[MJCBH]

Hey folks,
I've never used a standard power meter on my road bike but I recently purchased the Generation 2 ProForm Tour de France spin bike and I'm wondering how accurate the TdF's power meter is? Has anybody used both and how do the readings compare?
Thanks!

 

[Sonomasnap]

Hey folks,
I've never used a standard power meter on my road bike but I recently purchased the Generation 2 ProForm Tour de France spin bike and I'm wondering how accurate the TdF's power meter is? Has anybody used both and how do the readings compare?
Thanks!

The general consensus is that this product sucks. Throw it out, get a rear wheel trainer or rollers and a power meter.

 

[spade2you]

Trainer wear is very exaggerated.

Secondly, why would you want a power meter on one device, but not on your main road bike?

 

[MJCBH]

Please just answer the question.

 

[spade2you]

Please just answer the question.

Please see the TdF bike thread in the training forum. Kind of a moot point when the whole system doesn't work.

I know it's not the answer you want, but you don't find many racers who own the TdF bike or dedicated Spin type bikes. They're big compared to a trainer or rollers and too big to bring to indoor sessions or to warm up for races.

 

[AdamM]

If you're working on just an indoor plan for the winter than the accuracy as compared to another power measuring device is a non-factor. What's important is consistency of the measurement.

 

[Kristatos]

I was looking into getting one of these for my wife and a few minutes reading through the reviews on Amazon scared me away. One thing I did see was complaints about the power meter being way off. There was one review in particular where a road cyclist saw a huge inflation in power on the TdF spin bike vs his/her road bike. Hopefully you'll fare better with that product. Would be good to hear back how it goes and if you get good results and reliability with the thing.

 

[multirider]

On a related note, I have a Lemond GT something or another spin bike that not only displays power, it saves the ride to a file that can be uploaded to WKO. The bike is highly adjustable, so my wife can ride it in an upright position and I can slam the bars, put on the optional foam thingie for forearms, and ride it like a road bike or TT bike. I'm absolutely delighted with it. But I take a trainer to the races for warming up.

I have noticed that the power readings feel a little low. But I think that on my road bike with SRM a lot, too. Basically, I frequently think "is that all? surely I'm putting out more power than that!"

 

[Alaska Mike]

If you're working on just an indoor plan for the winter than the accuracy as compared to another power measuring device is a non-factor. What's important is consistency of the measurement.

Absolutely right. If it's repeatable and you're not comparing it to another powermeter, it doesn't matter if it's measuring output in squirrel eyeballs.

Now, if you were to get a real powermeter for your road bike and compare readings, they might be off for any number of reasons. My non-trainer FTP is always higher than my trainer FTP, even using the exact same bike and powermeter. What I do is test in an environment, then use those numbers to set my levels for that environment. Anything else is apples and oranges.

Again, if it's repeatable it doesn't have to be "accurate".