Where to purchase a PT Pro?

padawan

Many thanks to those who commented on my previous post! So now that I've decided to buy a PT Pro, I've run into the dilemma of where to get the best price/after purchase service combination.

I'm a big believer of shopping at your LBS but I'm not happy with the price their offering (approx. $1,250 USD before tax for a PT Pro built into a Mavic Open Pro) - it just doesn't seem competitive. I'm not going to be a weight weenie at this point so I'm just looking for a relatively inexpensive but solid training wheel. If I could get a semi-aero rim, that I could train on but also do the occasional TT on (can't afford Zipps this year), that would be an added bonus. I may want to swap the wheel between a road bike and a TT bike.

Does anyone have recommendations for a wheel builder that could offer a competitive price on a wheel built around a PT Pro - but won't cease to exist after they ship me the wheel? Since they'll probably have to ship it to me (I'm in Toronto, Canada), I want to feel confident that if I run into problems that they'll gurantee the product. I'll also take recommendations for the rim too, but that may be dictated somewhat buy where I purchase it.

Cheers

kmavm

In my limited investigation, aebike.com seems to have an outstanding price for PowerTaps built onto DT swiss rims. The wheel is a decent, solid training wheel, and nothing more. It is substantially heavier than the reynolds OCR rear it was replacing, which is sort of a compromise train/race wheel.

I guess I should also warn that I'm one of those unlucky people who are having a lot of trouble getting this system to work, but I don't blame aebike for that. They shipped my stuff promptly, and at a really outstanding price (less than $1000 for a built powertap SL).

ric_stern/RST

We'll be offering a discount on PTs and PTs & Coaching in our January sale. Discounts for the PT will be on a hub or hub system or on the pre built PT wheels. We can also have your PT built up into a complete wheel for you. Discounts will vary depending on what exactly is purchased but will range from 10% off just a PT system to a free SL hub system when purchased with our Pro level coaching package.

Ric

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http://www.cyclecoach.com

kmavm

By the way, while I'm glad about the amazing price, I think I may have made a mistake in not going with the local bike store. I don't know the exact percentage, but evidence suggests that a significant portion of powertap users have pretty serious technical difficulties until they settle into a setup that works. If I had an LBS to go to, where my face is known and my business valued, I suspect they'd be in a better position to troubleshoot, trade out parts, etc., than I am, and without going back and forth through the mail to Saris. So, in making your LBS vs. internet decision, consider the fact that for a lot of people, this hardware just doesn't work at first, and you may experience significantly less heartache and wasted time going the LBS route.

E.g., I have a race on January 1st that I'd love to collect data for; right now it's anybody's guess if I'll be able to.

frenchyge

I think that may be more common with the SL setup than the Pro. FWIW, I purchased my PT Pro from www.analyticcycling.com built into a Mavic wheel and bundled with the Cycling Peaks software. I felt that was the best price for the package I was looking for, but wasn't particularly impressed with the wheel build. I'll probably have the hub built into a more aero wheel at some point, anyway.

RapDaddyo

My theory on the SL's problems is that the weak link in the chain is the receiver. If I understand what Saris did when they introduced the SL, they just changed to hub and re-used the Pro computer and receiver. But, the batteries, transmitter and freewheel are different in the SL. I think it is basically incompatible with the Pro receiver, but not in a predictable, consistent manner. What Saris should do is re-design the receiver, but I doubt they will do that with the 2.4Ghz model coming out next summer. If somebody is having problems with hub data, either inconsistent or no data, the first place I would look is the receiver, both the unit itself and the mount.