#249: Polar WIND power success
After tearing it down a few times on Saturday without much success (based on some quick runs up and down the street that evening). The primary problem was when in the big ring (53) and higher gears (53×11, 53×12, 53×13, etc). Since those are pretty much half of time trialing for me, it would pretty much be useless.
On the way home from work, I remember that several times I had read that having the wheel magnet on the back wheel was against recommendations. I had put it there so I could do the trainer test (which was ill-fated as I later read). I clipped it off and put it back on the front fork for the Tuesday night RB’s ride. I was running a bit late, so I met the small group coming out of the parking lot. Of the group, a good portion of the group was aboard TT rigs… My plans were to pretty much take it easy, maybe do an effort.
On the way up to the shop the reading seemed to be more accurate, staying in the 250-300W range heading into the wind. On the ride, I did some bridging efforts in the 400W range and they felt correct. I did a short 1.5 minute blast and saw some numbers over 550W, again – they seemed correct. Although this is not a definitive test (I would need to borrow a PT to do that), I think I can work with it.
The two good sources that I found that helped are:
- Power Meter review (good explanation of technology)
- NY Velocity article (installation photos and tip to have the sensor touching the chain when in the 39×11)
On the Felt (my road bike), I expect to get the replacement SRM non-drive crank arm tomorrow. Today, I received a pair of cranks that I wanted to get for some other projects. I found these both on closeout. The first, is a pretty ho-hum FSA Gossimer crank from All3Sports. The other one is a pretty sweet FSA K-Force Light crank off Bonktown.
