In this arena of new power meters, someone still uses the Powertap Hub?
Pros?
Cons?
Would you buy it again?
Thanks in advance.
Alberto
I have 3 different powertaps from the first wireless to what I think is a G2 just before G3 upgrade.
There is an old addage - 'what type of power meter should I buy? ā can be answered by āwhat type of problem do you want to haveā. Id buy it again if I wanted another wheel based.
Proās you can move from bike to bike with some work (but when one bike is disc brake and another is not it gets harder), cost is OK, and so far performance is great.
Conās - not the easiest to move (pedals are the easiest IMO) and normally laced to heavier wheels. There is also a dork factor rocking it in a race, and its never going to be the lightest power meter option for you.
I personally use a PowerTap on my B road bike, and my CX/gravel which is what gets the most miles. My A race road bike and track bike swap garmin vectors back and forth
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I bought the Powertap Amp 35 wheelset as an upgrade to my stock wheels.
I saved weight, got carbon, got a little more aero, and got a power meter all in one purchase. (They were on sale at the time too.)
The G3 has been reliable and convenient, since I donāt swap wheels on that bike.
My gravel bike has a P2M NGeco on it, and when I get a new road bike, Iāll probably go with crank- or pedal-based power so I can swap wheels.
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Iāve actually got a PowerTap GS hub. I got it when they were on close out, wired up to a DT Swiss RR 511 rim.
It works. All the time. It does mean that I have exactly one wheel choice to make for races (ādo I put the disc wheel cover on or not?ā), but before I bought this wheel I had exactly one rear wheel anyway; I donāt really anticipate being in a position where I have an array of wheel options.
If you have a direct drive trainer, you canāt use TR Power Match because you remove the wheel to hook up to the trainer; but I have a STAC Zero trainer, so I was able to calibrate its power meter against my PowerTap, so now I have confidence that I am seeing the same watts for the same effort whether Iām on the trainer or out on the road.
The hub is supposedly the best place for a power meter if you are doing aero testing at home, since you are measuring power at the wheel against speed at the wheel to figure out drag (drive train losses would add extra noise between power output and speed generated).
If/when I get a bike with disc brakes I would be happy to get the disc brake PowerTap, and as long as I have a bike with rim brakes, I will continue to use this hub even if I have to rebuild the wheel eventually.
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I have a G3 hub on a steel day tourer. I use spd pedals and wanted to keep my gorgeous Sugino crankset so my options were limited. It is laced in a Hunt Supadura rim and is rock solid.
Yep - I do. I love it.
In 5 years of having it, ive never had an issue, never stopped working, never bugged on me. Simply change the battery yourself every 6 or 7 months and you are golden.
I built mine into a light pair 60mm carbon wheels (less then 1700gms a pair with tape), so I have the flexibility of it all.
No regrets from me.
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I have an SL+ in a HED JET 6 wheel. The price I paid for it was barely more than just the wheelset would have cost and it has been very reliable. With waxed chains on all my bikes switching is a piece of cake. The free hub body just slides off so switching from my ten to eleven speed bike is simple too.
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Amp 35 is a great wheel set. I had one for a couple of years, but sadly just recently sold it, because my new bike has discs. You can still find the amp 35 from some stores and the price is very competitive.
I still have a custom wheel set with Powertap GS and it is even better than G3. I use the GS with trainerroad.
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Yep, had one built up by wheelbuilder and itās been trouble free. Iād buy it againā¦
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I used one a few years ago and would never buy one again. Whilst the numbers were on point most of the time, it had to be repaired far too often for my liking.
I currently have older set (picked it up a few years ago) and it is ok but I would to pick up a set that is a bit lighter and maybe somewhat aero. Something like the AMP35 would be great for me if I could find a set at a decent price. I have 2 bikes so it is easy to switch back and forth
I had a G3 for years. Very reliable.
I personally, had trouble changing the battery with the ātoolā
I probably over tightened it, but IDK
I wouldnāt go looking for another, but if there was a great deal I would consider it.
I bought a G3 Hub with wheelset used 2 years ago. No problems other than unpredictable battery death (it will die anytime with 50% battery) showing.
The price for the G3 is a lot cheaper now, so it can compare with pedal and other options. On my new bike I decided to go with Assiomas due to price and switch-ability.
Pros:
3 years without any power drops or fuzzy reads
Easy bat change and timely warning
No probs with heavy rain
I have two free hub bodies because my TT bike is 11sp and the road is 10sp. The cassettes are always fit in and exchanging them takes me 20 seconds.
Pairs with Garmin in a blink
Price
Precision (compared with trainer the readings look much more reliable so powermatch is the way to go)
Cons
Cadence is not very reliable
Being in the wheel, obviously limits wheel choice but I bought some covers so I have a disc wheel when I want.
Given my double bike context, I would only change it for dual sided pedals.
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I picked up a used one and built my first wheel. The total cost was about $300.
Seems to work perfectly. I have the option of upgrading to bluetooth but havenāt seen the need so far.
i use the powertap g3 for road and CX (same wheel). I bought it a few years ago from someone and I think I paid $250, which was a great deal and from someone in my club who had an older model updated with the g3 stuff and built into a solid velocity a23 rim, hence why I can use it on road and CX.
Of course, the big con in my situation is not only having to change tires, but my road bike is 8 speed and CX is 11, so I have to do that. Would really love either another one or get either some assioma uno or p1s to use for road, or get a crank arm for the CX bike. Iād get another powertap but I canāt seem to find any for less than $300, at least not most recent gen
I still use an SL+. I bought it a few years ago on ebay and built it into a Flo 30 rim.
i love it. Dead simple to use.
What app does everyone use with their Powertap G3 hub? I tried using the native Powertap Apple app, and I canāt get my workout to sync with any other platforms to get it āoutā onto my TrainingPeaks?
Not sure if anyone has a solution or a better app to use? Thanks in advance.
Quite a few apps for the iPhone will connect to it; TrainerRoad indoors of course, but also the Wahoo app and iSmoothRun will both record a bike ride (including outdoor with GPS) and upload it to TrainingPeaks. There are many more, I canāt begin to list them all. A dedicated cycling computer (I.e. from Garmin, Wahoo, Lezyne, etc.) will too.
I tried the Wahoo app, as thatās one Iāve used with Wahoo sensors previously, but while it was connecting to the Powerhub power output, it wasnāt taking either the cadence or the speed data, so I loose a great deal of information from the ride.
Iāll give TrainerRoad a go and see if that connects and records all the sensor outputs and exports to workout properly. I was just curious what everyoneās preference is, as Iām aware there are limitless options and Iād rather not go through trying each and every one! Haha