00:00A power meter is the best way of objectively telling you how hard you're pushing the pedals
00:04on your bike. This is done by measuring your torque, how hard you're pushing on the pedals,
00:08multiplied by your cadence, how fast you're turning the pedals. This will appear as a number
00:13in watts which will appear on your cycling computer while you're riding. But what do you
00:17do with those watts? Well, we need an entirely separate video to really go into the details,
00:21so I've dropped a few links below to some of our guides. Now you know what a power meter is,
00:26I'm going to run you through the different types that are available.
00:29I'll run you through their pros, their cons and anything else worth mentioning.
00:37First up, we've got crank-based which, as you can imagine, are located in and around the cranks. Now,
00:41they can be positioned in multiple different positions. First up, they can be on the crank arm
00:45like so. Then you can also have them in the chain rings itself or potentially on the spindle. Now,
00:51that's just completely dependent on which brand you buy from. The pros for crank-based systems are
00:56that traditionally they've always been some of the most accurate so you can be really confident
00:59with the data. They can also include pretty cool tech like being able to measure wattage from each
01:04leg so you can see if you've got a power imbalance. The cons tend to be that they've been on the slightly
01:09pricier end of the market but those prices have been coming down. The other thing which isn't so
01:14great with them is that they aren't as easy to switch between bikes. Power meter brands like Stages and
01:194i do also offer single-sided only options which helps keep that price a little bit lower however
01:25what it does to get your power reading is that it takes the reading from one leg and then doubles it
01:29so it's not quite as accurate but that being said if you do want to dip your toe into the power meter
01:34market and you don't want to spend a fortune then a single-sided power meter might be the way to go.
01:44Next up, we've got pedal-based power meters which, as you'd expect,
01:47locate all the cool tech within the pedal. So the pros for pedal-based power meters are that
01:52they are also accurate and reliable so similar to the cranks you can be confident with your data.
01:57Also with pedals they're much easier to switch between bikes so if you've got multiple bikes
02:01you'd want to use pedals on that's something that's a lot more easily done. The cons though,
02:05pedal-based power meters can be expensive. They're also prone to crash damage due to being in a much more
02:11exposed area compared to their crank counterparts. Depending on which brand you buy you might find
02:15yourself locked into a specific pedal platform so if you're particular about the pedals that you use
02:20you might find that those cleats aren't compatible with any pedal-based power meter. Finally, if you're
02:25sensitive to things like Q-Factor or Stack you might find that these values increase when you go to a
02:30pedal-based power meter. So these things can be altered with a bike fit so what I would recommend is if
02:35you do go for a pedal-based power meter go see your local bike fitter to make adjustments for those changes.
02:46Before we get on to what might be right for you, a quick word about hub-based power meters. Now you
02:50don't see too many of them but the way that they worked was again by measuring your power through
02:55the hub. Powertap was a well-known hub-based brand but they were discontinued in 2021 by their parent
03:00company SRAM. Now there may still be a few for sale out on the market but I would probably steer clear
03:06of them purely because you won't be able to get parts or the support should they go wrong. However,
03:11SRAM might bring them back in the future so that's something we'll just have to wait and see for.
03:20So which power meter is going to be right for you? Well I think for those of you that are on a budget
03:25and maybe just want to dip your toe into the power meter market then a single-sided crank-based system
03:30could be really good. They might not be as accurate but with a discrepancy of a few percent here or
03:35there I think that's going to be good for most of us. If you have more to spend and potentially more
03:40bikes that you want to switch a power meter between then I think this is where a pedal-based system
03:44comes in superior. Just remember you might be limited on the different pedal systems that you can use.
03:49If you only have one bike and don't mind a little bit of mechanical faff and want to spend more then I
03:54think a dual-sided crank-based system is going to be a really good option. Crank-based systems are
03:59used by the vast majority of pros and as the old saying goes if it's good enough for them it's
04:04good enough for us. Hopefully now you're all clued in with the ins and outs of power meters and you've
04:09got a good idea on which one you'd like to buy. If you do have any questions though drop them down
04:13in the comments. If you enjoy the video drop it a like, subscribe to the channel for more content
04:17and I'll see you again very soon.
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