iBike paired with Power Tap

[kaplanmaxe]

So, does anyone use a Power Tap with an iBike head unit? Good or bad? Also, how do you zero the torque? It seems like that could be an issue.

[coachboyd]

I did to do some aero testing while waiting for my Quarq to get warrantied. I am not sure if the power tap had the auto zero on but when I went into the wireless config I was able to zero it. The one thing I did notice was that I still needed to have the iBike speed sensor on as it wasn't picking up the speed from the rear wheel like it does with a power tap head unit.

It seemed pretty plug and play getting it to work with the power tap and there were no hassles getting going.

[kaplanmaxe]

Okay cool. Thanks. Just one more question:

If I am using the iBike speed and cadence sensor with the Power Tap wheel, by turning PIN on, it will display the Power Tap's power measurement on the iBike head unit while the iBike is recording it's own power measurements, correct? Then when you go into the iBike software you can do the Power Meter comparison? I guess that is what is used to calculate real time CDA.

[Velocomp]

Your understanding is correct.

[kaplanmaxe]

Sweet. I can't wait to try out the Real Time CdA. Thanks for the reply.

[Morocco Mole]

I don't use the iBike cadence sensor when using the powertap, did read somewhere using the cadence sensor can cause erroneous power readings. The powertap will send "virtual" Cadence data from the hub which the iBike is able to interpret, seems pretty accurate to me.

[Velocomp]

Actually, just the opposite is true. The virtual cadence readings of the PT are loaded with odd spikes. This is one of the many amusing things we discovered when doing Power Meter Comparisons...

Check out the image below, which came from a simultaneous iAero/CinQo/PT comparison. The blue line is the PT virtual cadence data...

[kaplanmaxe]

Wow that is really ugly. I would rather have my cadence from a cadence sensor than a hub anyway. I have talked to some people who use the Power Tap paired with the iBike and they said the best combo is the iBike speed sensor (which is necessary), the iBike cadence sensor, Power Tap wheel, and iBike head unit. This way you have both power meters recording at the same time. If you have a hilly race, you can take off the power tap wheel and just use the iBike to save some grams or even pounds. Does it matter which wheel the speed sensor is on?

[Velocomp]

Either wheel is fine.

[roadrash]

So if I can use my ibike as the head, is it possible to just buy a powertap hub without the meter and save some bucks?

[Velocomp]

If your wireless PT is ANT+Sport compatible, the answer is YES

[roadrash]

Great ! Also, is there some PT functionality that I loose by not having a PT meter? In other words, will the ibike collect, process, and display all the data from the wireless hub as the PT meter would? I did manage to find some PT hub-only options on ebay. Are there other sources for hub-only that I should be aware of?

[Morocco Mole]

most of the majors will carry hub only options, not sure where you are but here is a couple

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/c/cycle/7/Power_Training/

http://www.competitivecyclist.com/road- ... s.352.html