any word on the ibike unit?

Just wondering if anyone has a take on the new ibike power unit?

mmerchant

 

http://www.ibikesports.com/

It's still under development. Supposed to launch late last year but they have some issues that are still being resolved. It will likely be more of a novelty power measuring device like HAC4 and Polar.

 

This has been around for a while, I am sure there are other posts about this unit on this site.

I think the consensus is still SRM or Powertap.

 

I am quite interested since my 'every-day' road bike has disc brakes and a triple. I emailed in mid-April as to when they would be shipping and received a reply saying May 15. Nothing has changed on the web site, though, except maybe the price. Wasn't it $350?? Now $400. Still way cheaper than a Polar which is my only other possibility.

Also have heard nothing about the testing that a lab was running for them.

TF

 

Puh-leeze.... You can't seriously lump those two together. I have experience with both and can honestly tell you that the HAC is definitely "for entertainment purposes only" but the Polar is actually a useful training tool. I think your ignorance is showing...

However, I have to say, the HAC is actually relatively accurate on long, steady, relatively steep climbs...everywhere else it's power "guess" is almost random.

I'm actually holding my judgement on the potential "useability" of the new IBike PM until they actually get released and we can start seeing some head-to-head comparisons against the other PMs. Right now it's just "vaporware", but I'll still give them the benefit of the doubt.

 

There were several threads on this a while back, and you can search the forum for all the speculation and heresay that we were able to conjure up at the time. In reality, I'm not sure the product has even been released yet for distribution, so I doubt you'll find any informed opinions on its use or performance.

 

RE Polar: Just my $0.02 after watching a half dozen riders try one then ditch it on ebay for a PT or SRM. WHEN it works guys liked it. The problem seems to be getting it to work. They all said installation was long and operation prone to error. Add expensive price($700) and it turns into an expensive entry level system that frustrates many users into not using it. Maybe not quite a novelty device but there are cetainly much better options.

 

I am reading reports that it's supposed to ship this or next week. So hopefully the wait (and test results) on this will be over soon.

 

ordered it, i'll let everyone know what happens - all i'm concerned with is that it measures relative power accurately. Don't really care if it is absolute, but as long as it measures the same power on the same course, conditions and speed then it will be an inexpensive addition to the cycling world - could be too good to be true!

mmerchant

 

Hi Guys,
For those of you interested in that new power meter, I had emailed them about the update a couple weeks ago and received this today:
I apologize deeply for the delay in answering your email.

We are sending the email below to everyone today but I thought I would provide it to you personally. Here it is:

To our customers:

When we introduced the iBike Pro® power meter we said it would deliver outstanding performance, simplicity, and features at an affordable price.

All production components of iBike Pro are completely manufactured and ready to ship. We have been riding with production units daily and in our rides we are seeing solid performance from the iBike Pro. Unfortunately, exhaustive testing last week revealed unexpected software bugs that need to be fixed. While fixing the bugs means another delay in shipping, we felt we owed it to you - and to ourselves - to keep our pledge that we will only ship an outstanding product. Due to the nature of software development, we are not sure what the timing for working out these bugs will be but we are working as quickly as we can to fix them.

We know that some companies feel that it is perfectly acceptable to ship products with bugs and fix them later; however, we feel you deserve to receive what you expected - and what we promised - even if it means waiting a little longer.

We know you are deeply disappointed and that we jumped the gun by saying the units would be ready to ship last week, but we hope that you will continue to extend us the patience and courtesy you've shown.

Please know that we are doing everything we possible can to overcome these unexpected bugs as quickly as possible.


Glen Cunningham and John Hamann

As you can see we have been working full-tilt to find and fix bugs. We're making progress but we're not done yet.

Thank you for your patience.

I am interested in seeing 3rd party reviews after this finally comes out!

 

got the same e-mail, this thing better work because they are not doing themselves any favors by continually pushing back the shipping date! I ordered it and i'll let everyone know once i get it!!

mmerchant

 

Everyone:

Hi, it's John Hamann from iBike.

Well, we're trying to wipe all the egg off our face for missing our expected ship date, that's for sure!

But one thing we have been consistent about is not relaxing our standards to get product out the door fast.

Some of you may remember that the first delay we announced--in November of 2005--was because we decided to improve the water resistance of our design. At Interbike we had heard many complaints about water problems in other power meters and we wanted to be sure ours was water-tight.

Well, last night we rode in the rain with an iBike and with a power meter that costs at least $1,000 more (sorry, we will never say which one). At the end of the ride theirs showed water leakage into the LCD window; the iBike was clean and worked without any problem (even though we have a wind pressure port that is exposed to rain--some of you have asked about that). OK, it took us 4 months longer to get a design we knew would be right. BUT WE GOT IT RIGHT.

We've been doing lots of riding with the iBike and we have (inevitibly) found software glitches to fix. Could we ship the product now and fix the glitches on the fly? Yes...and we know of others who have done just that. But we won't lower our standards to meet a date. Any bugs we find we will fix before we ship.

We deserve to take lumps for our delays, but we won't ever have to take lumps for shipping a disappointing product.

 

Anything? Performancebike.com has had the same "Will be availalble 5/19/06" sign for the last few weeks. The only news I can seem to get is from random blogs and internet posts that there are bugs that need to be sorted out.

I respect the push to deliver a "good" product, but what's the latest and greatest?

 

I received my iBike pro Friday. Installed it, did the two calibrations (tilt and coast)...had to do coast several times. It would still register watts a good 30-40 seconds after I stopped pedaling. After a few caibrations, I still a delay at watts count down, but they do get to 0 when pedaling stops when I'm on a flat, or mild incline (takes maybe 15-30 seconds). Did a hill with 14% grade...still registered well over 100 W on the way down, minus pedaling. Didn't get to 0 watts until I had coasted down to about 9-10 mph.

But, I'm very excited and positive about the purchase...The unit seems logical otherwise. Took the same hill several times over the past 2 days, and the same 20 mile RT trip to it, and readings on the instrument itself seemed consistent day-to-day. Unfortunately, I haven't been able to download the data onto my PC...I've written the guys (John and Glen, as I recall) and asked for an explanation of what I'm doing incorrectly...I can edit rider data on the unit from my PC, as well as units, date, etc....just can't seem to see that the unit is actually logging my rides. I seem a cumulative of 49 miles on the unit, no evidence of that while trying to download ride data. Computer glitch, or just as likely, a me-glitch.

So initially...very easy install (if I can do it, anyone can); easy and painless calibration, although instructions need to be followed to a "T"; reasonable data seen on unit during ride, with the exception of downhill power readings (no pedaling); and trouble downloading ride data onto my PC for analysis (might be me more than the unit). The last 2, I'm sure, will be resolved within a couple of days...I have these same types of experiences with any new instrument. Takes me a while to get it right...

Glenn referred to an eval with the > $1000 unit...he sent those data graphed out to quite a few folks. The power readings of the 2 power meters were very, very similar, ad I'm looking forward to more data comparisons from other folks...If other subjective comparisons show the same trend, this is pretty much what they claim...

Anyone else get their unit? Similar experiences? Suggestions?

Happy 4th!

Bill

 

The real value of training with a power meter is the power data file itself. Software like CyclingPeak can analyze your ride from your 5sec power to 1 hour power. Having the ability to read your power output during your ride is only helpful if you know your power profile. I think you should workout the PC download part as soon as you can.

 

Please keep the reviews coming, I'm really curious about this product.

 

Give John and Glen their due on this...I sent an email describing the problems listed. There was an upload available late last night...I opened it this evening, (after my day's ride). But, after uploading, I did take the iBike for a spin around the neighborhood.

For those points I specifically mentioned earlier:

1. Positive watts readings while pedaling...Fixed! In all wind directions, uphill and downhill...in all conditions I could come up with in the neighborhood, the iBike correctly showed 0 watts when I stopped pedalling, almost always within 4-7 seconds after I stopped pedalling (ramping down to 0 started within a second of so after I stopped pedalling). The ramp up in watts usually starting occurring within 2-4 pedal strokes.

2. The upload today also fixed the problem with being able to download rides onto the PC...Fixed!! And the data analysis program is a no-brainer. Very direct. Very simple.

Tomorrow, I'll start a few day process of determining my baselines.

For those of you with PT, SRM and Polars, I hope you can get your hands on an iBike and do a really stringent comparison study.

Again, I'm not sure John and Glen could have been more accessible or responsive on this holiday weekend. They get a ton of credit for customer satisfaction and response!!

Bill

 

Side by side report comparisons would be awesome. Also a lead as to where I can get them asap

 

Just a thought, (one I haven't seen expressed before) how much power is consumed by the drive train? How does this change with the condition of the chain sprockets? If we consider "real" power measurement (Force x Distance in a given time) the Force component should be measured as close to the bottom of the riders foot as possible. So not even the power tap is able to measure this.



It would be very interesting for someone with an SRM to do some drive chain tests. Is the power loss significant? How does it vary with condition, AND to do these tests side by side with the iBike!



If this loss is fairly constant (assuming reasonable drive maintenance) perhaps this can be added in the iBike "opposing forces" calculation.



The other opposing force that I have seen discussed is road condition. Particularly with respect to mountain biking. Now I read that this iBike has an accelerometer in it. I assume it is set to be sensitive to (y axis) the normal direction of travel. Perhaps another of these measuring, acceleration in the (z axis) vertical direction. This would give an indication of terrain roughness. It could make it suitable for Mt bikers too...



The iBike product is very intriguing, and I am sure all of us would like to see how close it can come to the expensive "direct power measurement" devices.