iBike Pro

My new iBike Pro powermeter has finally arrived from the US! Came in a small box. In it was the computer, speedo and cadence meter, a CD for installation instructions and some printed setting up instructions. Must say it didnt look anything like the high tech looking SRM and Quarq powermeters that measure the power output from the crank, nor the Cycleops Powermeter that measures from the wheel hub. Then again, it is only at a fraction of the cost of the powermeters. What can I expect?


Didnt have much time to fiddle with it. So had to hurriedly get it installed onto the bike and set up the software, which was downloaded from the website. Did some basic set up for the meter and off I went on Saturday to ride with it. Had to do some calibration in the dark at East Coast. Not quite sure if it was set up properly even. But didnt matter then? Just get it over and done with.


Coach prescribed 25km warm up, 3 sets of 30km and a 25km warm down with a 4km run thereafter. The warm down I did was effectively 15km only as I was in a hurry to fetch my family, which I promised. During the 3 sets, I saw that my power output was only in the range of 130-150 and from the charts, the average for the 90km was really 140 Watts. Quite a disappointment I must say. In order for me to generate over 200Watts, I understood of how much effort I needed to put in. It seemed bearable, but how I would run thereafter remained to be seen. In fact, I doubt that I would be very effective in the run, really.


This was the 1st time I have used it in the training. I will need to do more rides to totally understand how my power output is really like. I was still using my Polar watch to track of my heart rate. Hopefully with these 2 tools, I will have a better understanding of my true effort as well as improve my biking splits in future and not blow up my run thereafter.


The iBike system doesnt measure the power output from the stress on the crank, nor the wheel hub. According to the manual, it measures the effort via the windspeed. But as I pedaled along, I think the programming goes beyond just the wind speed, but also from the cadence and speedo as well. And if I were not wrong, the software probably is loaded with statistical data base on the speed, cadence and wind speed and with a true matching power output. If my suspicion is right, then there would have been loads of experiments and data collection done prior to selling the instrument. Yes, the common complaint is that a measure windspeed may not be at all accurate because there could be cross winds or head wind in a ride. But hey, unless I am ready to fork out more than S$5000 SRM or S$2200 Quarq, I will have to live with these inaccurate numbers that may work sufficiently for an average age grouper. And since my silly V2C Cateye speedo had died on me, this doubles up as my speedo too. So, I am buying 2 pieces of equipment for the price of 1 - actually 3 coz it comes with HRM as well. If I subtract the price of the V2C, I would have paid about $500 for the powermeter alone. 


Yes, I can live with inaccurate numbers that can still help me understand my power output at this price.