Using iBike on a Mountain or Cross bike

[Chainring]

What's everyone's thoughts and/or opinions on this. It seems as thought this is an instrument with a lot of data gathering sensors.... would mountain biking or cross bike/racing be too rough and possibly damage the unit? Any issue with too much dust and/or possibly mud getting into the wind port? Also, would the power numbers be accurate?

Thoughts?

[rruff]

There are highly variable things that would compromise the accuracy... namely the rolling resistance of the surface for either (huge difference between mud and pavement) and suspension induced tilt changes for the MTB.

[Morocco Mole]

I've spent a lot of time trying on a MTB, and my conclusion it is pretty useless except on smooth firetrails or tarmac. I have a Powertap MTB Disc hub and plenty of data to compare. The product was never marketed for use on a MTB so it was a bonus if it worked, as I bought the iBike for road use. It's still my head unit of choice for ANT+ compatible power meters and puts the Powertap Computer to shame.

[crazymadcyclist]

I use my iPro on rough road surfaces eg coarse chip, on a road bike and its slope/power readings go all over the place on these surfaces (about 30-35km/hr), so i can't immaging that the unit would work let alone survive a MTB trail.

[jazclrint]

There are others threads on this subject, and even a suggested friction number. I use my iSport on my MTB all the time. It holds up just fine. It doesn't give super accurate information during the ride, but the averages are about right. I would recommend surfing the archives a bit more. I had been assured before buying one that it would hold up to the abuse.

[GWPOS]

I have been using it my MTB for the last year in races and training. I run really low tire pressures which allows for a smoother ride, but that being said even on rough descents I have not had any problem with the unit working. As for the power numbers that is a different story. On climbs all is good, unless those climbs follow a longer descent. I have one area I ride in a lot and on a section of single track going down there are switch backs and whatever else you can imagine. When I get to the bottom i can be soft pedaling and show alomost 300 watts. This does go away after about 5 min. I really like my unit and the data I get from the races though so all in all its worht it. I do wish that I could keep it from doing auto tilt recalcs in the middle of rides, then maybe these numbers would stay more consistant?? I am sure there is a reason that it has to do this process.