stages power meter bargain?

redvision

Just spotted this. Ex display i know but is still a hell of a bargain.

http://www.evanscycles.com/products/sta ... --ec107208

pippi_langsamer-2

Arent they just about the most unreliable PW out there at the minute?

Bar Shaker

What's the betting that is a warranty return unit that drains its battery in a couple of days?

For almost the same money you can have a Garmin Vector S from Rose. I know which I would choose.

Grill

For less than £100 more you can have a P2M. No brainer.

cougie

Might be worth a punt - if it is faulty - you can return it anyway ?

DC Rainmaker seemed to think Stages was pretty decent I think ?

slam that stem

They're fine. Don't let the pedants get you down.

Accuracy has several axes to it and in terms of repeatability the Stages is fine with its in built temp compensation.

PMs are for comparing with yourself where absolute accuracy is less important than consistency.

If your FTP in January is 8 fluffy bunnies and your training target is to increase it to 10 fluffy bunnies then that's all the baseline you require.

Sello88

There's a thread on here somewhere about battery draining issues associated with early Stages PM's. viewtopic.php?f=40013&t=12953022

sloppyschleckonds

A powermeter that drains power?

I'm out

pippi_langsamer-2

slam that stem wrote:

They're fine. Don't let the pedants get you down.

Accuracy has several axes to it and in terms of repeatability the Stages is fine with its in built temp compensation.

PMs are for comparing with yourself where absolute accuracy is less important than consistency.

If your FTP in January is 8 fluffy bunnies and your training target is to increase it to 10 fluffy bunnies then that's all the baseline you require.

I don't think anyone's doubting their accuracy.

If your Stages is lying in a box, lying redundant (see battery issues), on your bike or winging it's way to/from the factory, I think comparing fluffy bunnies might be a tad difficult.

slam that stem

They all have issues but I must say the 2008 2.4 MHz (first of the wireless) Powertap was the least finicky of the 3 I've had.

The Stage *used* to eat batteries, but I chalk it up to a bad battery door. I went around Saddleback and complained direct to the Coloradans (dians?) and they mailed me 2 new doors and 0 rings - batter issue gone.

It's been fine since then and I'm even a firmware upgrade behind, but I don't want to tempt fate executing an upgrade. Call me a luddite...

The best thing is the transformation of your training. Is 172.5 the right length for you?

jgsi

Has anyone copyrighted "fluffy bunnies" ?

StillGoing

Grill wrote:

For less than £100 more you can have a P2M. No brainer.

The P2M interests me as I have Rotor 3D cranks that I was reluctantly going to let go with the bike I'm selling. Can P2M be fitted to 3D cranks does anyone know? The P2M web site seems to only list it as coming with cranks already fitted.

foggymike

The type s is 940 euros without cranks (spider only). You can't get the old version though which is a shame as it's only 540.

http://www.power2max.de/europe/en/Produ ... anks-road/

Grill

philthy3 wrote:

Grill wrote:

For less than £100 more you can have a P2M. No brainer.

The P2M interests me as I have Rotor 3D cranks that I was reluctantly going to let go with the bike I'm selling. Can P2M be fitted to 3D cranks does anyone know? The P2M web site seems to only list it as coming with cranks already fitted.

You can fit the Classic to 3D cranks, unfortunately they sold out long ago.

StillGoing

Still a few Classics left. Doesn't seem to be compatible with BB386 EVO though? Someone is selling theirs because of interference with BB386 EVO using adapters for a gap crankset.

slam that stem

Boom: http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/06/stag ... pdate.html

Frankly you can just skip to the summary at the end but the whole thing is good reading.

Given we live in a rather cold miserable place, this strengthens the case for Stages. If you have an iPhone and you're not shy about software upgrades, your 105 crankarm will be good for year, by when they'll have improved the physical strain guage. But the wins seem to really come from the software improvements.

meanredspider

Grill wrote:

For less than £100 more you can have a P2M. No brainer.

Except it isn't. I run compact on one bike and standard double on the other. That makes it far from a no brainer. Then I tried to order a P2M - they expected me to wait a month for delivery. The Stages I could get the following day. Still a no brainer? And, as I posted in the other thread, do you know the failure RATE of P2M? I'd say it's a very long way from a no brainer especially when you're paying £100 more.

amaferanga

meanredspider wrote:

Grill wrote:

For less than £100 more you can have a P2M. No brainer.

Except it isn't. I run compact on one bike and standard double on the other. That makes it far from a no brainer. Then I tried to order a P2M - they expected me to wait a month for delivery. The Stages I could get the following day. Still a no brainer? And, as I posted in the other thread, do you know the failure RATE of P2M? I'd say it's a very long way from a no brainer especially when you're paying £100 more.

http://laymanpowermeter.blogspot.nl/?m=1

Grill

meanredspider wrote:

Grill wrote:

For less than £100 more you can have a P2M. No brainer.

Except it isn't. I run compact on one bike and standard double on the other. That makes it far from a no brainer. Then I tried to order a P2M - they expected me to wait a month for delivery. The Stages I could get the following day. Still a no brainer? And, as I posted in the other thread, do you know the failure RATE of P2M? I'd say it's a very long way from a no brainer especially when you're paying £100 more.

So either go 52/36 or get two sets of rings... This whole 'instant gratification' thing is silly. No one needs a PM tomorrow, especially if you're going to compromise on functionality. I also know a lot of people who run different size cranks on their bikes which makes Stages a more expensive investment than P2M, Vector or any other pedal/shoe based system

I have 2 P2M PMs and they've both done thousands of miles flawlessly. They been out in -5 to almost 50 degrees, snow, hurricanes where they've been fully submerged and survived over a dozen different baggages handlers at airports. Failures rates are so low I can't actually think of an instance at the moment (check TTF, you'll read about Stages, Quarq, Powertap, Rotor Power and even the mighty SRM failing more than P2M).

meanredspider

Grill wrote:

meanredspider wrote:

Grill wrote:

For less than £100 more you can have a P2M. No brainer.

Except it isn't. I run compact on one bike and standard double on the other. That makes it far from a no brainer. Then I tried to order a P2M - they expected me to wait a month for delivery. The Stages I could get the following day. Still a no brainer? And, as I posted in the other thread, do you know the failure RATE of P2M? I'd say it's a very long way from a no brainer especially when you're paying £100 more.

So either go 52/36 or get two sets of rings... This whole 'instant gratification' thing is silly. No one needs a PM tomorrow, especially if you're going to compromise on functionality. I also know a lot of people who run different size cranks on their bikes which makes Stages a more expensive investment than P2M, Vector or any other pedal/shoe based system

I have 2 P2M PMs and they've both done thousands of miles flawlessly. They been out in -5 to almost 50 degrees, snow, hurricanes where they've been fully submerged and survived over a dozen different baggages handlers at airports. Failures rates are so low I can't actually think of an instance at the moment (check TTF, you'll read about Stages, Quarq, Powertap, Rotor Power and even the mighty SRM failing more than P2M).

You still miss the point (in fact added to it with your comment on crank sizes) - NO power meter choice is a "no brainer"

Compromising on ring sizes in order to match the power meter is "silly". And yes, I could get two sets of rings and pi55 about changing them when swapping bikes but, frankly, who wants to do that? And then your £100 difference starts to look more like £200. As for "instant gratification", I had 3 months or less in order to train on power for AD6 - I could have chucked away a 1/3rd of that on delivery time.

Point data is just anecdotal as is everything posted in reality - my Stages has been from -4C to 33C and back to 10C in one ride. It too has been submerged and through several airports in a soft bag - I'm sure none of that is going to change your opinion. It doesn't really tell you anything about reliability. As Head of Quality for my part of a very large consumer electronics company, I can say with a good degree of certainty that drawing reliability conclusions from anecdotal postings is a fool's errand.

Grill

Well as a Head of Consumption of Quality Parts for myself I can say that I'm very happy with my purchases. When reliability data is garnered from perhaps the two biggest resources out there (TTF and ST), it very quickly turns from anecdotal to empirical. Does Stages have solid community support as P2M? Check the 1,000+ postings for your failure rate, or is that too anecdotal for you? http://forum.slowtwitch.com/gforum.cgi?post=4743738

Of course, this isn't about you or me for that matter. I refer you to my original post for the best course of action for the OP.

meanredspider

Hi Dave,

unfortunately that doesn't work for two reasons: firstly the MTB sensor is completely different (4 bolts vs 5 bolts, adapter for inner chain ring, and different chain line). Also the sensor differs between the 3D and 3D+ - the cranks have different interfaces.

Cheers
Nicolas
---
power2max
http://www.power2max.com/northamerica
official power meter of Movistar Team

As if by magic, the first proper support question just illustrates the point I'm making: the meter anybody needs depends upon the application and needs of the user. Without understanding those, any recommendation is a "no brain" recommendation.

As for using a thread like that to sample data that's a bit like going to a Labour Party conference and expecting balanced views on the Labour Party... It isn't empirical just a lot of anecdotes.

Grill

You being serious mate? No-brainer had to do with the OP, so why do you consistently take it out of context and apply it to any inappropriate situation you can find? Not to mention that Stages doesn't work in your example either due to the difference in q-factor...

This is about finding the overall 'bargain', not what suits you best. Christ, it doesn't take a degree in deductive reasoning to figure that out.

meanredspider

Grill wrote:

You being serious mate? No-brainer had to do with the OP, so why do you consistently take it out of context and apply it to any inappropriate situation you can find? Not to mention that Stages doesn't work in your example either due to the difference in q-factor...

This is about finding the overall 'bargain', not what suits you best. Christ, it doesn't take a degree in deductive reasoning to figure that out.

Holey Moley - somebody posts to say there's a bargain Stages and you post that you can spend MORE MONEY on a P2M and that it's a "no brainer". That's what I'm responding to. If you're in the market for a Stages, why the hell is a P2M for more money a "no brainer"? I then went on to point out that a P2M meets different needs to a Stages (to help explain why I don't think a P2M (let alone one for more money) is a "no brainer").

Grill

Considering you can get it new for under £400, it hardly qualifies as a bargain...

Even so in the world over PM's the P2M offers more value for money which is a more useful metric than price alone.

slowbike

you can stop arguing now....

they've sold it ...

I'm sure the person who bought it will be along shortly to tell us of it's success or failure ... :roll: