Buying a Power Meter often represents the step from taking your hobby into something more serious. However, knowing which one is best for you is important especially when it's one of the bigger purchasing decisions we as cyclists make. We run you though the different types available, such as crank based, pedal based and even hub based and all their pros and cons which will allow you to decide which will be best for you.
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00:00A power meter is the best way of objectively telling you how hard you're pushing the pedals
00:04on your bike. This is done by measuring your torque, how hard you're pushing on the pedals,
00:08multiplied by your cadence, how fast you're turning the pedals. This will appear as a number
00:13in watts which will appear on your cycling computer while you're riding. But what do you
00:17do with those watts? Well, we need an entirely separate video to really go into the details,
00:21so I've dropped a few links below to some of our guides. Now you know what a power meter is,
00:26I'm going to run you through the different types that are available.
00:29I'll run you through their pros, their cons and anything else worth mentioning.
00:37First up, we've got crank-based which, as you can imagine, are located in and around the cranks. Now,
00:41they can be positioned in multiple different positions. First up, they can be on the crank arm
00:45like so. Then you can also have them in the chain rings itself or potentially on the spindle. Now,
00:51that's just completely dependent on which brand you buy from. The pros for crank-based systems are
00:56that traditionally they've always been some of the most accurate so you can be really confident
00:59with the data. They can also include pretty cool tech like being able to measure wattage from each
01:04leg so you can see if you've got a power imbalance. The cons tend to be that they've been on the slightly
01:09pricier end of the market but those prices have been coming down. The other thing which isn't so
01:14great with them is that they aren't as easy to switch between bikes. Power meter brands like Stages and
01:194i do also offer single-sided only options which helps keep that price a little bit lower however
01:25what it does to get your power reading is that it takes the reading from one leg and then doubles it
01:29so it's not quite as accurate but that being said if you do want to dip your toe into the power meter
01:34market and you don't want to spend a fortune then a single-sided power meter might be the way to go.
01:44Next up, we've got pedal-based power meters which, as you'd expect,
01:47locate all the cool tech within the pedal. So the pros for pedal-based power meters are that
01:52they are also accurate and reliable so similar to the cranks you can be confident with your data.
01:57Also with pedals they're much easier to switch between bikes so if you've got multiple bikes
02:01you'd want to use pedals on that's something that's a lot more easily done. The cons though,
02:05pedal-based power meters can be expensive. They're also prone to crash damage due to being in a much more
02:11exposed area compared to their crank counterparts. Depending on which brand you buy you might find
02:15yourself locked into a specific pedal platform so if you're particular about the pedals that you use
02:20you might find that those cleats aren't compatible with any pedal-based power meter. Finally, if you're
02:25sensitive to things like Q-Factor or Stack you might find that these values increase when you go to a
02:30pedal-based power meter. So these things can be altered with a bike fit so what I would recommend is if
02:35you do go for a pedal-based power meter go see your local bike fitter to make adjustments for those changes.
02:46Before we get on to what might be right for you, a quick word about hub-based power meters. Now you
02:50don't see too many of them but the way that they worked was again by measuring your power through
02:55the hub. Powertap was a well-known hub-based brand but they were discontinued in 2021 by their parent
03:00company SRAM. Now there may still be a few for sale out on the market but I would probably steer clear
03:06of them purely because you won't be able to get parts or the support should they go wrong. However,
03:11SRAM might bring them back in the future so that's something we'll just have to wait and see for.
03:20So which power meter is going to be right for you? Well I think for those of you that are on a budget
03:25and maybe just want to dip your toe into the power meter market then a single-sided crank-based system
03:30could be really good. They might not be as accurate but with a discrepancy of a few percent here or
03:35there I think that's going to be good for most of us. If you have more to spend and potentially more
03:40bikes that you want to switch a power meter between then I think this is where a pedal-based system
03:44comes in superior. Just remember you might be limited on the different pedal systems that you can use.
03:49If you only have one bike and don't mind a little bit of mechanical faff and want to spend more then I
03:54think a dual-sided crank-based system is going to be a really good option. Crank-based systems are
03:59used by the vast majority of pros and as the old saying goes if it's good enough for them it's
04:04good enough for us. Hopefully now you're all clued in with the ins and outs of power meters and you've
04:09got a good idea on which one you'd like to buy. If you do have any questions though drop them down
04:13in the comments. If you enjoy the video drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content
04:17and I'll see you again very soon.