I have a Power2Max on my older bike. I am look to get a power meter for my new road bike and if I can move it to my mountain bike that would be even better.
My question is, is anyone using a powerpod power meter by Velocomp and how do you like it?
There website https://velocomp.com/powerpod/
Thank you
Paul
Hi paul100: I own and run a powerpod. Like you want, I use it on three bikes and just switch it over as required [a minute or two’s job]. I use it with elemnt bolt to see the data and record.
Likes: easily movable between bikes; easily transported too; seems to be accurate enough [see dc rainmaker on this]; can get extended analysis from add-on software; cheap [but as other meters come down in price, this is less of an advantage]. You can also buy a device to measure aero drag, if you want another add-on.
Dislikes: if moving between bikes, takes 10 minutes or so to recalibrate to the new bike; also takes about 10 minutes to adjust to a new road surface [with higher or lower rolling resistance]. The powerpod does sometimes seem to simply cut out and then reset itself – but then, judging by the comments on this forum, that happens to a lot of power meters too.
For consistent results you need to fasten the powerpod very securely to the handlebars / stem. Any knocks or movement means that the data are out for the next 10 minutes [until it recalibrates]. I use the k-edge fasteners, that hold my wahoo above the powerpod.
On a trainer indoors, this is essentially a virtual power meter. [I’ve never used it indoors, since I had a KK Inride and now a Stac Zero, both of which give power readings.]
Remember that it is all driven by speed and wind [with aero drag and rolling resistance calculated]. This means that you can have nothing on the front of the bike that will interfere with wind. If you want to do touring with a bag off the front of the handlebar, that might be a limiter.
There is a decent forum with answers to lots of common problems.
I hope that this helps. Personally, I like the powerpod, since at my level of riding it is a bit less pretentious than a full-on higher-priced powermeter.
Thank you
Hi Paul100 I’ve had two PowerPods and both have failed.
Whilst they are easy to move between bikes they are a hassle to calibrate initially and I’m dubious about the power readings when compared to my Kickr and 4iiii which are pretty much in line. I have a acquaintance that I ride with occasionally who was doing tests on the PowerPod as part of his Masters and he reached the same conclusion.
Based on my experience I certainly could not recommend the product.
The only reason I saw your post was I’m currently searching for a replacement for the last dead PowerPod. I’ll probably end up with another 4iiii which has been idiot proof and faultless or some Favero Assioma.
I have one and I’m on the fence at the moment. I got one a few months ago but have been focusing on my A race so not really used it, I have a Stages crank meter on my race bike.
There is a lot of fiddling with setup to get accurate readings on some bikes.
You can choose various profiles and save them, the pp then picks up which bike its on by detecting the specific speed and cadence sensors on that bike.
My power readings have been okay mostly, I use it across 3 bikes, road, gravel and mtb. However the last time I used it on the road bike the readings were way too high.
It could have been because the pp was not in the perfect position.
As I have it as a second power meter I will put my crank based power meter on the road bike and you can do a calibration by merging the data files, just haven’t had time to do it yet. I can’t fit the crank to my gravel or mtb though 
The power feels about right on the gravel bike considering there is no set gravel profile, mtb is a pure guess but also seems okay if a bit high.
You can edit the profiles load i n the software but its a lot more fuss than a crank or other strain based pm.
Like I said, not sure i can fully say yes or no to recommend it just yet.
powerpod is not a PM but a system that reads certain values and estimates the consequent power: there are no strain gauges or direct systems to read applied torque\power.
although more complex than the algorithm (for example) of strava, it does exactly the same thing: a (plus\minus rough) estimate
as far as I am concerned, rather than being satisfied with an estimate, I would not use anything