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.
00:28I'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
00:56are that 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
01:08the 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
01:29it,
01:29so it's not quite as accurate. But that being said, if you do want to dip your toe into the
01:34power meter
01:34market and you don't want to spend a fortune, then a single sided power meter might be the way to
01:38go.
01:44Next up, we've got pedal based power meters, which, as you'd expect,
01:47to locate 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
02:10more exposed 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.
02:24Finally, if you're sensitive to things like Q factor or stack, you might find that these values
02:29increase when you go to a pedal based power meter. So these things can be altered with a bike fit.
02:34So what I would recommend is if you do go for a pedal based power meter,
02:37go 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,
02:50you don't see too many of them, but the way that they worked was, again, by measuring your power
02:55through the hub. PowerTap was a well known hub based brand, but they were discontinued in 2021 by
03:00their parent company, SRAM. Now, there may still be a few for sale out on the market, but I would
03:05probably
03:05steer clear of them purely because you won't be able to get parts or the support should they go
03:10wrong. However, SRAM might bring them back in the future. So that's something we just have to wait
03:14and see for. So which power meter is going to be right for you? Well, I think for those of
03:24you that
03:24are on a budget and maybe just want to dip your toe into the power meter market, then a single
03:28sided
03:29crank based system could be really good. They might not be as accurate, but with a discrepancy of a few
03:34percent here or there, I think that's going to be good for most of us. If you have more to
03:39spend
03:39and potentially more bikes that you want to switch a power meter between, then I think this is where
03:43a pedal based system comes in superior. Just remember, you might be limited on the different
03:47pedal systems that you can use. If you only have one bike and don't mind a little bit of mechanical
03:52faff and want to spend more, then I think a dual sided crank based system is going to be a
03:57really good
03:57option. Crank based systems are used by the vast majority of pros. And as the old saying goes,
04:02if it's good enough for them, it's good enough for us. Hopefully now you're all clued in with the
04:07ins and outs of power meters and you've got a good idea on which one you'd like to buy. If
04:12you do have
04:12any questions though, drop them down in the comments. If you enjoy the video, drop it a like,
04:15subscribe to the channel for more content, and I'll see you again very soon.
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