Are you in Australia? Where did you buy your powermeter?

[Roadie_scum]

Hello all,

I'm interested to know where those from down under have got their powermeters from. Any feedback on the ease with which you got it, the quality of the distribution channel and the post-sale service is appreciated.

If you got a powermeter from your local bike shop, I'd be interested to know which shop, which powermeter and, if you know, which distributor they dealt with.

Cheers,

RS

 

[Dini77]

Hello all,

I'm interested to know where those from down under have got their powermeters from. Any feedback on the ease with which you got it, the quality of the distribution channel and the post-sale service is appreciated.

If you got a powermeter from your local bike shop, I'd be interested to know which shop, which powermeter and, if you know, which distributor they dealt with.

Cheers,

RS

I think i put my response in another thread, but in short:
I purchased my PT SL from wheelbuilder.com and have found the service 1st rate. Haven't had any problems with the unit or wheel, except for a faulty receiver and a cracked plastic hub cover. Both of which were replaced without issue.

Australian distributors/LBS's are price comparable currently. The overseas shops have shipped enough these units internationally by now and there's always good deals available. Power training is still in its infancy amongsth the masses in Oz (at least that's my take) and any LBS's that can sell it, don't promote it that much. All the LBS go through British international if i'm not mistaken and i've been less than impressed with their level of service/advice.

Hope this helps

Cheers

 

[erik44gary]

Hello all,

I'm interested to know where those from down under have got their powermeters from. Any feedback on the ease with which you got it, the quality of the distribution channel and the post-sale service is appreciated.

If you got a powermeter from your local bike shop, I'd be interested to know which shop, which powermeter and, if you know, which distributor they dealt with.

Cheers,

RS

I bought mine NIB on ebay.au and got (asked politely) my son, who is a bike tech, to lace it up in a Mavic open pro rim.

I had contacted the agents but I too was less than impressed with their knowledge and service. So had I not been lucky enough to win the ebay auction I would have bought one via the internet.

I agree its in its infancy here..I've raced a few times with it and had many, many questions and comments all of which indicated a total lack of knowledge.

 

[Alex Simmons]

Ditto - my response on the other thread. 3 from O/S through web site/email. 2 PT SL and 1 PT track wheel from wheelbuilder.com. I have recommended wheelbuilder.com to my friends and several have since happily purchased from Richard. What local distributor? I've never seen a power meter displayed in an LBS here.

 

[erik44gary]

Hi Alex...British International are the agents....but LBS??? not in any Melbourne shops I've been in, and that's essentially what the person I talked to at BI said.

I'm now looking for a second power tap as my other son is now sharing mine..prob go for one for the track bike this time..if only because he doesn't ride track!!!

Liz

 

[Dini77]

Hi Alex...British International are the agents....but LBS??? not in any Melbourne shops I've been in, and that's essentially what the person I talked to at BI said.

I'm now looking for a second power tap as my other son is now sharing mine..prob go for one for the track bike this time..if only because he doesn't ride track!!!

Liz

In Melbourne, Spoke(n) and CBD cycles do offer them if you ask - but, it's not something they promote. I went through this process late last year. Frankly, i'm not surprised that BI didn't know this.

BTW - in my original post i meant to say that prices here in Oz are not comparable to what you can get overseas.

 

[Alex Simmons]

Hi Alex...British International are the agents....but LBS??? not in any Melbourne shops I've been in, and that's essentially what the person I talked to at BI said.Liz

I'm aware of BI - that was my point - what agent? Shouldn't an agent be trying to develop the market? Now we have a small core of users up my way, we are now able to support each with wheel / CPU loans etc or when the other needs some help with a technical issue. The recent buyers are happily sucking my brains on how to make sense of it all (and I'm more than happy to help!).

 

[Roadie_scum]

I'm aware of BI - that was my point - what agent? Shouldn't an agent be trying to develop the market? Now we have a small core of users up my way, we are now able to support each with wheel / CPU loans etc or when the other needs some help with a technical issue. The recent buyers are happily sucking my brains on how to make sense of it all (and I'm more than happy to help!).

That's interesting to know regarding your group of friends who support each other with PT gear. I would be interested to know how many PT users you know? I know hardly any in my part of the country.

Dini77: I think you'll find that most bike shops can get PT's, but the issue is that many aren't well educated or even aware of their existence. It's good to know Spoke(n) and CBD are making an effort - I know another local shop that might as well soon. The problem is, with such a poor agent, it's hard for a shop to take on selling Powertap as they are worried it will come back to bite them when a customer has a problem and BI's poor service and lack of knowledge reflects badly on the shop. Do you know anyone who has actually bought a PT from CBD or Spoke(n)? I know at least one CBD rider (tri) who bought his PT overseas.

Guys, I'm interested in your comments on this too: if power training tools (say, powertaps and cyclingpeaks) were readily available with good distributor support and demonstrator models available in some bike shops, would customers go for it? I tend to think the Australian market has a gaping hole in it, and as a customer, I'd like someone to fill it.

So who knows people who would buy powertaps if the distributor was educated, courteous and effective and they were price competitive (even within 20%) with overseas? My hand is up...

 

[Roadie_scum]

I'm aware of BI - that was my point - what agent? Shouldn't an agent be trying to develop the market? Now we have a small core of users up my way, we are now able to support each with wheel / CPU loans etc or when the other needs some help with a technical issue. The recent buyers are happily sucking my brains on how to make sense of it all (and I'm more than happy to help!).

That's interesting to know regarding your group of friends who support each other with PT gear. I would be interested to know how many PT users you know? I know hardly any in my part of the country.

Dini77: I think you'll find that most bike shops can get PT's, but the issue is that many aren't well educated or even aware of their existence. It's good to know Spoke(n) and CBD are making an effort - I know another local shop that might as well soon. The problem is, with such a poor agent, it's hard for a shop to take on selling Powertap as they are worried it will come back to bite them when a customer has a problem and BI's poor service and lack of knowledge reflects badly on the shop. Do you know anyone who has actually bought a PT from CBD or Spoke(n)? I know at least one CBD rider (tri) who bought his PT overseas.

Guys, I'm interested in your comments on this too: if power training tools (say, powertaps and cyclingpeaks) were readily available with good distributor support and demonstrator models available in some bike shops, would customers go for it? I tend to think the Australian market has a gaping hole in it, and as a customer, I'd like someone to fill it.

So who knows people who would buy powertaps if the distributor was educated, courteous and effective and they were price competitive (even within 20%) with overseas? My hand is up...

 

[Dini77]

That's interesting to know regarding your group of friends who support each other with PT gear. I would be interested to know how many PT users you know? I know hardly any in my part of the country.

Dini77: I think you'll find that most bike shops can get PT's, but the issue is that many aren't well educated or even aware of their existence. It's good to know Spoke(n) and CBD are making an effort - I know another local shop that might as well soon. The problem is, with such a poor agent, it's hard for a shop to take on selling Powertap as they are worried it will come back to bite them when a customer has a problem and BI's poor service and lack of knowledge reflects badly on the shop. Do you know anyone who has actually bought a PT from CBD or Spoke(n)? I know at least one CBD rider (tri) who bought his PT overseas.

Guys, I'm interested in your comments on this too: if power training tools (say, powertaps and cyclingpeaks) were readily available with good distributor support and demonstrator models available in some bike shops, would customers go for it? I tend to think the Australian market has a gaping hole in it, and as a customer, I'd like someone to fill it.

So who knows people who would buy powertaps if the distributor was educated, courteous and effective and they were price competitive (even within 20%) with overseas? My hand is up...

I also spoke to ProMotion and Freedom Machine, both of whom said i was better off getting it off the net. I think most shops in Oz see this as too much effort - guess it's easier to sell a bike & accessories to people and convince them that they will ride faster because of it. Heck, the least they could do is just put Andy's book on the shelf so people could read more about it. Instead they put Spinerval dvd's out there - go figure?? For the 3months I had my PT whilst still living in Melbourne, i came across only 1 other PT user. That's inclusive of all training & racing. I did see a few SRM's though.

I agree in that there's a gaping hole for a good distributor of PM's in Australia and i did look into this some time back, but my real 'day job' got in the way o further analysis. I think more people would be inclined to purchase, but the problem seems to be, IMO:
1) insufficient education/awareness of the advantages of riding with power (but this is changing); and
2) a cost comparable local seller of PM's

cheers

 

[Alex Simmons]

That's interesting to know regarding your group of friends who support each other with PT gear. I would be interested to know how many PT users you know? I know hardly any in my part of the country.

Hey it ain't many but there are 6 of us at our local track training group that use PTs now and 2 others that I see race/train track with them (some have PT for track only, some road only, some both). I also know personally 4 users of SRM (all are/were in my club and use on road mainly but also track) and 2 x polar power meter users (same club again) on road bike only. As a training group we're good friends so always happy to help each other out. I coach a couple of them and regularly discuss training with power with many of them.

However - having said that - I have never seen anyone else in the local bunches use one! You will sometimes see SRMs on elite roadie's bikes when in town for their summer miles and of course our elite trackies will often have them.

Have never seen an ergomo here.

 

[Macey]

I bought a PowerTap SL from AEbike.

It was really no decision - I actually contacted the local Australian distributor (got the contact details from Saris web site), and to paraphrase was told that they were going through a transition period and to buy it elsewhere.

I don't think that there is a particularly large market for the power meters here. Maybe if one of the bike stores became the supplier then it could work, but still think that it is probably easier to buy overseas.

The wheel I bought was under US$1000, and it seemed like I was going to pay well over $2,000 to buy one locally (plus a lot of hassle into the bargain). I have dealt with Saris directly and found them to be very helpful, so there doesn't seem much point in adding in a middle man.