I just commented on a similar but not identical post, but I’m hoping to get a more specific answer to my question because to be honest I’m quite frustrated.
I have a 2019 Allez Sprint Disc Comp (meaning I bought the one built up with 105 etc, not a frameset) and would like a power meter but I’m about ready to pull my hair out trying to figure out the easiest/most cost effective way to do so.
As many Specialized owners probably know, they have this annoying habit of equipping many of their bikes with a Praxis bottom bracket and crankset even if the derailleurs and cogs are 105, Ultegra, whatever.
This is extremely frustrating when shopping for a Power Meter. It seems the only options are:
Pay for 4iii to factory install on your non-drive-side crank, which means not using your bike for a couple weeks during the install process
Buy a whole new crankset with PM installed, which is very expensive ($700 I believe) not to mention 52/36 is all sold out of every Shimano trim level
Use PM pedals but this could be frustrating because I don’t know if the cleats are different from other bikes (I have other bikes with Ultegra pedals)
Install a 105 or Ultegra crankset and buy a 1-sided PM. Annoying because it involves a crankset swap AND the extra $$ for a new crankset when the one on the bike is perfectly good.
I would like to hear from other Specialized owners who faced this issue, how did you resolve it? Which of the options did you pick? Did you run into any additional issues, like compatibility problems with the Praxis BB?
Thanks all, help preserve my hair so I don’t pull it all out …
P.S. of all the options above I’m probably leaning toward buying a new 105 or Ultegra crankset (presuming it’s compatible with the Praxis BB, which is another question), putting it on the Allez, and getting a 1-sided PM in the appropriate crank from Stages or 4iii.
My Allez Sprint was built out with SRAM, but I went with Assioma pedals. Different cleats than shimano pedals, but swappable between your different road bikes.
Not sure what your budget is but power 2 max makes power meters for those cranks. I’m pretty sure that bike came with the Praxis Zyante cranks with a removable spider. In which case the P2Ms should work and you’d get to keep your original chain rings.
They also have an option to mount to those cranks but have mounting for shimano rings I’d that’s something you might want to do.
Do it, I had a quarq on my allez, loved it (had all there models cinco/riken/dzero).
I never regretted spending money on any powermeters I have on any of my bikes.
I like the idea of factory install and if you time it well you can keep yourself busy with other chores.
I had the same and changed went for option 4 of the new BB and cranks with a left side Stages PM. I keep saying that I’ll get around to selling the Praxis cranks and BB but it’s still sat in the cupboard!
Honestly the best solution and one that is future proof is the pedal route. Although as you noted you are on SPD-SL cleats and just about every power meter pedal uses the Look Keo cleats. So, yes it will be a pain but you will not be posting a similar question when the next bike arrives.
If you sure pedals are not an option then you really need to be looking at the chainset and bottom bracket as a whole. Your frame will have a certain bottom bracket hole; be it BB30, PF30, BSA, IT. The spindle of the chainset will then fit a certain bearing size in the bottom bracket. Hence why there are is not one power meter to fit all.
Your first job is know what your frame is, as noted above. Then find the power meter that best fits your frame. Recently Quarq (SRAM) have been pushing their new standard; like the industry needed another, DUB and they make bottom brackets for most (sorry Italians!). Yes it is a pain swapping out a perfectly new chainset but in the current climate I’m sure you can shift it for good money.
I’m in the exact same boat as you right now and I’m leaning towards getting the Power2Max NGEco shimano 4 bolt option with Rotor 3D+ crankarms and buying the Ultegra r8000 chainrings separately.
Edit: Also important to note is that you don’t have to make any changes to the BB setup but still get performance of the shimano chainring.
These are foolproof, their customer service is exemplary, and they are the smoothest BB on the market. I used one to adapt my allez sprint frameset BB to a specialized powercrank setup
I’m taking back my words! The effort and changes required to get the P2M NGEco with Rotor cranks + Shimano Chainrings was more than I originally thought. Instead I’m now getting Favero Assioma DUO’s for it’s pure simplicity and high accuracy. Price will end up slightly less than the NGEco combo as well.
Honestly it sounds like the “best” solution here is probably the assioma DUOs, which is an equally big PITA because I have another road bike with the same SPD-SL pedals. Sigh.
Thanks everyone for your input! I really appreciate it! If nothing else, a big takeaway from this thread is that short of sending your crank off to 4iii for a factory install, there’s nothing even remotely close to an easy/cheap solution to this problem. I blame Specialized for using those dumb praxis parts.
I was in the same boat and used the Garmin Vector pedals. Went through some issues with the Vectors and finally got sick of them about the same time that my chain ring needed to be replaced. Bought a 105 crankset for about the same price as a Praxis ring, a Wheels MFG bottom bracket for $90, and a 4iiii left side PM for $300 and swapped everything over.
Changing out the crankset seemed like a PITA to begin with but, in retrospect, would have been a better choice for me.
This is for my rain bike and the pedals see a surprising amount of wear from all of the road grit, nice have the PM up in the crank and away from the wear points.
Have the same setup on my gravel bike. Have to say the P2M is the most rock solid and easy to use PM I have had to date (having been through Vector 1, Vector 2 and currently using Favero Assioma Duo on the road bike).
No calibration. Just pair it once and then ride.
For a road bike, I also think the Faveros are a very good option. A much better experience for me than the Garmin Vectors. Sadly, there aren’t any SPD version.