What was Millar using?



grahamspringett

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Feb 26, 2004
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Apart from an apparently weak chain, David Millar seemed to be on a PowerTap hub in yesterday's Giro stage but was using something other than a PT head unit. It looked long and rectangular, maybe something like a Garmin? Or has Cycleops come up with some new gadgetry?
 
grahamspringett said:
Apart from an apparently weak chain, David Millar seemed to be on a PowerTap hub in yesterday's Giro stage but was using something other than a PT head unit. It looked long and rectangular, maybe something like a Garmin? Or has Cycleops come up with some new gadgetry?
Others have said that it's the new Garmin unit (705?). To me that would mean either:

Saris is further along on the standardization of ANT+ technology than I thought or

The PT head unit was in his pocket recording data and the Garmin was fulfilling sponsorship agreements.

TF
 
Terry Ferguson said:
Others have said that it's the new Garmin unit (705?). To me that would mean either:

Saris is further along on the standardization of ANT+ technology than I thought or

The PT head unit was in his pocket recording data and the Garmin was fulfilling sponsorship agreements.

TF
or he is using SRM
 
I'm pretty sure Slipstream uses Powertaps, I remember reading about Saris giving the team 160-some-odd powertaps. And I think TF is right, I also remember them having some kind of conflict because Garmin and Saris were both sponsors. Wish I had that problem!:D
 
MintID said:
or he is using SRM


He was definitely not using SRM. He had standard Dura Ace cranks.

The OP is right. Millar was definitely riding with a powertap hub and had a Garmin Edge 705 computer on his stem... which is very strange because during the previous Giro stages all other Slipstream riders I've spotted have definitely been using the yellow computers.

However - this doesn't necessarily mean he was getting wattage data from the 705 because, as previous posters have mentioned, there could be sponsorship obligations.

My hunch is that he was getting power data and is doing the initial testing of the ant+ compatibility. If it was just for sponsorship reasons with Garmin then why aren't all their other 8 riders using Edge 705s?

If Saris make this a possibility I will definitely be splashing the cash for a 2.4 wireless. The thought of combining power with altitude and GPS data is awesome.
 
It makes sense to let the hub talk to a GPS device. The Quark system will talk to a GPS, so why wouldn't Cycleops tweak their hubs a little (I believe the comms system is basically identical) to enable them to add another selling point for their products?

It will compete with the new guy and outdo SRM, and I reckon MTB users would love a PT with disc so they can go explore. Plus roadies seem to be getting into GPS usage as well.
 
grahamspringett said:
Apart from an apparently weak chain, David Millar seemed to be on a PowerTap hub in yesterday's Giro stage but was using something other than a PT head unit. It looked long and rectangular, maybe something like a Garmin? Or has Cycleops come up with some new gadgetry?
Wasn't it EPO... oh, you mean the computer!

:p
 
could be we're seeing a new anti doping ploy by SRAM... any more than 400w for an hour and the chain is designed to self destruct!
 
grahamspringett said:
It makes sense to let the hub talk to a GPS device. The Quark system will talk to a GPS, so why wouldn't Cycleops tweak their hubs a little (I believe the comms system is basically identical) to enable them to add another selling point for their products?

It will compete with the new guy and outdo SRM, and I reckon MTB users would love a PT with disc so they can go explore. Plus roadies seem to be getting into GPS usage as well.

Bad news. Millar's powertap computer was in his pocket during the race. He was only getting heart rate date from his Edge.

http://www.slipstreamsports.com/category/millar-diaries/

It looks like CycleOps still have no intention of making their hubs compatible with the other ant+ sport applications.
 
sergen said:
Bad news. Millar's powertap computer was in his pocket during the race. He was only getting heart rate date from his Edge.

http://www.slipstreamsports.com/category/millar-diaries/

It looks like CycleOps still have no intention of making their hubs compatible with the other ant+ sport applications.

I really don't blame them from a business perspective. It's the difference between selling a hub+computer vs just a hub and someone else's computer. I don't foresee them playing nice with ant+ until someone else comes out with a competing hub that supports ant+.
 
mikeyp123 said:
I really don't blame them from a business perspective. It's the difference between selling a hub+computer vs just a hub and someone else's computer. I don't foresee them playing nice with ant+ until someone else comes out with a competing hub that supports ant+.

Likewise, I can understand their logic too. I just hope that they will at least innovate their existing computer to include GPS/altimeter functions. I think it would be really useful to be able to see one's power output in relation to the terrain over which one rides. At the moment you have to look at your speed on the graph to try and work out terrain, but lower speeds could be due to headwinds rather than slightly rising roads.
 
isnt this the biggest problem with the powertap versus SRM... the hub is pretty neat but the head unit looks relatively mickey mouse. if they cant get their act together in improving it why not let somebody else do it for them while selling a few more hubs in the process?
 
robkit said:
isnt this the biggest problem with the powertap versus SRM... the hub is pretty neat but the head unit looks relatively mickey mouse. if they cant get their act together in improving it why not let somebody else do it for them while selling a few more hubs in the process?
right, I think it could be a nice solution, they could leave the electronic side to someone else, concentrate only on the mechanical side (the hub) and reduce costs in the meanwhile
 
robkit said:
isnt this the biggest problem with the powertap versus SRM... the hub is pretty neat but the head unit looks relatively mickey mouse. if they cant get their act together in improving it why not let somebody else do it for them while selling a few more hubs in the process?

What's wrong with the head unit? It does the job in a neat package which is distinctively coloured. It's hard to see a PT hub in a race, but the head unit stands out like a sore thumb.

It sits nicely on the bars, is easy to use and tells you all you need to know. I prefer it to other units I've seen. Reminds me of my old Lemond-vintage Avocet!
 
grahamspringett said:
What's wrong with the head unit? It does the job in a neat package which is distinctively coloured. It's hard to see a PT hub in a race, but the head unit stands out like a sore thumb.

It sits nicely on the bars, is easy to use and tells you all you need to know. I prefer it to other units I've seen. Reminds me of my old Lemond-vintage Avocet!
Easy to use?! to me, it's the most user-unfriendly piece of software I've ever seen! :rolleyes:
 
grahamspringett said:
It makes sense to let the hub talk to a GPS device. The Quark system will talk to a GPS, so why wouldn't Cycleops tweak their hubs a little (I believe the comms system is basically identical) to enable them to add another selling point for their products?
Jesse from Saris said in another forum that what they have now is not ANT+ compatible. At the time they were developing the 2.4, the ANT+ standard was not fully defined yet and they really couldn't wait any longer so pushed ahead with their own standard. Now that ANT+ is defined, they can't alienate the existing users of their 2.4 wireless hubs and receivers by just changing over to ANT+ henceforth from some date. If they were to offer something ANT+ compatible, they would have to offer new hubs that transmit both their old standard and ANT+ (i.e., two bursts of information versus one now) and they may not be interested in that for a variety of reasons.
 
Steve_B said:
Jesse from Saris said in another forum that what they have now is not ANT+ compatible. At the time they were developing the 2.4, the ANT+ standard was not fully defined yet and they really couldn't wait any longer so pushed ahead with their own standard. Now that ANT+ is defined, they can't alienate the existing users of their 2.4 wireless hubs and receivers by just changing over to ANT+ henceforth from some date. If they were to offer something ANT+ compatible, they would have to offer new hubs that transmit both their old standard and ANT+ (i.e., two bursts of information versus one now) and they may not be interested in that for a variety of reasons.
I can easily see Saris thinking that they will just be the Power company. If you want easy, out-of-the-box training with power, get a PowerTap. You don't need the rest of those complications. I mean, they've already given you two extra lines on the head unit that you don't need; what do you want? - TF
 
Terry Ferguson said:
I can easily see Saris thinking that they will just be the Power company. If you want easy, out-of-the-box training with power, get a PowerTap. You don't need the rest of those complications. I mean, they've already given you two extra lines on the head unit that you don't need; what do you want? - TF
Couple of wishes for Saris:
1. Change the way the display is filtered; instead e.g. showing every 4th recording, calculate and display average of last 4 recordings.
2. Add the altimeter functionality...
 
Simone@Italy said:
Easy to use?! to me, it's the most user-unfriendly piece of software I've ever seen! :rolleyes:

Are you talking about the little yellow computer that sits on your bars or the software on your computer at home? If you're talking home computer software then yes, I'd say PowerAgent isn't the best out there.

But the little yellow doohickey on the bars is great. Tells you all you need. Maybe TSS and IFF would be nice but not essential.
 

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