Powerpod ANT/BLE Power Meter

Did you ever have to install a printer on windows 3.11 back in the 90s, or program a VCR? This device is worse. I have a whole house for of zigbee and zwave home automation gear, home theater equipment, and 25 years experience as a software engineer and unix admin. I point this out by way of showing that I have a bit of experience diagnosing technology integration issues, and yet I gave up on this device after 12-15 hrs of working at it, including trying 3 different brands of speed and cadence sensors.I had trouble with it every step of the way. The computer software install was broken. The connectivity between computer and device was broken, the connectivity between the device and sensors was broken, the connectivity between device and iOS app was broken, and the documentation leaves quite a bit to be desired.In the end, after attempting to calibrate the device 15-20 times with no data received back from it at all, several emails exchanged with support, and a few posts to the velocomp message boards, I decided to return it. Would it have worked perfectly with just one more tweak? Perhaps, but I'd long since lost confidence. I'd much rather have my $325 back than this thing. In fact I'd PAY $325 to never have this sort of OOB experience again.It's a neat idea, and the underlying technology may in fact work. The product experience however, certainly does not. At least not for me.

Can be interesting or a headache depending on your setupThe good:- I like the concept of this device: providing a reasonably accurate estimate of power, for less money, and being able to move it to different bikes in the future.- Also, the customer support was friendly and quick to repair and ship me back the product after it malfunctioned.The bad/ugly:- There are just too many thing that need to work perfectly for this unit to be useable:it needs to always receive speed and cadence information, it needs to be in the right state (mood?), and then it needs to transmit correctly to whatever device you use for display/recording.- When things are not perfect, the unit itself with 1 led and 1 button does not provide a practical way to notice a problem and even less to diagnose and fix it. At best, you'll need to hook it up to a computer to interact with it.- As it stands, it is a lot less useful than letting Strava guess the power. In fact, I wish I knew how to delete the powerPod data and let Strava/Garmin re-estimate instead.After several months, hours of fiddling, and many test/calibration rides, I am calling it quit and will remove that useless device from my bike.I would advise most people to do without, or save until you can afford a stand-alone power meter.Edited 2017/12/10:After having changed a few things on the bike ( Edge 520, moved speed/cadence sensor, not using running shoes with footpod, ...) I decided to try again. I only did a few mountain bike rides, but so far it seems to be reliable.

It has no adapter for all the guidons

I purchased this to get my start using power for my training. I wasn't sure how easy it was to set up but its actually pretty easy. First off is the Cons that I noticed. For discussion PP equals Power PodNumber 1. I couldn't install the software on a Vista Laptop. I got an error that you had to have at least Windows 7 to run. This isn't a big deal because I have a desktop but for some it might matter. There's two different files that you have to install to get Isaac (PP software) to work with the PPNumber 2. If your going to use Isaac software a lot you will either need a laptop near the bike or remove the PP each time to do the downloads into your computer. This is only one screw to remove it but still takes a couple of minutes.Number 3. If you use the supplied clamp you will need to get the mount close to your stem to take advantage of the larger diameter. I didn't want to use a rubber spacer on the mount.Number 4. Led light is small and with the sun out its sometimes not easy to see.OK, THE PRO'S I'll skip the numbers because I could list a bunchMount is super strong. You could probably hang your bike by the mountPP only weighs 50 grams.Easy to mount, comes with a screw and a screw with a thumb handle for easier use.Easy to pair with Garmin (I have the 810)Seems to have quick readings and output.When you calibrate it the PP tells you when to turn around. Super easy.I'm getting lots of data that I didn't know it does, like coasting time and gearsI road a little in the rain with no effects or reading problems.Charges pretty quickly.Final Thoughts: I would buy it again for sureIts going to help my training and maybe keep me from blowing out on hillsMight buy a laptop to keep with my bike for ease of use but which is easier removing PP or messing with a laptop? Might depend on how much I need to download the data from the PP. There's other options for getting readings besides Isaac. All of the data also goes on your Garmin as well.you just don't see the detailed graphs.UPDATE; I've been using it awhile now and still love it. I've used tech support a couple times after I had to change computers and have quickly gotten an answer from them. The data I'm getting seems to be accurate and consistent. I would buy it again for sure.