Does anyone regret getting a single sided power meter vs dual sided?

In 2015 I got a gen2 stages, it was a nice introduction to training with power but there were no other positives besides the price (which wasn’t even that low). I dealt with water ingress and dead batteries for the whole time that I had the unit. At about the one year mark the unit completely died on me at my team training camp, I had to pay to replace/upgrade to the gen3. I used the gen3 for a year thn upgraded to Quarq. I never looked back, the Quarq has followed me across three bikes and I regularly swap it between my bike in Europe and the US.
The two vs. one sided power doesn’t matter that much but if I can have a quality, reliable unit like the quarq and it happens to measure total power it’s just a bonus.

I have a Cinch meter on both bikes for consistency (left only power). I find it annoying that in order to hit challenging numbers or even maintain steady wattage I have to focus on pushing harder on my left side.

Can’t wait for SPD power pedals. Get dual sided power.

Yes, I find it jumpy for live readings. I have Vector 3s. Considering upgrading.

Was in your situation a few months back. I went to my local gym and did some tests on a Wattbike with a dual power meter.

After 3-5 workouts I learned that my pedal L/R ratio is 49:51. Based on that I decided that I don’t need a dual sided power meter.

A week later, I bought the Favero Assioma Duo (a dual side power meter) because trying to rationalize these bike upgrade purchases is impossible and I just want to have a good peace of mind and don’t worry about inaccuracies.

So, I don’t need it but I bought it anyway and no regrets.

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Get dual-sided if you want to compare to your friends. Single-sided is perfectly adequate for training and racing.

Probably important to remember that consistency matters most in training - accuracy is pretty worthless except for comparing across bikes/PMs/performances. If you have an imbalance, it shouldn’t matter as long as it is consistent. With a L-sided only PM, you might not get numbers that you can compare favorably on Strava but you will be able to index your workouts perfectly fine and compare outdoor performances without any problems.

Full disclosure, my first PM was a dual-sided, but I quickly realized that the dual-sided data was pretty worthless if the goal is to get faster, not measure more watts. Since then have three x 4iiii installed with zero problems and love them.

No regrets here, I bought the Stages gen3 Shimano this past Christmas on a holiday special. I was aware of some discrepancies from others and reviews and quite honestly, power readings and accuracy is pretty close for my needs.

I’ve been using a stages left side power meter for more then three years. Absolutely no regrets, and great value.
When I start measuring my run stride length to compare left and right discrepancy, then I’ll insist on a dual sided PM. But that won’t happen any time soon, and doesn’t need to in my opinion!

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an often voiced argument, as long as an imbalance is consistent a left sided pm should be fine.

How do you know that a) you have an imbalance, and b) that it is consistent?

When I got my Stages I neither knew that I had an imbalance and that this imbalance would change with fatigue.

For many a left sided pm may work. Problem is, how to know if this is true for oneself.

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Do dual-sided pedals read more smoothly/less jumpy on the head unit?

I agree, the data and science just don’t support the need for DS PMs. The marketing department has created a need for sure.

Before you “mismatch” kids pile on, i have a significant mismatch, I’ve dislocated my right hip twice on airborne operations, and broken a piece out of the hip cradle. I did almost 18 months of recovery after my most recent surgery (which is what led me to structured training and Trainer Road specifically) during which I had access to dual sided PMs at the therapy facility. As has been stated, all it did was show me I had a mismatch, nothing to be done about it.

I ride a single sided stages on three different bikes, and I’m a data nerd through and through.

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3s 5s 20s power average (or whatever equivalent your head is showing). The precise power you are putting down at any given second is irrelevant.

Anyone training with a power meter that hasn’t read Training and Racing with a Power Meter (Hunter, Allen, Coggin) is doing themselves a disservice. You may as well not even be using power because its just numbers scrolling by. Apps like TR, Golden Cheetah, and TP do a lot of the work they discuss in the book for you so you’re not camped out with a calculator post-ride, but you need to know what your’e seeing.

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@mellowdave it’s not just numbers scrolling by, it’s how I pace when time trialling. I work to a small window of watts and use 10 second average. Very good book, BTW.

My question stands - is the readout less jumpy using double-sided pedals?

Congrats on your come back. Airbourne operations?

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Again, not to be a “know it all” I’m definitely not, but what I’m saying is that your power varies hugely from second to second. If you’re showing current power of any kind from any meter, you’ll see a jumpy reading.
Do you have your current screen set to show a 10 second average? If so and its still jumpy, what meter and head unit are you using? Perhaps you’re dealing with signal cut outs? On mine, single sided stages, and a wahoo ELEMNT I have 10s average showing and I wouldn’t describe it as jumpy at all.

To the other question,

Airborne Operations ( I’m a US Paratrooper, no “U” in the word. :slight_smile: )

That last one, the pretty day in the nice rolling green field is when I actually broke my hip cradle. :roll_eyes:

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I purchased a discounted single-sided Gen2 Stages for my old TT bike last spring and a Power2Max NGeco for my road bike that i added just recently. The Stages was an affordable way to go from virtual power to a more repeatable power measurement for training purposes, and I’ve been happy with it. I do see higher power readings from the Stages compared to my Pwr2Max, but on different bikes – so I just don’t sweat it. I don’t regret buying the Stages at all – it was a good deal on clearance and it’s worked great for purposes of training. Adjusting workout intensity to compensate for the different ftp values and later editing ride ftp is a simple enough fix when swapping bikes with different meters on a basic fluid trainer.

According to a 2017 study in the link below that evaluates the accuracy and precision of various power offerings, the Stages were found to have more variability between meters and even on the same unit from one ride to another. In my experience I haven’t perceived any noticeable issues. Would I notice a couple percent between rides? Probably not, but even if it’s the case, I don’t have an issue with it. It’s an improvement over virtual power for sure. The Power2Max brand on my road bike didn’t score that well, either, in these tests, but again, I’ve not sensed a whole lot of variation that I could , considering the ups and downs of training, sleep, recovery/fatigue, etc. that factor in to every ride. Power2Max and some other brands had so few data points in the graph that I wouldn’t consider any conclusions about those to be meaningful. Looking at figure 3 in this study, it looks like about 2/3 of the Stages units are clustered there under 2% with the other meter manufacturers, and about 1/3 are a little less accurate (one outlier really looked especially off). Is this study still relevant with Gen3? Your guess is as good as any.

Is your power meter really telling you what you think it is?

Single side 4IIII, 105 crank arm. No regrets at all.

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The only time I regret having a one-sided crank arm power meter is when I unclip during an Isolated Leg Training interval (like during Goddard), and my wattage drops to zero!

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Do you think by having a left side power meter it messes up your pedal strike favouring your left leg which the power is measured with in terms of the subconscious mind ?

Do you think by having a left side power meter it messes up your pedal strike favouring your left leg which the power is measured with in terms of the subconscious mind

I seriously doubt that. Just don’t think about it. Single sided is perfectly fine for all but a minute portion of the population.

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About half the time.

{ba dum tis}

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