AeroPod, PowerPod and Newton

Hi all,

I've been using the powerpod for a week or so now and love this new metric on my bike, however I've been having a few issues that I was hoping could be resolved here! I should preface this with the fact that I'm new to training with power so some of this is probably down to that, although I am used to using HR which as a handy gauge revealed a few issues.

I first used the PP on the out front combo mount for my first few rides, however I noticed that on strong cross winds I was getting odd readings and plus the Garmin was in an odd spot where I couldn't really see it. From there I moved it to the handlebar mount and placed it on the L side of my bars, I was still having issues though with wind readings which I eventually put down to being a tiny bit close to a brake cable, an adjustment mid ride improved things and then I decided to switch the PP to the R side instead where it has a clear view. Despite that and also trying to nail my ride profile down using the setup vid on youtube, I still get odd readings in crosswinds which make pacing and riding in zone problematic. I've decided to not bother posting the out front rides however on the rides below I till had issues, on the 10th September I was getting smashed by a head/crosswind and was losing watts the harder I pushed, I get back to analyse the ride file and it looks like I've had a tailwind for most of the ride which was not the case at all!! On the last file, the day after I was riding in zone 3 and felt like I was coasting home according to my power numbers, although it seems on the ride file to have tracked the wind more accurately than previous days. I tried to do a setup using a portion of the ride where I do an out and back and the windscaling correction shot up to like 11.5 or something. Where am I going wrong with all of this? I know it's there in the setup I think, but is the PP so susceptible to crosswinds that in effect for me it's not usable as a metric. I live essentially on a coastal peninsula, which is flat and open and prone to crosswinds so they are a regular occurrence here, not always gusting but always there.

Anyway please look, analyse and let me know what you think when you can if that's okay all? I'm sure it's just setup problems however the sooner I can get the profile nailed the better!! I've uploaded the 2 rides, an out and back portion of each and the GPS data from the Garmin, which brings me to the last problem, sorry. I'm unable to add the .fit files from the Garmin as Isaac errors and says it's ran out of memory, any solutions please guys?

Thanks so much in advance, Alan

Here is the other file, thanks! Just realised I can't add .fit files! When I've edited them to .gpx or something I'll upload them. Anyone know which file types work please?

Thanks.

Several odd things are going on in your ride files:

1) On your 9/10 ride the first 21 miles appear to be in a strong tail wind (or you're drafting). Can't tell which. Then, at mile 21 both your wind readings AND your mount position changed. Did you move the PP to a different position on your bike? Did you rotate the PowerPod on your bike? Please post an image showing how you have your PP mounted on your bike.

2) Your 6/11 file looks much better. Your wind scaling is a bit high; a corrected profile is attached. On this ride your power is in line with your heart rate, so I don't see an issue with wind readings.

Make sure your mount is solidly attached to your bike, and that your PowerPod can't rotate on the mount.

Hey John,

Really appreciate you helping out, not very often you get to deal directly with the head of a company when you try to sort stuff out!

With regards the file of the 10th of September yep you're correct John, I did switch the mount during the ride, I was consistently smashing myself into head and crosswinds and the PP was showing consistently lower power readings than expected which I figured just wasn't correct at all. I was riding solo with no drafting whatsoever and very rare tailwinds. When I rechecked it's position I figured that one of the brake cables was too close to the port so I moved it over slightly and got better readings for the rest of the ride once recalibrated. Do you think the close location of the cable caused these funky readings?

When I got back home I decided to switch the PP over to the other side of my bars as I could secure it more effectively that side. When I rode on the 11th, it was with the PP in this new position, however I was seemingly getting high readings despite barely exerting myself, hence requesting some help with setup. Glad you thought this one seems more normal to you, I certainly got more of the behaviour I was expecting from the PP so was more pleased than the day before! It was when trying to check calibration with these rides that it was suggesting a wind scale adjustment of something like 11.5 which I figured was way out of sync!!

I will post some pics below of the before position and after too to show you. I always have had it screwed down and mounted securely so there's been no issue there. What I have found though is that because I always have to remove it from the bike after riding it always does a recalibration every ride, except when I let it go to sleep before I remove it, then it seems happy when I just pop it back on it's mount.

I shall upload this new profile to the PP and see how things progress thanks for doing that for me.

With regards Isaac and merging .fit files, is there a way to fix this memory issue John? Thanks so much in advance for your help and that which you've done so far.

Kind Regards,

Alan

Old Position:


New Position:

Sooooo, loaded the new profile and went out for the first time with it this am. Looks a lot better and feels more correct than before, and the ride file seems great. The only thing is I think my zones are ever so slightly out but that was due to an awkward FTP test result with the out front mount and crazeee winds. The ride today was a bit windy but more normal for here than previous rides and I reckon it's accurately reflecting my wattage. However I will add the caveat that I'm basing that on feel only, but it seems bang on I've added the file below, this is the first time also I've had a ride start without a recalibration phase which was awesome too.

Loving pacing myself with the new power metrics, it's ace and actually hard to maintain a zone!! It's also amazing to see how variable heart rate training can be, numerous times during the ride my heart rate wasn't reflecting the wattage effort frequently it wasn't even in Z3 and also above that in my rest phases and I'm glad I'm now using power as it is more accurate.

Now I've got the setup nailed, I'm more than impressed, it does exactly what it set out to do and does it well, you've just got to fine tune it thats all. Amazing device, great price and a more than happy customer here!

This ride looks great!

Thats all down to you John!! Thanks so much for that, so pleased that it works so well and what a difference it's made already. I'm going to do another FTP when I can and modify the Zones but other than that, well pleased Great product.