Review: Velocomp’s Powerpod powermeter
Theoretically perfect but the device needs work.
With a race history of burning matches too soon and chasing leaderboards absentmindedly, I set out to find a powermeter I could train with on my road, cross and mountain bikes ahead of Dirty Kanza without buying three different devices. Finding one to work in different environments, on different bikes that swapped seamlessly and quickly, however, was more difficult than I thought.
Why are there no interchangeable powermeters?
There are pedal-based powermeters aplenty (Garmin, SRM), but they’re designed for road. Assioma’s can apparently be modified to be MTB-cleat compatible, but this isn’t a purpose-designed solution and I was reluctant to buy a pair only to bust them open with a plumber’s wrench.
Enter Velocomp and their Powerpod: it fits in your palm, sits under a Garmin on a K-Edge out-front mount, is backed by science (yes, science) and in powermeter parlance, is cheap at US$249. Most importantly, it’s fluid across bikes. We contacted John Hamann, CEO and founder of Velocomp, for details.
How it works
Put simply, the Powerpod measures acceleration. While “traditional” powermeters use a strain gauge, the Powerpod uses an accelerometer to measure force exerted to push forward against an environment. “Accelerometers are mass-produced, extremely accurate and used across major industries, including automotive, aerospace and defense,” said Hamann during several interviews.
The Powerpod reads 800 measurements per second, including as the rider moves from left to right, up and down, and can observe as you turn the crank through wobble. Throughout its development, user and pro team feedback was inputted (Tinkoff-Saxo, CCC and Team Colombia have all used it) which has helped with some refinements.
Compared to a strain gauge, the Powerpod’s accelerometer technology has no stress on the components and is not temperature dependent, which should make it more durable. That said, users (ourselves included) experienced that getting it wet clogs the intake and impacts outputs until dry. Not ideal (but also not uncommon with accelerometer devices).
The Powerpod comes with “Isaac” branded software, and though dated (think MS’95), gives you all the data you want, which can then be dissected further in their online community. It is charged via USB and has a battery life of 25 hours, including internal memory for each ride, and can be charged while riding.
On the road
The user experience isn’t challenge-free. To begin, the Powerpod syncs to a Garmin or Wahoo device via speed sensor on the wheel hub (which you need to purchase separately so it can identify each bike) and mounts on any GoPro mount (it comes with one that connects to the bars, but the best solution is the K-Edge Garmin holder with GoPro mount). Assume around $100 additional cost for each bike if you don’t have these items handy.
Each speed sensor syncs to the Powerpod unit to identify the individual bike, then the sensors must initially be calibrated through a one-time ride of around 10 minutes as the Powerpod locks in user data.
This is certainly a greater nuisance then spinning the crank backwards a few times, but you only need to do the out-and-back calibration (“O&B” in Powerpod lingo) one time for each bike. At least that’s the intent. We did multiple O&B’s for each bike, getting wildly different results. Sometimes it was too windy, sometimes too bumpy, sometimes the Powerpod sync’d with the wrong sensor.
We did eventually get the O&B syncing dialed with help from the Velocomp helpdesk (essential a direct line to Hamann); this was a huge help. (Velocomp is a small, founder-led business. Kudos to that.) They worked through our issues and identified some firmware updates which they are working on.
Once synced, the Powerpod worked well on road and cross bikes. But don’t focus on power outputs on a continual basis as it does make adjustments to average out. It can spike when switching to a new bike, but after a couple minutes of riding it recalibrates (consistent across a given ride with smart trainer and Quarq outputs). (Note that it doesn’t work well with front shocks (i.e. on a mountain bike) as the rapid up-and-down motion causes it to assume herculean climbs in rapid succession, so would need to lock-out the fork.)
Conclusions
The Powerpod is mostly accurate when it syncs and is working; it takes effort however to make that happen. The main issues (i.e. rain sensitivity, hardware + software glitches and internal device tinkering) add to the generally finicky nature of the unit.
Perhaps a firmware update and a few more O&B rides will get it working on the road bike. Who knows?We’ve got the K-Edge mounts and speed sensors, so willing to keep trying. For users with a high degree of patience and technical aptitude and who are willing to sacrifice consistency and accuracy for cost and flexibility (excluding mountain bikes, of course), the Powerpod could be worthwhile, particularly as Velocomp continuously works to address several known user issues.
This is a small, entrepreneur-led business with a potentially groundbreaking device; one has to expect some troubleshooting which is typical within early-stage tech companies.
While writing this article, the Powerpod stopped working altogether; I had to go out and buy a small allen key to open it and tighten the circuitry, which was frustrating. It was synced with support from Velocomp, but it has yet to deliver accurate ride data. Most recently, normalized power was 514 watts (!) over a 120-kilometer ride, including some downhill stretches over 1000 watts, despite not actually pedalling. We’ve been unable to get usable results on any bike other than the cross bike, despite multiple O&B’s, hard resets and reboots.
This is a guest post from Toronto-area cyclist, Bram Walters.