firebird854

Just wanted to write a quick review about the OUTSTANDING service Saris provided for a recent PowerTap G3 failure.

Little backstory: I purchased a PowerTap G3 hub built into a DT swiss (cheapo) wheel from the PowerMeter City site in March. Out of the box, it worked flawlessly, even sending speed + cadence after a firmware update. After a few months, I started receiving a "low battery" prompt on my Garmin 820, I used their funky tool (this was kind of a pain) and replaced the battery without issue.

A few months later I managed to crash during a race, which sliced off a portion of the plastic cap that threads into the hub. I still had the pieces, and, since it was plastic threading into metal, I used plastic specific glue to put it back together. A few months after this the unit stopped transmitting whatsoever, and, because of my gluing, I couldn't attempt any troubleshooting like replacing the battery.

So, I had been reluctant to try, as I had literally crashed and glued parts back together, but I called up Saris and clicked the buttons for their Power Meter customer service line. I really only mentioned that it had stopped working, and I had bought it in March through PowerMeterCity. They didn't require that I fax them a receipt or ask me 20 questions try and get me to trip up on the warranty (I was ready, I've been burned by my stupid car insurance company too many times...), they just gave me a RA number and told me to send it to them. Instead, I just drove down to Saris, as I actually live only an hour from Madison WI, and handed them the wheel.

I was then absolutely mind blown, when 4 days later, a box showed up with my wheel, power meter completely fixed and (clearly broken) plastic cap replaced, the hub looks brand new! No prompts for surveys, no charges, nothing, I had just dropped it off and gotten it fixed! So happy!

Psimet2001 

They can be good. No complaints from that end. I know the product manager for the powertap line well. They definitely put more than a couple of $$ in my pocket over the years. Unfortunately with their massive pricing structure change it makes it near impossible for anyone other than them to actually sell powertaps and make any sort of profit at all. They are basically bringing everything back in house so it behooves them to step it up on the customer service.

I have a friend/acquaintance who is an engineer there who has been working on a project he won't/can't tell me about though and says it's amazing stuff. As with all things Saris it's going to take years to eventually make it to market but I would expect good things.So while they may not be the most relevant power option currently I would keep an eye on them.

firebird854

Solid points, but they do have some innovative power meters, being the only company with hub and chainring options, both of which are dual sided (although you can't get independent breakdowns) and are incredibly competitively priced. The only problem, like you mentioned, is their inventory has grown kind of stale. The PowerTap P2s they released are alright, but are functionally the same as the P1 with slightly less weight and slightly longer battery life.

I would looovvee to see some new chainrings or a crankset option, or perhaps something new entirely, but at least their current lineup works, is pretty competitive, and I get to be happy with their customer service.

rubiksoval

They replaced two different rims on my G3 as the rims kept cracking around the eyelet holes. Except for the utterly stupid reasoning from the customer rep guy (the wheels aren't made for higher power outputs?!!), I always got a new wheel soon after with no fuss. The last wheel they sent had a different rim (think they updated them) and I haven't had any problems with it.

Have their C1 rings as well as my primary powermeter. Would love for a 4-bolt updated version of that, but guessing that's not in the cards.

Psimet2001 

base2 

I second their customer support being generally pretty top notch. I have 2 sets of P1 pedals (1 new, 1 refurbished), & 7(I think?) G3 hubs, 5 of which were from Craigslist. I sent 1 in to be rebuilt/overhauled to G3 on my own. FedEx wanted $100 for shipping, UPS the cost was $40. The wheels arrived with in a week & a half on a FedEx truck not 1 word about shipping cost. It just arrived completely upgraded as if it was a brand new 11 speed & ready to have a tire installed. The 4 other craigslist hubs/wheels were already upgraded to G3 before I got them. Not 1 has given me issues. Even in the pouring rain. The one that got submurged in a river...The most I had to do was remove the battery & let it get un-soggy.

Thus far I am impressed. Even when I took a 32 hole, 130mm road hub and had to buy an end cap to install it on a 135mm mountain bike...They didn't have end caps on their website, so I called and talked to a real human, then they sent the cap for a CyclOps trainer. A second phone call got the right cap to my door in 48 hours.

My ebay Amp 35 wheel set has 10,000 miles and have never even needed to be trued. The Hed Belgium set has never needed anything since bought & has even tension on all the spokes to this day, and the "Cycleops rental" wheel is about 10 years old, I'm the 3rd owner only needed a battery. The rest have all, indeed been built by professional builders, & I agree, a professional builder is best, but they do power meters. Wheels, I think are a secondary concern & what they offer in terms of quality of build is certainly no worse than anything else available on the market. In anycase, $30 and a trip to a known wheel builder for touch-up isn't unreasonable considering the same cost would apply to ANY machine built wheel for anyone that cares enough to be concerned.

Even so, customer service is the focus of this thread, & they have it in spades.

firebird854

Seven G3s and 2 P1 pedals? wow!

base2 

It takes a sharp eye and a lot of patience.

As mentioned, Craigslist is a tremendous resource as people tend to tire of cycling after awhile, tend to tire of data after awhile, tire of a particular wheel set, wear that wheel brake tracks out, tend to lose site of their original investment, etc...

I think the most I ever paid for a hub in a used wheel was $250.

I once got a wheel set that was free. I paired it with a $100 hub that supposedly no longer transmitted...the guy didn't know it needed batteries. I installed a battery, it paired to my Garmin and being on the spot with no other options to recover from being dumb, the guy sold it to me.

I found another HED Belgium+ at the local co-op $150 later it was mine. The very next day Wheel Builder got an order for a matching front. I forget the exact specifics, but after a telephone conversation, $20 came back to me.

There was a sale put on by on Powertap. The deal was "turn in your old hub & get a discount on a new one." So I hit eBay, sorted by price. I found a $15 broken one and as soon as it arrived it went right back in the box with a new shipping label bound for Wisconsin. Soon an email arrived for 30% off a brand new model.

One dual sided P1 pedal set was a refurbished unit, the other was on a mid-winter 30% off sale.

My only carbon wheel set arrived via an eBay "buy it now" auction at 60% cheaper than new, all I had to do was brace myself against the knowledge they were used for one season by a previous owner. Shopping for bike parts in December is a good time.

Another, that I didn't include above was found in a bin at the local co-op. It was $20. I spent a further $7 in button batteries at the Rite-Aid I gave it to a friend. It's still on a shelf in her garage. She hasn't touched it because it is ancient and only does ANT+ and doesn't have Bluetooth capabilities to her phone. I should ask for it back and overhaul it to a modern unit.


And so it goes, a bit here and there and a lot of patience and a lot of time.