Polar 710 and 720 Power Option

[bobkny]

I'm a new member of this group and initially posted this to the wrong forum. Sorry for the duplication. I'd like to get some feedback from users of the Polar 710/720 Power option. I'm concerned about its accuracy, reliability, and useability. Is it accurate - or at least consistent? Is it reliable enough to race with? Could you use it to monitor your power output real time - for example during a time trial or interval training session?

 

[Leon]

Check out the test done by Adam Hodges Myerson on three different Power Meters including the Polar product.

All in all the Polar product produced reasonable results although unreliable at low power output.


The article can be found at

http://www.monkeyhillcs.com/chung/rosetta/rosetta.html


There is also some issues to be considered during installation.

Check out Sandiway Fong's site at:

http://external.nj.nec.com/homepages/sandiway/bike/feather/tt/s710/index.html

and Phil Stone's site at:

http://users.pandora.be/phil.stone/Racing in Belgium/startpage.htm

 

[bobkny]

The referenced links were very useful, and my take is that the Polar system is a reasonable alternative to the much more expensive SRM. One of my concerns not specifically addressed, was the ability to use the device as a real time monitor during a race. There was a note in one of the FAQ's recommending this application. Does anyone have some experience with race application - especially time trials? Can you easily read the power output; and are the readings stable enough that you can key your effort to them. When I use a Computrainer indoors, I can target the power output, but I frequently shift my eyes to the speed measurement because it is a more stable indicator. I apologise for my awkwardness in participating in this "thread", but I'm new to all of this and some of these Unix terms leave me scratching my head.