could never drop the coin to buy a SRM or power tap. then saw this thing and started to research it a bit. Have seen good reviews but concerend about the negative reviews I have seen. So for all you users out there, is it a good product that works? Does it really compare to other power meters for accuracy? How much trouble is it to get set up and ride with?
I have a Garmin Edge 305 and so I just jump on and go. Is there extra hassles that come with using this PM?
thinking about buying
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lorduintah
- Posts: 657
- Joined: Fri Jan 11, 2008 9:37 am
- Location: Plymouth, MN
Re: thinking about buying
As with any purchase there are many things to consider. The iBike comes in three flavors and your choice may be dictated by biking level and also acumen for electronics. The literature on each is posted on ibikesports.com. With a Garmin, you may wish to consider the Garmin option and also the wireless option. Both of these will allow the unit to use the Garmin sensors and not require additional sensor hardware.
The most recent firmware updates have enabled very convenient and easy set up and calibration that have resulted by demonstration from the Velocomp crew to be equivalent in power measurement to the more established measuring mechanisms.
What you also get from iBike is a founder who will make sure personally that you get customer care - you will see his posts throughout these discussion topics as well as others who are part of the company. BUT - it is not just posts - John and the gang care that each and every one who uses these instruments gets the most out of them. Really, the only upkeep you will have is having a few batteries around.
Not sure if your bike is a TT or not, but there are other accessories to help you get the most out of the unit and work intimately with the subtleties of the arm rests and additional aerodynamics.
Those who put up negative reviews are either techno-snobs or cannot appreciate the relative simplicity of the concept (yet at the same time complexity of the electronics) that is in the iBike - a very powerful little processor that now has flexibility to become even more with each new firmware upgrade.
Just my 2 cents.
Tom
The most recent firmware updates have enabled very convenient and easy set up and calibration that have resulted by demonstration from the Velocomp crew to be equivalent in power measurement to the more established measuring mechanisms.
What you also get from iBike is a founder who will make sure personally that you get customer care - you will see his posts throughout these discussion topics as well as others who are part of the company. BUT - it is not just posts - John and the gang care that each and every one who uses these instruments gets the most out of them. Really, the only upkeep you will have is having a few batteries around.
Not sure if your bike is a TT or not, but there are other accessories to help you get the most out of the unit and work intimately with the subtleties of the arm rests and additional aerodynamics.
Those who put up negative reviews are either techno-snobs or cannot appreciate the relative simplicity of the concept (yet at the same time complexity of the electronics) that is in the iBike - a very powerful little processor that now has flexibility to become even more with each new firmware upgrade.
Just my 2 cents.
Tom
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Morocco Mole
- Posts: 170
- Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:58 am
- Location: Brisbane, Australia
Re: thinking about buying
Rid-Rider
I came from a Polar CS600 with power before upgrading to the iBike, and it was definitely an upgrade. Although I could get the CS600 to work consistantly it was missing a lot of features, most importantly the ability to show real-time average power, which is really the iBike's bread and butter. Polar had an opportunity to fix this with the CS600X but all requests fell on deaf ears. In terms of accuracy, you can get the iBike to mirror the power profile of any Direct Force power Meter, but you'll never know unless you have a DFPM to compare it with. I've borrowed a Powertap and did some comparisons, with the correct profile and a 5 second smoothing of the data there is nothing between them. The more important thing is that once you have calibrated and created a profile, the iBike is consistant and repeatable. You create a baseline and all your training is built around that, I have a certain hill I ride that takes approx 10 minutes, I can pretty much tell what my time will be just be watching my average power on the iBike. I've also used a bunch of other "bike computers" without power, and the iBike is probably my favourite in terms of user interface and layout, very logical and intuitive. Also the product support with the iBike is second to none in this industry, I have only had the iBike since April and requested a new feature on April 06 (check my posts) which was included in the most recent firmware upgrade... pretty amazing. Also the V4.00 firmware makes the iBike much more a power on and ride proposition, calibration and setup is greatly simplified.
Still, a couple of negative points as no product is perfect. Battery life still bugs me, I know the CR2032's are cheap and easily replaced but I still wish they performed better in cold weather, I've actually built my own external battery pack using a 3V lithium battery hidden in the handlebars so problem solved
(although I have probably voided the warranty on the wireless mount ). Also, you will need to create profiles for different conditions and bike setups. I find changes of clothing (summer, winter) don't change your aero too much, my biggest issue is knowing for sure that 330Watts on my road bike in the hoods is the same effort as 330Watts on my TT Bike in a full aero postion. This is the reason I borrowed a powertap so I could calibrate both bikes using the same reference point. Also, mine doesn't work well in heavy rain, but the optional remote wind sensor should help in that respect. Again, I like to make things so I made my own 
For me the iBike is the most versatile of all the available power measurement devices, it's a brilliant training tool, I can swap wheels, changes bikes ( I even have it working on my MTB), it's compact and lightweight, and it keeps getting better
Cheers M. Mole
P.S I also did a lot of research before buying and read some negative reviews. I'm sure all of them were based on earlier versions of the iBike and in many cases the reviewer did not keep up to date with new models and firmware features etc. A good example is the often stated lack of indoor trainer support, which is untrue. Would love to see an updated review of the Gen III with V4 firmware
I came from a Polar CS600 with power before upgrading to the iBike, and it was definitely an upgrade. Although I could get the CS600 to work consistantly it was missing a lot of features, most importantly the ability to show real-time average power, which is really the iBike's bread and butter. Polar had an opportunity to fix this with the CS600X but all requests fell on deaf ears. In terms of accuracy, you can get the iBike to mirror the power profile of any Direct Force power Meter, but you'll never know unless you have a DFPM to compare it with. I've borrowed a Powertap and did some comparisons, with the correct profile and a 5 second smoothing of the data there is nothing between them. The more important thing is that once you have calibrated and created a profile, the iBike is consistant and repeatable. You create a baseline and all your training is built around that, I have a certain hill I ride that takes approx 10 minutes, I can pretty much tell what my time will be just be watching my average power on the iBike. I've also used a bunch of other "bike computers" without power, and the iBike is probably my favourite in terms of user interface and layout, very logical and intuitive. Also the product support with the iBike is second to none in this industry, I have only had the iBike since April and requested a new feature on April 06 (check my posts) which was included in the most recent firmware upgrade... pretty amazing. Also the V4.00 firmware makes the iBike much more a power on and ride proposition, calibration and setup is greatly simplified.
Still, a couple of negative points as no product is perfect. Battery life still bugs me, I know the CR2032's are cheap and easily replaced but I still wish they performed better in cold weather, I've actually built my own external battery pack using a 3V lithium battery hidden in the handlebars so problem solved
(although I have probably voided the warranty on the wireless mount ). Also, you will need to create profiles for different conditions and bike setups. I find changes of clothing (summer, winter) don't change your aero too much, my biggest issue is knowing for sure that 330Watts on my road bike in the hoods is the same effort as 330Watts on my TT Bike in a full aero postion. This is the reason I borrowed a powertap so I could calibrate both bikes using the same reference point. Also, mine doesn't work well in heavy rain, but the optional remote wind sensor should help in that respect. Again, I like to make things so I made my own For me the iBike is the most versatile of all the available power measurement devices, it's a brilliant training tool, I can swap wheels, changes bikes ( I even have it working on my MTB), it's compact and lightweight, and it keeps getting better
Cheers M. Mole
P.S I also did a lot of research before buying and read some negative reviews. I'm sure all of them were based on earlier versions of the iBike and in many cases the reviewer did not keep up to date with new models and firmware features etc. A good example is the often stated lack of indoor trainer support, which is untrue. Would love to see an updated review of the Gen III with V4 firmware
Re: thinking about buying 2nd question
thanks for the feedback so far.
so with power being calculated the way it is, what do you do when you spend a good deal of time in the drops as well as the hoods. typically I am in the hoods when in the draft but when I pull, I get in the drops. What would be the best way to calibrate the unit when you are back and forth, or will it matter when the avg is calculated?
Also, does the ibikework well when in a pack? I dont do many TT's and most rides are group rides that start out with 15-25 riders but whittle down normally to 5 once the pace gets hot. So the beginning of the ride would have lots of draft opportunities with the 2nd half not so much. How do you calibrate given so many different conditions?
so with power being calculated the way it is, what do you do when you spend a good deal of time in the drops as well as the hoods. typically I am in the hoods when in the draft but when I pull, I get in the drops. What would be the best way to calibrate the unit when you are back and forth, or will it matter when the avg is calculated?
Also, does the ibikework well when in a pack? I dont do many TT's and most rides are group rides that start out with 15-25 riders but whittle down normally to 5 once the pace gets hot. So the beginning of the ride would have lots of draft opportunities with the 2nd half not so much. How do you calibrate given so many different conditions?
Re: thinking about buying
With the drafting, there will be less wind entering the wind port on the front of the iBike. The iBike will then report less watts because you are doing less watts. I have data from LOTS of races and group rides and we take that information and make sure we have everything dialed in for producing accurate and repeatable results. The wind port on the iBike updates 4 times every second, so any small change you make in terms of getting in and out of the draft will be updated instantly.
If you have calibrated your position in the hoods and you ride in the drops for a bit the watts will read slightly higher (due to you being more aero and faster). Looking through tons of group ride data comparing the iBike to "other" power meters I can not tell when I am in the hoods or drops (with a few extreme exceptions). I have found that it takes a very high speed to make a change in position that small really effect the watts.
If you have calibrated your position in the hoods and you ride in the drops for a bit the watts will read slightly higher (due to you being more aero and faster). Looking through tons of group ride data comparing the iBike to "other" power meters I can not tell when I am in the hoods or drops (with a few extreme exceptions). I have found that it takes a very high speed to make a change in position that small really effect the watts.
Boyd Johnson
http://www.boydcycling.com - high performance carbon wheels and accessories
http://www.boydcycling.com - high performance carbon wheels and accessories
Re: thinking about buying 2nd question
A non issue IMO. Even though your iBike will report higher watts than reality in the drops (if it is calibrated for the hoods), you will also have greater physical stress while in the drops. Since most people use a PM to track their physical stress (training load) then this is more like a feature than a problem. There is likely not a huge difference in CdA between these two positions, and you could always split the difference if you spend a lot of time in the drops.rid-rider wrote:so with power being calculated the way it is, what do you do when you spend a good deal of time in the drops as well as the hoods.
PTs are not that expensive, if you only need/want one set of wheels for all your riding, and you don't mind the extra ~2/3lb of weight. This doesn't apply to me, so even though I get PTs at wholesale, I paid retail for my iBike.
One thing I like about the iBike is that if you understand how it works, you can check it's calibration while riding. This is not true of the others.
The iBike is probably less accurate than a properly calibrated PT, SRM, or Quarq in some riding conditions. In high speeds and high winds I've noticed quite a bit of fluctuation, which can be disconcerting if you stare at the PM a lot (not something I would recommend in any case BTW)... but this seems to even out over significant time spans. For instance I have a lot of data from a weekly TT that we have with plenty of high speed and windy conditions, and the iBike data for the whole ride is very consistent.
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Morocco Mole
- Posts: 170
- Joined: Thu Mar 19, 2009 6:58 am
- Location: Brisbane, Australia
Re: thinking about buying
out of interest here is a graph from iBike software showing comparison of iBike Gen III vs Powertap. This ride was my commute home this afternoon including a good 10 minute 9% average climb. Really shows how close a well calibrated iBike performs. The ibike power is consistantly about 10 watts too low during the big climb as today I was carrying a heavy backpack and I didn't bother to update the weight in the profile. Of course if you were being fanatical it would only take 30 seconds to alter this value before you ride. Cheers!
