AeroPod, PowerPod and Newton

Hi all, Since 1st April I'm also user from PowerPod. I purchased it in the US but use it in Germany

1st the experience: Everything easy to set up and calibration was easy too. Power values on climbs look really good and accurate. I checked on a group ride with my training buddy who is riding with SRM. He ha similar weight and body size. We climbed in parallel and these are the result:





In the details you can also see the 5 serpentines (arrows)





All pretty amazing and cool. But...


On descents and flats with headwind the power is much too low. Also pedalling full on descents the power is more or less all the time 0.

Ich checked the profiles and the wind scaling factor was 1.000 for both bikes I use and calibrated.



The wind analysis also looks strange



I have attached the File!

One one bike I use the K-EDGE Combo Mount and on the other one a K-EDGE mount beside the lab which is attached to the combo mount:

Cannondale (Combo):


Specialized (next to lamb):


For the profile setup I chose "Front mount" for both bikes. Does this cause the wind factor to be 1.000? What are the right values for the both mounting positions and what would be the right thing for the initial setup to choose if "front mount" is not correct? I manually changed now the figures to 1.600 which I found here in one other post. In another post 1.700 was mentioned as the right value for the combo mount. What is the right value now 1.6 or 1.7 - or one 1.65 ? What would be good value Specialized where the PP is mounted next to lamp?

What does it mean when the ISAAC says tat it changes the profile to me manully modified - any impact?

Another questions: How can I easily change handlebar position in the profile. One day I go sportive position, in winter maybe more relaxed. How can I adjust?

One more: How can I store different profiles in the PowerPod? I don't get it done. I messed it up having now two times the same profile. But how can I change that?
How can I choose which one is profile 1 and which one is 2. If I drag and drop the profile to 1st position it is uploaded twice on both positions. I do not understand.



Many thanks for your support

After I messed up the profiles I did a factory reset of my PowerPod and started from scratch. This time I chose handle bar a PP position. After finishing the profile I checked it again in the "Edit Profile" option and again the wind scaling was 1.000. I changed it manually to 1.600, set the power smoothering to 0 and uploaded the profile to the PP. I noticed when I changed the Wind scaling also the Aero got changed. What is that about? And why there are these hold and adjust options?



After that I went for my daily training session. 1st calibration and then let it go. Interesting was that the PP made a new file when I stopped the Garmin after calibration that I get some clean average values. How did the PP know that I stopped my Garmin?
The new file and edited profile are attached. Everything seems to be ok now. Also the power values from the descents seem to be right.
Still I don't know what wind scaling value to use as this seems to influence most. Not uphill but downhill.

This is now the wind analysis. Looks also quite different:



Happy to receve your feedback and a response to all my questions!

Actually, your guess of 1.6 was pretty good; when mounted on the combo mount, the factory value is 1.7.

If you change your profile to 1.7 you will get even closer results!

"Aero" is an internal factor that goes all the way back to the original iBike design of 2005 (seems like ancient days now...). It most definitely is related to wind scaling and CdA.

After the 5 minute calibration the PP automatically starts a new ride file.

Downhill watts were low on your original ride because wind scaling of 1.0 was way too small.

Thanks John for the reply. I will change to 1.7 then for the combo. Can I only update the profile or do I need to start from scratch with new profile and calibration ride?
What do you think I should use for the Specialized where the PP is next to the lab. 1.7 as well?

Could you also please briefly explain how I can get the different profiles in place. I don't get this done. How can I say which profile is on which of the 4 positions?

Do I have to select the active profile and then press "send to device"?



If I use the option "Send profile to newton" (under Device) then I can select any profile but when I klick on "Send to iBike" it always takes the 1st one in the profile list. When I change the position of the profile under "edit profile" it takes again the 1st one of the list. Strange.

Thank you.

Velocomp wrote: After the 5 minute calibration the PP automatically starts a new ride file.

Really? It did not do it when I did another calibration ride. See attached.

regards
Chris

Sorry, I'm just now getting through all the posts...

Your wind factor is 1.0 (caused by a bug in Isaac) but it should be 1.4. I've attached a corrected profile. Import this profile into Isaac using the Edit/Edit Profiles/Import command, then use the "Send to Device" command to send it to your PP.

I tested PowerPod on my road bike this morning. PP is mounted on combo mount. PP was reset to to factory prior to the test. I found a really good road before turning on PP for the initial calibration. My road bike has a Quarq Elsa ES power meter. After the ride, i deleted the first 8 minutes of the post-calibration data because i was told PP does calibration in the first 8 minutes. It was not obvious during my ride (On a few occasions, PP was showing 0 W even though i was still pedaling) but the power numbers from PP compares very well with those from Quarq Elsa RS. Average power for PP is 151.4 W while Quarq Elsa RS is 152.3 W. The difference in normalized power between the two was just 1 W.
I extracted the profile from PP. To my surprise, the wind scaling was 1.325, instead of 1.7. When i extracted the ride files from PP, i was prompted to finish the configuration (location of PP, riding style, tire size etc) but i chose to skip that. What did i miss by skipping this?

Velocomp wrote:Sorry, I'm just now getting through all the posts...

Your wind factor is 1.0 (caused by a bug in Isaac) but it should be 1.4. I've attached a corrected profile. Import this profile into Isaac using the Edit/Edit Profiles/Import command, then use the "Send to Device" command to send it to your PP.

Hi John, I think you mixed up the posts. That profile was not for me.

ktula wrote: I extracted the profile from PP. To my surprise, the wind scaling was 1.325, instead of 1.7.

Very interesting, especially you have the possibility to compare with another powermeter.
May I ask you to repeat that with the wind scaling set to 1.7 (or 1.6 which I found out to be the better value for the combo mount).

Did you set up the PP with the "configure newton" option? There you can adjust wieght, bike + cloths, etc. weight, tire size and road conditions.
If not it seems the PP is requesting later when you extract the profile.

speedracer wrote:

ktula wrote: May I ask you to repeat that with the wind scaling set to 1.7 (or 1.6 which I found out to be the better value for the combo mount).

Did you set up the PP with the "configure newton" option? There you can adjust wieght, bike + cloths, etc. weight, tire size and road conditions.
If not it seems the PP is requesting later when you extract the profile.

Unfortunately, as of this morning, my PP no longer talks to the computer. Pressing the button and holding it for 10 seconds to force a factory reset does not help. I think there may be a loose connection in the USB port on the PP. If i press slightly on the USB cable, i can hear the connection sound from the PC but as soon as i release pressure, i hear the disconnection sound. Looks like this PP is going back for an exchange.

That said, before this USB port problem, i managed to extract the ride data from this morning's commute. Last night, i made some changes to the profile, changing Rider Weight, Rider Height, Ride Position, Tire Grade and Tire Pressure. I was thinking i would get even better result from this morning's ride. Unfortunately, that was not the case. The average power from Quarq Elsa RS was 184W. The one from PP, 149W. Since the it's possible PP was doing self-calibrating the first 8 minutes of the ride, i removed the first 8 minutes. The average power from Elsa RS, after the removal of the first 8 minutes, is 203.6W while the average power from PP is 169.8W. The difference is too significant to ignore.

Once i get the PP exchanged, i will do this wind scaling test for you.

Not good to hear you PP is broken.

Thanks for your offer to test. Seeing the gap now between you two values and considering your wind scaling of 1.325 it could be fine if you increase wind scaling to correct value.
Btw, I checked now on several rides and from my best guess and the comparison with my training buddy who has SRM for the Combo Mount 1.65 seems to be best value.

Lookig foward to your feedback.

Unfortunately, as of this morning, my PP no longer talks to the computer. Pressing the button and holding it for 10 seconds to force a factory reset does not help. I think there may be a loose connection in the USB port on the PP. If i press slightly on the USB cable, i can hear the connection sound from the PC but as soon as i release pressure, i hear the disconnection sound. Looks like this PP is going back for an exchange.

I'm having the exact same problem. Had the unit for a week, suddenly it won't talk to the computer or charge.