Having spent the last three days at the bike industry's premiere trade show, I have a few observations on the state of power-based training and racing. The first is that there was keen interest in the power products at both Saris and Polar. What's interesting about those two manufacturers of power meter systems is that they make many other, non-power products. So, it was interesting to observe the behavior patterns of those who stopped by their booths. I stopped by both booths several times and each time I had to wait my turn to get access to those in the booth with knowledge of the power products. Second, there were always people at the iBike and Ergomo booths. So, there was clearly lots of interest in the power meter products (SRM wasn't there).
Second, I had business reasons to talk with every wheel manufacturer about their current offerings with PT hubs. So, I talked with all the current wheel manufacturers who offer PT hubs and with all the other major wheel manufacturers who don't currently offer PT hubs. What I found interesting was that while only a few vendors currently offer wheels with PT hubs (e.g., Zipp, HED, Bontrager), all but one has investigated putting PT hubs in their wheels. The sole exception was Campagnolo, which has no interest in using any hubs other than their own. Personally, I think they will eventually regret that decision. And several major wheel manufacturers have spent a fair bit of time and money investigating the feasibility of putting a PT hub in their disc. I found that very interesting given the limited market for discs.
The bottom line is that I think power meters and power-based training is healthy and growing.
Second, I had business reasons to talk with every wheel manufacturer about their current offerings with PT hubs. So, I talked with all the current wheel manufacturers who offer PT hubs and with all the other major wheel manufacturers who don't currently offer PT hubs. What I found interesting was that while only a few vendors currently offer wheels with PT hubs (e.g., Zipp, HED, Bontrager), all but one has investigated putting PT hubs in their wheels. The sole exception was Campagnolo, which has no interest in using any hubs other than their own. Personally, I think they will eventually regret that decision. And several major wheel manufacturers have spent a fair bit of time and money investigating the feasibility of putting a PT hub in their disc. I found that very interesting given the limited market for discs.
The bottom line is that I think power meters and power-based training is healthy and growing.