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Newbie User Questions

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 12:56 pm
by rafaelnajera
Hello and greetings from Cologne, Germany.

Last Saturday I started using my new PowerPod. I really like the product, but I hope somebody can help me out with a few questions that I have. I did an O&B calibration ride and then a 68km ride (see attached files).

1) I'm confused with the "Configure Device" options in the Isaac software. I'm not sure what to enter as riding position given that my bike is not a road bike. I have a "normal" bike, which here in Germany means something that is like a heavy mountain bike with 28" wheels (622-38 in my specific case) but much heavier and without suspension. This is how it looks like

Image

I think I entered that I ride on the hoods. My bike has an adjustable stem, that in my case is set at close to 0 degrees; this results in a more aerodynamic position than the "normal" touring/conmuting bikes people use around here. Still, I'm wondering if this resulted in a CdA value that is too low or if this matters at all after calibration.

2) Also in the "Configure Device" options, there's no way to enter the measured wheel circumference, right? (I know that it can be corrected afterwards)

3) I understand that Crr is calculated dynamically by the PP. So, does it really make a difference if the Crr in the profile is not precise? Again, I did not know what to enter for my "normal riding conditions". Most of the time I'm riding in bike paths, which normally do not have good asphalt conditions in this area. After calibration, and I suppose also because of my 38mm tires at 65-70psi and the fact that both me and my bike are very heavy, Crr came out to be 0.0092 or so. Is this a reasonable value? This is a close up of one of my tires:

Image

4) Is there any problem with having a topbar bag behind the PP? Another close up:

Image

In the side view above you'll see that the PP is not that close to the bag, maybe 10cm, so I suppose it does not really affects it but I might as well check.

5) Finally, during my first ride there was a noticeable delay between my effort and the watts that showed on my Garmin. I would start pedalling and the watts would only show above 0 after 7 to 10 seconds, so I figured that maybe the PP was doing some heavy smoothing. When I check the actual Garmin .FIT file that watts actually align very well with my pedalling (ie., 0 cadence = 0 watts). So now I'm confused about what's going on, is the Garmin display playing tricks on me? Tomorrow I'll do another ride with smoothing off in the PP to see what happens.

After my first ride I was surprised at how low the watts were on the flat and how high they were on the climbs, but I haven't used a power meter before save for the pseudo-power meter that comes with the rollers you see in the picture above. In the rollers it's almost impossible not to have very constant power (you have to keep pedalling and there's no coasting!) and resistance only goes up when you change gears.

Thanks,

Rafael.

Re: Newbie User Questions

Posted: Mon Nov 06, 2017 8:44 pm
by Velocomp
Your ride file looks OK to me.

Please set your Garmin to zero filtering.

Re: Newbie User Questions

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2017 2:10 pm
by rafaelnajera
Thanks for the reply!

So, is the riding position irrelevant for the calibration? I mean, does the PP corrects it anyway?

Best,

Rafael.

Re: Newbie User Questions

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2017 3:57 pm
by Velocomp
Yes, PP automatically calibrates

Re: Newbie User Questions

Posted: Tue Nov 07, 2017 4:46 pm
by rafaelnajera
Excelent! As I said, I think this the PP is a great product; I'm very happy I finally found a way to buy it here in Germany (probikekit.de, by the way, ~300 euros, free shipping, all taxes included, got home in 2 business days)

Keep up the good work.

Best,

Rafael.