Ergomo Pro System

Price Paid:  $0.00 at cyclecene nsw austra

Bike Setup:
bt cyclone and bt blade track bikes.
cannondale 6 13 road bike with duraace.

Summary:
I have 2 bottom brackets, one in a track bike and one in my road training bike. I find them quite good, had no difficulty in installing them. Only problem on the track is that 1 sec recording rate is no good for standing start or sprint analysis. need 0.1 or 0.5 sec.
I have a major problem now with the computer and hope another reader can tell me how to fix it.
For the past two weeks , everytime I try to download a ride/trip, the computer head keys lock up and the software says that the unit is sleeping. The unit wakes up after a while once I recharge it. I can see the data from the trip is in the computer head but cannot download it anymore. If it locks up, I can reset it but I loose the trip. But I am in a hopeless situation in that, I can do a ride and have it in the computer head but cannot download. I am using com 1 port, could not get the usb to work at all.

Strengths:
1. good data display
2. with rounding to say 4or 5 on the display watts, gives a steady wattage display.

Weaknesses:
1. 1 sec recording is no good for standing starts and sprints, you miss the max output quite often.

Similar Products Used:
polar wattage. very bad. useless.

Price Paid:  $800.00 at used

Favorite Ride:
Falcon Trail, USAFA

Summary:
OK when it works. It stopped working and I've gotten nothing useful from ergomo since starting to communicate with them in June. It is now November.

Strengths:
The computer records everything you can think of.

Weaknesses:
Support is horrible. For a few months I got replies from my emails, but now, nothing, note even a service depot location.

The octalink on a mountain bike requires a special Shimano XTR crank that is no longer manufactured, has non-standard chain rings, and no 22 tooth available

Price Paid:  $500.00 at Ebay

Bike Setup:
Colnago Masterlight, Full Campy Record, Bora Wheels (for Ergomo); Serotta Ottrott, Full Campy Record, Zipp 404's for PowerTap's

Summary:
Despite owning a Powertap SL and a Powertap SL Wireless, I was intrigued by the Ergomo technology and interested in the ability to use different wheelsets. The Ergomo was installed by an experienced mechanic at my LBS. Although the Ergomo has proved useful as an expensive heart rate monitor, the power readings are completely unreliable (40-80 watts too low), and my experience with customer service by the current US distributor and by the German owner has been horrible. The US distributor blames the German owner, and the Germans are unresponsive. It appears that no professional cycling teams use Ergomo's which is a good indication of their unreliability and the lack of factory support. At the same price point, the PowerTap Wireless powermeter is a much better solution, and easy to move between bicycles.

Strengths:
Screen display

Weaknesses:
Unreliable power readings. Dishonest, unresponsive and unreliable customer service. Difficult installation. Needs to be re-calibrated frequently. Poorly written instruction manual.

Similar Products Used:
PowerTap SL, PowerTap SL Wireless

Price Paid:  $1600.00 at Excelsports.com & Bi

Favorite Ride:
Copper Triangle, Colorado

Bike Setup:
Look 585
Cervelo P2 TT
Primus Mootry Cyclocross

Summary:
I've got sensors mounted on TT bike, road racing bike and cyclocross race bike. Straightforward mounting, calibration, and maintenance, although if you aren't comfortable with BB work, you might be happier having a shop do the installation (cross-threading is easy to do).
Power outputs measures have been stable over time and across platforms for me.
I've even run my computer head through the laundry. Had to open the case, dry it out for a week, and voila! it worked again.
The cyclocross unit survived and functioned through the Saturday from Hell (snow, mud, multiple crashes, and temps in the teens) at the Kansas City Nationals this year - it came through in better shape than me.
I broke a speed pickup in a crash this spring, and the service from the new US distributor (FITMultisports) was right on. However, the unit was returned to Germany for the repair and took about 3 weeks - it would be nice to see future improvements in that.
And, the price is right - I've got 3 bikes equiped with sensors and one head unit for $3400 - less than the cost of a single SRM. Street prices may be lower.
Adding power output to your training and racing data is fun and gives remarkable insight into where your strengths and weakness are, and where to focus your training.
The older style of square taper or ISIS BB limits your crankset choices, but the Ergomo cranksets are really nice (made by FSA).

Strengths:
Price compared to other Power meters (except iBike - which is the way to go on a tight budget). Consistency, durability, ease of setup, analysis software, quality of service from new distributor. It also saves weight over SRM and powertap.

Weaknesses:
Measures from left crank only. If you have only one leg, you'll get distorted readings.
It measures my power, but does not increase it, therefore notifying me of why I was crushed in that race. Perhaps, the next version will incorporate a small motor in the BB.
A little rattle in one of the handlebar mounts (on my cross bike) needed a strip of electrical tape to eliminate. Limited choices of cranksets to use with the sensor BB - partially assuaged by the very nice Ergomo Cranks that are available (I use one Ergomo and 2 Campy Record cranks from a couple years ago).
Repairs going to Germany add a week to turnaround time (be sure to keep a backup crankset/BB to use if you do need a repair).
Wireless would be nice.

Similar Products Used:
iBike Pro
PowerTap

Price Paid:  $1200.00 at JDS Coaching

Bike Setup:
Specialized Tarmac

Summary:
I noticed a lot of reviews for Ergomo that complain about failures. This was due to some mistakes in the factory, nothing inherent to the system. SO they had a few shipments that were bad I guess. From what I understand, they have an excelent warranty department. That said, I have had no problems with my Ergomo. It has been great. The amount of data that the computer captures is simply amazing. It even has altitude; you can see the course profile with your power, HR, speed, etc. SO I know what my power was over the short climbs, long climbs, decents, etc.

Strengths:
Computer unit is amazing, accuracy +-0.5%, Ergomo has a great FSA modeled carbon crank to go with the BB sensor; Its lighter than SRM, Powertap; cheaper than SRM

Weaknesses:
handle bar mount slips over bumps, i secured mine by putting foam under it. its annoying to set the off-set (only a 30 sec process) everytime you ride, but with that kind of accuracy its hard to complain. More expensive than Powertap, Polar

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