Stages Power and SS

[MattS]

I recently got the stages power meter, I’ve had some trouble with it on the SS. While I’m already in touch with Stages and trying to work through it with them, I wanted to see if you’ve used the stages on a single speed. The issue is that cadence and power drop to zero when I get out of the saddle to climb steeper sections where the cadence is really low and the power should be pretty high. You mentioned you use the stages some and I know you’ve spent some time with power meters on the SS, so I just wanted to see if this was something you’d experienced before?

Thanks.

[Dave]

Yes, I have seen this as well. I believe the issue is with the Stages accelerometer which is used to detect cadence. Once cadence drops to around 35 it is no longer reliably measured. Force with no cadence is zero power, bummer! I did contact Stages about this and they claimed it should work at any cadence. Not so IME.

In the end, it turned out to not be too big a deal for me. If you look at quadrant analysis of one of your power files, you’ll see to produce FTP at a cadence of ~ 35 requires near maximal pedal force. I have taken this as a sign of overgearing – you can only crank out max force for so long. I have a strong dislike for altering riding style/habits as a result of Stages oddities, but in this case I’d recommend choosing a gear that keeps your cadence above 40 for the most part. You’ll have better power, endurance, and data.

Or, get a power2max. They are much better for single speeders IME.

[MattS]

Thanks a lot for the feedback, I was thinking the same thing with the accelerometer, but they say it should work, which is why I was hoping to get some other’s experience. I’ll experiment some with the gearing and do some more research on the power2Max.

[ssidener]

Hi, I have been using Stages power on my SS for over a year now and see some of the same issues. I think the 4iiii power meter may be a little better in this regard. I just bought one of those as well, but put it on my geared bike. I’m thinking of buying one to replace the Stages.

I find that power isn’t measured properly when exerting pressure at slow cadences. I ALSO find that “pulling” up on the crank arm in the other half of the rotation makes Stages get stuck in zero power for a little bit. ie if you can both push and pull on your crank arm, Stages has a hard time transitioning between push to pull. The strain gauge sees stress fields swapping. So the power in the upstroke is very sketchy. Kind of frustrating.

Scott

[MattS]

Thanks Scott, its a little frustrating since I spend a lot of my time on my SS and was really interested in the numbers from that. However being that a lot of the SS time is in Pisgah and there is so much steep/tech riding the numbers get so skewed they’re hardly worth looking at.

I suppose I can put it on my geared bike but I’d say I generally spend 50% of my time on my SS then the other 50% is split between a gravel bike and a FS which can’t really share a crank arm, so now I’ve got a power meter for a bike that I’ll spend 25% of my time on.

I’m still kind of going back and forth with Stages but while they are really responsive and nice, I’m not sure they think there is an issue.

[Author]

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