Originally Posted by
WhyFi
Direct force power meters, which are the vast majority in use, use strain gauges - no wind wizardry needed. There's are some meters, like the PowerPod, that infer power by way of incorporating air speed, bike speed, acceleration, slope, etc. I would assume that you'd be able to easily tease out wind speed with one of those devices, but I don't know - meaning I've never looked for it - if that's a data field that head unit manufacturers have embraced/made available.
exactly my point. For $299 (up to $600) the consumer should have access to everything, but that doesn't mean they do. I don't have $299 for it anyway. Power pods has a competitor in the same price range but I forgot their name.
Imagine flat highway as far as you can see, you're pedaling hard but barely moving. No speedometer, no wind meter, and you'd be kind of like AARGH WTF right? I thought this was a fairly normal reaction, and the logical next thought is, "how fast is this accursed wind anyway?" "What would be my equivalent ride distance with no wind?" "At what wind level do I give up?"