Cycleops PowerTap wheels

proto

In the market for a Powertap wheel. One option is to buy the hub and get a wheel built up. Another is to just simply buy a pair of Powertap wheels from Wiggle. Anyone had any experience of the? These will be all weather training wheels, not race wheels.
Cheers!

ugo.santalucia

You can do that, but the rims they use are kind of dated.
I think you end up saving around 40 quid over having a set built on a rim like Kinlin XR 300 or XC279

Crozza

I got a PT wheel from Wiggle a couple of years ago - had the newer "Pro" hub. my research suggested it was made with a Velocity A23 rim and 32x DT Comp spokes, so a pretty solid build

It has had to be re-trued once, which I was surprised about given the build and the relatively light use on the road (mainly used on turbo). bigger issue was the bearings in the hub which seized after a particularly wet ride last winter. got them replaced under warranty but in any event to change bearings in a PT it has to be sent away which is a PITA and normally costs £50 iirc. the internet seems to think the bearings that they use in the hub are crap

ugo.santalucia

Crozza wrote:

bigger issue was the bearings in the hub which seized after a particularly wet ride last winter. got them replaced under warranty but in any event to change bearings in a PT it has to be sent away which is a PITA and normally costs £50 iirc. the internet seems to think the bearings that they use in the hub are crap

The Powertap use Novatec internals, in particular it shares all the internal with the 482 rear hub, which has notoriously crap bearings. I think Paligap fit a different brand to the usual EZO, so they should be a bit more durable, but the NDS 15 x 24 x 5 is still not very durable

proto

Are the bearings something that can changed by any reasonable mechanic or does it have implications for power measurement and calibration?

Wheelsmith have quoted slightly more than Powertap for building a pair of wheels - Ambrosio Evolution rims and Ambrosio front hub, ACI spojes, 32 hole. I'll probably go this route but others are telling me to go crank based power measurement.

napoleond

I bought a pair of cycleops wheels. Considering they were 32 spokes they were like noodles. After retrieving twice and getting pretty out of shape after only 4 months I had the rear rebuilt at Wheelsmith on to an IRD rim, much better.
Out if the two options definitely go the Derek route.

Crozza

proto wrote:

Are the bearings something that can changed by any reasonable mechanic or does it have implications for power measurement and calibration?

Wheelsmith have quoted slightly more than Powertap for building a pair of wheels - Ambrosio Evolution rims and Ambrosio front hub, ACI spojes, 32 hole. I'll probably go this route but others are telling me to go crank based power measurement.

as Nap says I would go the handbuilt route if going for PT

BUT, as per my and Ugo's posts above, the bearings are not durable so I would counsel against using a PT as an all-weather wheel, simply because, iirc, you have to send the hub back to have the bearings replaced each time otherwise you invalidate the warranty. plenty of people seem to have changed them by themselves without issue but it involves taking the torque tube out which is a delicate job. because the bearings are so small they will need changing quite frequently in a typical British winter

with stages and a number of other cost effective crank based power measuring tools out there at the moment, I would probably be looking closely at one of those if doing it again

ugo.santalucia

Crozza wrote:

BUT, as per my and Ugo's posts above, the bearings are not durable so I would counsel against using a PT as an all-weather wheel, simply because, iirc, you have to send the hub back to have the bearings replaced each time otherwise you invalidate the warranty. plenty of people seem to have changed them by themselves without issue but it involves taking the torque tube out which is a delicate job.

The torque tube is only a standard Novatec axle with what seems a strain gauge taped onto the axle with electrician tape. Remember to remove the axle via the drive side (i.e. you knock the drive side bearing out first). If you do that, it's virtually impossible to damage it.

I did struggle to fit a decent quality bearing on the NDS... looks like the casing doesn't take a deep groove Enduro and had to fit a budget one instead

cycleclinic

the old SL+ power tap had crap geometry so it built flexible wheels the new G3 hubs are alot better and have good flange seperations so stiff wheels result. I would also agree it is impossible to make a novatec F482 based hub into an all weather one.

Stages cranks are a good buy the pedal if you can afford them are not a bad option either.

proto

Powertap G3 ordered, and I'll get it built into a pair of training wheels.

Thanks for all replies.

dru

thecycleclinic wrote:

Stages cranks are a good buy the pedal if you can afford them are not a bad option either.

Maybe too late, but I would also consider the stages pedal option over powertap wheel.

I have the background of using a powertap wheel for 3 years and now on stages.

For me I changed to stages as the powertap was on a 32 hole training rim, therefore rubbish for riding in races or days in the hills.
I had a disc cover for when using it in TT's thou.

The stages powermeter I bought in the summer from a European company.
I got an Ultegra 6800 for £540. (selling 699 in UK)

All my bikes now run 24mm hollowtech BB's so swapping stages takes 5 minutes.

Also, it means that I can swap between a compact or double chainset between road bike and tt bike in minutes.

proto

Life is never simple. Daughter had a dabble at racing this year and is taking it seriously next year (currently Cat 2), she has a place on a very promising race team. Any team bike she gets will be Shimano equipped. Just found herself a coach.

However, her only road bike currently (we had 5 stolen from our garage a few weeks ago) is Campag equipped, so Stages won't work with that. Also her cross bike (bought last week) has a FSA chainset on it, so Stages won't work with that either. The cross bike will possibly get pressed into service as a winter trainer. She needs some training wheels anyway, so the new ones are needed whether Powertap or not.

So Shimano powertap wheel, fit with 11sp cassette, should work with both her existing Campag road bike and any team bike she gets. Change the cassette and use the powertap on the 10sp cross bike for training. Not too fussed about power output figures when racing. She won't be doing any TTs except as part of stage races.

An alternative I'm still considering is a Power2Max/Rotor combo. Use it on her existing road bike for now, and fit it to her team bike when/if it arrives, use that for training.

Expensive nightmare.