Anyone gone from a PT back to Polar?

The PT SL has been a huge let down. After recieving just the hub for Christmas I built the wheel myself and it all took quite some time. To then have a unit that is DOR is unacceptable. I've sent it back for refund(internationally) as I cannot afford the time/money for another merry go round. In the meantime I was thinking that the Polar has lots of advangages anyway - so has anyone gone back or has the Polar it's own set of issues that are just as bad?

Pro Polar :-
Memory with proper File function
Multiple use watch
Alphanumeric display
Altitude
Thermometer
Basic mode to get everything working
Display Light
HR as Percentage
Outside US support
Fitness tests
Powerful chest strap/reception
Consumer quality finish

I may have interpreted your post incorrectly, but if you *only* ordered a hub how do you know it's dead? It doesn't seem from your post that you have another PT, and you need the rest of the kit for it to work...

ric

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Hi,
Sorry - I meant I got the hub kit including the computer/ mount kit as opposed to buying this as a wheel pre built set.

I built it into my existing Zipp 404's. Aside from working through the vibration issues the HR does not work unless you are 10 cm from the unit - I've changed all batteries.

How do I find out my wheel size - I have a Mavic cxp21 wheel is it 2100? trying to program my polar

Sorry, switched to PT after 2 years of love/hate with polar ('02 & '03) and haven't looked back. Only troubles I've had have been dead batteries and one time I had to open the cover to dry it after being a bit too enthusiastic with a garden hose.

If you've got (had) a vibration issue with the SL (which was an issue when they were first released and required a redesign of the receiver kit) then you've been sold a dud, that must have been hanging around for about 18 mths. Unless you mean something like a very occasional dropout (i get an odd second here or there about once a week)?

HR, not really sure, can't recall having used mine regularly since before 1998. Never worked on my SRM either. Not sure there's much/any point in monitoring HR if you have power.

Ric "i test the Power Taps and SRM i sell prior to despatch" (where possible, it isn't always possible).

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I am still bungling along w/Polar -

Depends on the tyre you use.

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"All that we see and seem is but a dream, within a dream..."

Position your bike with the valve from one of the wheels facing down at 6 oclock and note the position of the wheel. Push forward a full rotation and note the new value position. Measure distance between the two and this is your measured wheel size.

Don't forget to be sitting on it, with your tyres at their usual pressure, if you want accuracy!

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"All that we see and seem is but a dream, within a dream..."

I am not really clear exactly what the problem with your PT is ?

HR has never worked well I am afraid but any other issues can be resolved.

On balance the PT is the best all round PM I ave used (have tried them all over time) and to revert to Polar is not a step forward IMO.

(As Ric says - the vibration is no longer an issue with the newer units)

Well...I guess you could say I "kinda" have. I acquired a PT Pro wheel early in the year and actually tried it out "head to head" against my Polar setup. My intent was to see which I wanted to keep and to sell the "loser".

I ended up keeping both

For me, the advantages of the Polar are the ability to use whatever rear wheel I'd like and, believe it or not, the altitude recording function. I find it MUCH easier to review my power files having the altitude as "context". Also, the overall weight of the Polar setup is less than the PT Pro (not much of a difference with the SL though).

I kept the PT and now use it on my TT bike with a wheel cover. The things I like about the PT are that the display and button setup is a bit more "intuitive" to me, the sampling rate is as fast as 1.26s (Polar's is 5s), and that you can display the running average power of an interval (great for TTs).

However, truthfully, if the PT had altitude recording, I probably would've sold the Polars.

I DO know of one rider who's used PT exclusively for a long time and is considering getting a Polar unit. This is only because he plans on doing events that will be under UCI rules and a PT with a wheelcover wouldn't be legal for those events.

It works very nicely on the wireless.

I like HR: in conjunction with power it gives a signal to how overtrained I am, as opposed to just a reduction in fitness.

Dan

Ah, this was an old thread that got restarted with that question on the wheel size (!?)

Anyhow, the PT has been an adventure to say the least - some very odd things and not all neccessarily Saris's fault.

- First I installed one of the non coded wired SL's onto my Alu specialized Allez. Neither the power or the HR worked. the Hr was definately bust so Saris sent a new coded CPU together with belt - works far better that Polar now btw

- I just could not get the power to work after about 150 watts, either on the trainer or outdoors, so I returned it all to Saris and a new unit came back

- It still worked unreliably on my Allez, but I recently swapped to a carbon frame and it's working better now. It's still not perfect but I think it's just adjustment now. (today the speed control cobbles in my area stopped it working, but that's fair enough)

- I think the main problem is that I have very long legs. Consequently on stock frames I need the biggest size and a long seatpost. This creates maybe more rocking/vibration that most people and I think this is why I'm having so many problems. Carbon seems to be better than Alu in my experience.

The main thing is though Saris's customer care is excellent.

Oh yes - and After reading the Hunter/Coggan book on power training I realise all the right features are there!

None of these power meters is perfect and finding one that has the right features / pros / cons for you is part of the fun.

I am really happy with my PowerTaps and SRM, but I am using the older PowerTap Pro model and not the SL, and I use it off road with mountain/road/cross bikes so there's lots more vibration than one would ever see on a road bike without big dropout problems.

I also bought a Polar for my track bike after using a PowerTap for a while. Did not want to build up a single track only wheel for PowerTap but the older Polar's 5 second recording method was a crippling feature for that type of usage.