DCRainmaker orders an iBike Newton

[texmurphy]

See http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2013/09/inte ... fr620.html about half way down.

iBike Newton with PowerStroke Software:

About two weeks ago I decided to order the most recent iBike product, the iBike Newton Plus. My thinking was that at some point over the winter I’ll check it out and see what’s changed in the last few years since I’d played with it last.

There’s been some changes since then, many aimed at alleviating some of my concerns with the earlier generation units. From redesigns of the front wind sensor to a simplified calibration process, getting rid of things such as leveling the bike and roll downs.

Additionally, they’ve recently introduced their new PowerStroke software, which analyzes not only the pedal strokes ‘smoothness’, but also the amount of side to side motion that the bike makes while riding. From this the software calculates “wasted watts” spent moving the bike side to side.

Comparing the next two screen shots, one shows a rider with a more clean stroke, versus the second image shows a rider what the software calculated as less round.

The first image shows a more experienced ride, while the second screenshot shows that of a less experienced rider.

I don’t have a timeframe for the review, and as I noted above I bought the unit to toy with on my own terms over the winter. Right now there’s a lot of other power meter related products I’m backed up on (Quarq Elsa, Pioneer PM, Rotor PM, etc…) that I need to tackle first. However, as I clear off units/PM’s on my bike and make more room on my handlebars, I’ll be looking into how this compares with traditional power meters, and what some of these metrics mean in real life day to day riding. Obviously, I’m very keen to see what has changed in the past few years, and having four additional power meters (direct force) on my bike beyond the iBike should make for interesting comparisons.

[ldmitruk]

I predict no matter how the review comes off iBike will still be treated as something that only "estimates" power, especially by the DFPM fan boys over at the wattage forum. I did take DCRainmaker to task in power meter round up article that he was basing his opinion of the iBike on tests that are over three years old and using older units etc. So I'm glad to see he planning on a new test, but notice how the iBike gets shoved to the bottom of the pile. Hmm must be sour grapes on my part, seems iBike never gets the respect it deserves.