carpediemracing 

+1

topflightpro

My wife is on 11-speed on one of her bikes. I'm still on 10-speed for everything.

Some day I will upgrade, but right now, it isn't necessary. I have so many 10-speed cassettes with life left in them that I don't need to upgrade. Also, my main wheelset has CK R45 hubs, and those cost about $250 to change to 11-speed. (That includes the cost of having the wheel re-dished.) If I had DT hubs, it's a much cheaper and simpler freehub swap.

mike868y

welp, rain killed my stages.

piece of ****.

globecanvas

Take the battery cover off, take the battery out, point a fan at it. It will probably recover.


FWIW I wrap the pod in electrical tape. Stages doesn't recommend this because they say it can trap condensation, but I have ridden through full on monsoons (including several times this week) with no water infiltration problems.

mike868y

at work so i can't do the fan, but i'll take the cover off for the rest of the day until the ride home.

mike868y

just came back to this thread to confirm this as i remember reading it. i guess i'll try this moving forward. kind of ridiculous, tbh.

Harlan

Hope you bought new. It should be waterproof according to them, right?

mike868y

yeah i bought new. and idk what the official line is but for a product targeted at racers it sure as **** should be waterproof.

TheKillerPenguin

#PowerTap4LyfeFresh2DethTupac

tetonrider

other than the SKY marketing play, i don't know that they specifically target it at racers. i'm sorry you experienced this.

last night, a friend who was going to buy an SRM decided he wanted 2 stages units instead. it's all good...he was getting cost so it's no hardship for me. i was saddened to see your post. i hope he doesn't have the same fate.

lots of pros/cons to every meter, and every individual unit can always have a freak issue no matter what, but you just tend to see less issues with certain ones, esp in adverse conditions.

it's a bummer they can't have a better fix. "user replaceable battery" is both blessing and a curse, IME.

hope they sort you out quickly.

mike868y

haven't heard back from support yet, but globe canvas knows his stuff...it started working (and was spitting out reasonable numbers) on the way home.

Ygduf

user-replaceable batteries are not a water concern in many other powermeters, and probably hundreds of other consumer electronics. Within arms reach I can see a watch and a lumix ruggedized camera that I've had underwater.

tetonrider

it's not subjective: one more area that opens and closes is a possible point of water entry.

both stages and quarq have had problems when seals fail, including riding in the rain or traveling to a race with a car on a roof rack...in the rain.

this is not to say that there are not *better* solutions than the one employed by quarq/stages, just to say that they can and do fail more often. perhaps they will improve their solution over time, but it's a trade-off between convenience and performance. riders who only ride in dry conditions (probably many!) never have an issue, so perhaps the companies figure they don't need to bother to change the design -- accommodating the larger group and alienating the smaller. don't know, just guessing there.

short of companies coming on here and releasing transparent warranty data (not likely), all i can go on is the numerous meters i've seen where covers have failed.

the watches i've owned that were waterproof (by whatever official standard) required a factory servicing to be assured of retaining a water-proof status. water-resistant? no big deal.

Harlan

Does anyone know of any aero frames with long and low geometry besides Trek H1? Like Aki I've got a similar but less extreme case of get-low-itis. I'm on a 73 parallel 54 cervelo now - 541 stack 380 reach. 140 stem makes the unweighted rear wheel situation really dicey.

echappist

scott foil and, if you could get your hand on it, canyon aeroad.

hack

Felt AR

Harlan

Thanks. Will investigate. CDR mentioned I can try to shift my weight back on purpose when the skipping happens. Could help. If not, new bike.


Is a used SRM more desirable than say, getting a Pioneer installed on an existing crank? If they were the same price (I know they're not, but since I already own the crank...), I can't see wanting a used unit unless they're vastly more robust.

Surfer3287

I have had zero issues with my vintage SRM PCV (mine is still branded with the pink "team Telekom" decal), other than having to send it back to Colorado for battery changes. I constantly fight upgrade-itis on wanting shiny new bits, and being stuck on 10-speed has really stopped me from venturing out into anything better than my 2011 SRAM Rival groupset (Force shifters) since it would mean selling or junking my PCV and having to venture into the unknown.

I would love to return to 170mm cranks (I'm always on the lookout for a set on eBay), and I continue to be interested in Garmin Vectors, but again, that involves buying a new PM + head unit, and needing a new crankset. While I'm upgrading crankset,...

For what it's worth, this PCV was definitely worth the $399 I paid for it in 2011.

carpediemracing 

Used SRM - wired are reliable but for me I go through a wiring harness every 1-2 years. $65 + shipping. The proprietary download cable is a bit fragile. I broke one, one is still working. I don't see them listed on SRM's site anymore. I solder the batteries myself (spider $15, PCV $8?). I use 50 lbs worth of plates to calibrate (plus 3? lbs of chains and such). I follow the instructions posted on Slowtwitch a long time ago.

So annually I spend at least $70-ish on a wiring harness. I bought 5? spider batteries on my last order, and I am out of PCV batteries (slightly shorter lasting than OEM but the correct size and voltage). I get them through Mouser.

6 hours or so of recording time on the PCV at 1 second granularity. My PCV goes about 6-10 hours before it dies. Spider battery maybe once eveyr 2 years for me.

I was really jonesing to upgrade but I've put that aside for a year or two. Wireless SRM is sweet - micro usb download cable, micro usb charge, tons of memory, etc.

Surfer3287

Agreed on the sensor cable (just replaced this year, so I got 4-5 years + however old it was before I purchased it) and the download cable (both of which I bought from the website back in August). Also, had to send back my PowerControl after it was dead and wouldn't recharge (about 4 months after being sent to Colorado.) A phone call from Colorado after I had sent it back asked how old my charger was. I had no idea, and the woman from SRM was ​extremely kind in replacing it (and the battery) free of cost.

So, yes, there are small costs that come along with keeping wired bits whole that may not happen with the wireless units, but it has certainly served me well.

To keep my harness safe, I never uncoil it and have a dedicated spot reserved on my desk so it never gets bent or flexed. I download ride data everyday, so I don't have to worry about hours ever.

mike868y

how long do stages batteries last for most people?

globecanvas

9 months maybe?

carpediemracing 

Totally agreeing with you on how the SRM wired serves its owner. However, for people on a budget budget, the wired SRM is not a free thing, where you just replace some coin batteries every now and then. There's a definite cost to wired harnesses, possible download cables, battery replacements. Someone buying a $400 SRM because it's not $450 might be unpleasantly surprised that it might take $100 to keep the unit going for a year. Not saying it's not worth it, just saying that knowing these somewhat fixed costs would be good for someone in that situation.

carpediemracing 

Also, to echo, SRM customer service has been exemplary. For example I was eyeing a wireless SRM used. I asked SRM about compatibility and learned that that particular unit had been upgraded from a wired version, it was PCV/PC6/PC7 compatible, and that it was sort of recently serviced. I also learned that for the cost of the used crankset alone I could get a wired unit upgraded by SRM AND a refurbished PC7 from SRM.

When I bought my first SRM it was on a bike (Cannondale Team replica, Campy Record/SRM). The bike was legally used but technically new. I think the shop built it up for the floor then re-boxed it in its original box (serial number on box matched SN on bike, came with all manuals, even came with Cannondale SI crank tools in an OEM baggie, and it was one of maybe 10-12 such model bikes sold by the same shop). However one battery was dead, I think the PCV. SRM warranty replaced the battery, which ever one it was, after I told them how I bought it.

mike868y

lol ok so the fact that i got a "low battery" warning on saturday (on my garmin) after about a month is not a great sign