Anyone have insight into the new iBike Pro being released this month is any better then the previous versions?. I've seen more bad then good reviews on the older versions
Thanks

Anyone have insight into the new iBike Pro being released this month is any better then the previous versions?. I've seen more bad then good reviews on the older versions
Thanks
As far as I know, the iBike unit is the same, though they do now have it in black.

They do have a new mount that can be used with wireless cadence and speed sensors as well as the coded HR strap. It also has an additional battery. They have new firmware that is suppose to give better power usage to give longer battery life and is suppose to have a software solution to help with the problem of rough roads (like chip seal and high speed vibration). Also a 'buzz-kill' type thing that installs on (in?) the stem to reduce the rough road vibration to the unit. I think the new firmware has some power curves for various trainers built in so that (with a rear wheel sensor) it can be use like the Kurt power computer.

A poster on another board who has worked a lot with the unit, is very optimistic about the 'buzz-kill' and firmware solution to the vibration problem. This would be a major step forward.

The second battery is suppose to give about twice the battery life as the current single battery. But in cold weather, this seems still to be a daily change out at best. Hard core users of the iBike post about good deals they have found on 150 - 200 batteries. iBike sells a 20-pack.

Also, the unit with the stem mount and 'buzz-kill' thing is approaching $750. A new PowerTap SL (wired) built into a Open Pro went for $790 (shipped) yesterday on eBay.

I really like the concept behind the iBike unit and have kept mine (though I don't currently use it) in hopes that they will get it sorted out. It could provide some very valuable data such as real-time aerodynamics and power wasted while braking (which I bet it is significant and could be drastically reduced with feedback). I hope they make it, but think that we have to be realistic about its current state (even though I have been severely flamed by the company for doing so).

TF

Thanks. It's hard to sort through the iBike website and determine if there were any true hardware or design changes. It is appealing because of the simplicity RE: no hub or crank changes. If I were a company selling these and knew there was a problem with vibration effects altering function, I would include them with each unit, not charge an additional $50.00, a bit like admitting there is a problem, and charging you to make it work better.
I couldn't justify the full feature $750 package.
Thanks Again
d.

The battery life was a bit annoying -- I got perhaps 10 hours on mine.

Really annoying was it cutting in and out, or reading erroneously, in the rain. I don't know how they could fix that, short of some kind of baffle / drain.

Also, if there was some way to have a lateral accelerometer, so that they could correct for out-of-the-saddle changes, that would be great. As it, it reads swaying the bike as additional hill grade. Oops! But with the lateral sensor (like a wii controller?), if could correct for that, and also sort out whether you were sitting or standing, and change your aero profile accordingly. THAT would help.

But I am less patient than Turtle. I sold mine.

I think I'll wait until this is released this coming year;
http://www.microsporttech.com/product.php

1 word:

Vaporware.

Probably.

I think I'll wait until this is released this coming year;
http://www.microsporttech.com/product.php
I would buy something that available now. The shoe thing may be viable in a decade or so. - TF

Do you recall how far the personal computer went in 10 years?, not to mention the yearly jumps in processor efficiency and speed. The performance auto industry/after market already has the available technology to make a simple g-meters, I'M surprised it hasn't yet transfered.
I'm guessing "sole" tech will be available in 08, Minoura is working on something similar I believe. IiBike seems like it does all the wrong things when I would need it to do the right things. I hate to worry about calibrating, changing components that already work for me, too much time that I could actually be in the saddle. SRM and Power tap I'M sure are great, and money isn't an issue it's time and too much stuff strapped to my machines.

Dang.... I was just thinking of if it would be possible to measure power through a sensor in the sole of the shoe last night....

That sucker has been in the works for a couple of YEARS. I seriously doubt it's coming out in 2008, considering that the "news" section of their website's last update is Sept of 2006, and they say to visit them at interbike 2006.

If money isn't an issue, but time is, just get a powertap SL 2.4 wireless. Seriously, there is nothing to do. You just put the wheel on, put the computer on, and pedal your bike.

The iBike's setup time is considerable. You have to mount the system, which is like any other cyclocomputer with cadence and a speed sensor, but a little more involved because you have to make sure the mount is ROCK SOLID and fairly level.

Then you do an angle calibration test.

Then you must weigh the rider plus the bike. You must weigh the complete package of rider plus bike before almost every ride to get accurate results.

Then you must do a coast-down test. This needs to be repeated any time your aerodyanmics significantly change, like if you'll be wearing a heavy jacket for a ride.

It is not too bad, but it takes longer than powertap wired.

Time is an issue for me, too, which is why i have an SRM!

Yeah, if I could afford one, so would I! How often do you find you need to, what do they call it? Re-set the slope? The test you do with known weights on the pedals, etc.

- what is your anticipated ship date?

We are advertising "early 2007". I would guess that we may be ready by March. We still have lots of development, testing and certification to do. While we know that people want this product NOW, we don't want to release a
sub-standard product.

- I don't see any speed pickups as part of the hardware, how is speed/distance measured?

The base unit comes with a wired velocity sensor (like most cycling computers). We are working on a wireless velocity sensor too for a future option.

- Are additional 3rd party ANT devices required for full functionality?

As a cycling computer and power meter, there is no need for any additional ANT devices. We will support other ANT devices as we build up our product portfolio including:


- ANT sport watches
- ANT wireless velocity and cadence sensors
- ANT Heart Rate Straps
- ANT wireless computer dongles

- My primary use is for mountain biking - do you think the algorithms will work for this case?

We believe that the product will work for MTB but we have not done any testing with MTB yet. It has all been road bike.

- Is cadence measured via crank sensors or virtually (2 dead spots/revolution)? I can see a situation where descending on an MTB would throw the unit into chaos if cadence is virtual.

Cadence is measured "virtually" through the shoe computer. It is different that the "virtual" cadence from Shimano and "virtual cadence" from PowerTap. It does rely on the force curve measurements but is not implied from velocity and gear (like Shimano). It is also more reliable than the torque based measurements from PowerTap that had reliability issues at low and high
cadences.

- Can ride files be downloaded from the CPU to a computer?

We will be offering a download kit as a separate option. We will bundle the Cycling Peaks software for download and analysis. The interface to REVOLUTION will be wireless from your computer so you can just park your bike and the computer will grab the data! The bundle will include the wireless dongle (it looks like USB memory stick)

- What is the max file size? Record interval?

This is still in development. The max file size will probably be 1Mbit. We will have multiple recording intervals from 1.6s to 15s. At the highest sampling rate of 1.6s, you will be able to store approx 3-4hr of ride data.

Yeah, if I could afford one, so would I! How often do you find you need to, what do they call it? Re-set the slope? The test you do with known weights on the pedals, etc.

Hi Argentius. I'm pretty much wrenching on my bikes all the time, so i probably mess with the slope much more than others. I'll measure it once or twice a year, but have noted that it rarely needs anything more than a very minute adjustment.

You could send an SRM to SRM's Colorado Springs office for the same treatment, they're pretty good about quick turnarounds.

Yeah, if I could afford one, so would I! How often do you find you need to, what do they call it? Re-set the slope? The test you do with known weights on the pedals, etc.

5 minutes twice a year if you want the most accuracy. Zero minutes a year if you don't really care.

The average PT owner will spend more time on hold with CycleOps tech support.

I bought an iBike recently and am very happy with it. Performance Bike had them on sale for $379 a few weeks ago (may still be on sale) and I'm a Team Performance member so I got 10% off of that. Extremely reasonably priced power meter.

It is VERY cool to have my power reading while riding. There is a set of 3 hills on my regular training ride that I do intervals on. I used to do them based on HR -- I'd set a goal HR and try to stay at that intensity. Of course, HR lags considerably after the effort starts, so it is frustrating to know I'm working hard as I start the hill but my HR is still at 145 or 150. By the time my HR gets to 165 or 170, I've been working hard for what seems like a long time.

At some point, it occurred to me to pay attention to mph on my interals. I started setting goals -- initially it was to never go below 8mph. Once I acheived that a few times, I bumped it to 9mph, then 10, then 11, then 11.5. Current goal is 12.5mph. After my rides, I would go to my Garmin Training Center and look at the speed and slope and HR and duration of the efforts. Very helpful when analyzing intervals.

Of course, when there is a headwind, 12mph becomes hard or impossible. There have been days when I felt great and was really stomping it, but dipped to 10mph due to a headwind. Some of them have seemed like a great rides, but the chart shows a failed attempt to stay above 12mph. Very frustrating. I write notes in a journal, so it is clear why 10mph (or whatever), but it fills my head with "what if no headwind?" because I've achieved a single 12.5mph ascent and quite a few 12.0mph ascents. What if today's ride could have been a 12.5mph? or even a 13.0mph? No way to know.

The solution is a power meter -- keep the power above a threshold for the entire climb, regardless of road speed. Head wind? No problem, because that's part of the watts calculation. It is much more satisfying.

I've only had the iBike for a few rides, but it is VERY cool to have the constant readout so I know how my current effort compares to other efforts. It is VERY cool to have the graphs afterwards to review power and duration. And it is very cool to have all the data the iBike software provides -- temperature, feet climbed, etc. My Garmin doesn't record that.

There are a few issues. The speed pickup that came with it didn't work. They shipped a new one right away, it works fine, no more issues. That could happen with any of power systems. And the iBike guys were VERY responsive. Also, I bought the basic package and thought I'd just use my Garmin for HR. Well, I now want all the data in one file and all the graphs on the same page in the same software. So I'm going to pop for the wireless/HR/cadence kit. That adds another $280. Another issue is that the iBike starts showing watts when coasting once your speed reaches about 25mph. In my experience, it shows pprox 40 watts when coasting at 25mph, 100 watts at 30mph, 200 watts at 35mph. Richard Wharton at iBike said that is due to harmonic vibrations through the stem. He said the software can remove those. Or I can buy the VRK for $40 to eliminate the problem real-time, during the ride. I considered trying to make my own vibration dampener to stick inside the stem like the VRK, but I'd probably end up spending a lot of time messing around with it and I don't want to waste the time or re-torque my carbon bars repeatedly. So I'm going to get the VRK.

Overall, I'm delighted with the iBike. A power meter for $340 (after Team Peformance rebate). Very cool! Adding the $280 for the wireless/HR/cadence brings it to $620; add the VRK for $40 and I'll have $680 invested. That's a little more than half the comparable systems. Plus it is a significatly lower weight penalty. There's a win/win! Half the cost and doesn't add a chunk of weight to rotating parts!

Honestly, it wasn't an issue of affordability for me. It was an issue of value. I could afford any of the other systems if I chose to. But having a power meter wasn't worth $1,500 or $2,000 or $2,600 to me. I'm simply not going to spend >$1,000 on a power meter. It's cool, but not that cool.

Bottom line is that I'm not a professional racer, I'm just a guy in the suburbs having fun on my bike and trying to improve fitness. Okay, let me revise that a bit -- I'm a fiercely competitive guy in the suburbs whose definition of fun is stomping the others in my class at the Winter Park Mountain Bike Race series in 2008. I'm willing to work EXTREMELY hard to achieve that goal. Nonetheless, the cost/reward ratio for a power meter just doesn't make sense to me when the cost gets over $1,000. That's getting too close to a mortgage payment.

I will try the iBike on my mountain bike at some point. Currently, I'm using the Garmin for mtb'ing and just monitoring HR. I'd love to have power on my Yeti mtb. I don't know how the iBike will deal with all the bumps and rocks. Should be interesting.

So that's my take on it. I expect that training with power will be much more effective and will be very motivating. Even based on just a very few rides, I can say that it is WAY more motivating to try to keep the watts over 300 instead of the HR over 165. One feels like a focus on POWER and CONQUERING while the other is a focus on SUFFERING.

Based on my current experience, I highly recommend the iBike!

And the iBike guys were VERY responsive.

I'll second that. I emailed them with a question about the iBike and I got a response in literally 10 minutes. I was stunned.

If I was going to buy a powermeter, I'd probably just get a powertap. It's more accurate and easier to use.

Hey, Performance Bike has a coupon for 20% off any purchase over $100. I received the coupon in an email. Might just be for Team Performance members, I'm not sure since I'm a member. But it would certainly be worth signing up if you're interested in a power meter.

Not sure what you mean by a PT being "easier to use". The iBike is very easy to use. The tilt adjustment takes approx 2 minutes, entering your weight takes just a few moments, and the coast-down tests just take a couple minutes. All buttons are well labeled so you can find the slope and speed and watts and whatever with just a glance. It is very easy to use.

Did another ride today. It is so cool to see 300+ watts for 10 minutes on one climb and that sort of thing. I need to do some reading and put together a training program to really take advantage of it.

Sorry to resurrect this zombie thread, but wanted to provide a quick iBike update. I've had mine since fall 2006 and have put a couple of thousand miles on it. I'm still not happy with its inconsistency. In short, it gives me high power readings. With the help of the iBike guys (who are very responsive) we've pegged this to various reasons:

1. Rough roads: The streets around NYC are rarely smooth. "Buzzy" roads give my iBike fits, inflating power by 50-100 watts, I estimate. I know one rough stretch in Central Park where my iBike always jumps 100 watts for about 45 seconds.
2. Temperature: The iBike guys told me that bringing the unit from a warm house to a cold road will throw off power until the unit cools down. I see power inflation of 75+ watts until my unit cools.
3. Wind offset: Basically, on every ride I'm supposed to let the iBike cool down, then reset the wind speed by blocking the wind port (without touching it) and then pressing a button when it hits zero. The other day I spent 10 minutes on a cold, windy day looking for a place where the iBike measured no wind. I couldn't find one.
4. Power readings when coasting: The poster above is right: at least 40 watts when coasting at 25 mph. This is due to microvibrations. But it also screws up average watts readings on a hilly ride. I would need to buy the cadence upgrade to fix this.

The other day I had the perfect storm of factors, I guess, because I rode on a very cold, windy day on rough, rolling roads. For 20.8 miles at 16.4 mph average, I supposedly averaged 287 watts. Uh, no. Not even close. I've been ridng a long time, but I'm nowhere near that strong.

Again, the iBike guys have been great with their advice. Their new software will smooth out "buzzy" data, but not in real time. Only when I download the data. They've got that new stem mount and vibration reduction gadget for $219. That's supposed to help kill the "buzzy" factor and add cadence. But guess what? I've got 2 bikes with iBike mounts, because iBike's original selling point was that you could equip 2 bikes for less than one PowerTap with multiple inexpensive mounts.

Sorry, but I'm not going to spend another $440 for two upgrade kits. That's still not going to help the temp and wind offset issues. I'll miss my iBike, but I'm going to try a PowerTap Pro. Wish me luck.

I was having good results with my iBike compared to a friend with a PowerTap, so I decided to upgrade to the wireless unit with HR and cadence. Got it installed a week ago, but it has been cold with snow/ice ever since so I haven't ridden with it yet.

My primary problem has been with the iBike registering watts on fast downhills. iBike tech support explained that is due to the vibration. I bought the Vibration Reduction Kit (VRK) for $38 but haven't installed it yet (kind of a funky brass thing with rubber spacers that slips inside the stem, shouldn't be a big deal to install).

I think that's what you need for your bikes, teams_sheepshead -- just the $38 VRK. You don't need a multi-hundred dollar upgrade to the wireless mount for each to kill the vibration effect. Just the VRK. Another $76 investment.

My bike stays in the garage and I open the garage and put it out front while I get my stuff on to acclimate the iBike to the temperature. Then I do the wind calibration inside the garage. It just takes a few seconds.

I plan to do a short solo ride this afternoon to ensure everything is working properly, then a longer ride tomorrow with a group. Hopefully some of the folks with PTs or SRMs will show up and I can get a feel for how my iBike compares again. I continue to be very hopeful that my $550 investment will enable me to train with power instead of HR.

multirider, thanks for your post. On the subject of watts readings on downhills, do you pedal on the downhills? If you are coasting, you can get a cadence sensor that will automatically zero out your watts when you stop pedaling, or so the iBike guys told me last year. At the time the wired cadence kit was $99. The new option is the wireless mount, which adds cadence and heart rate. They'll do that for me for $219.

I never even thought of just trying the VRK alone. I inferred that the VRK was designed to work with the new wireless stem mount (because the VRK widget slips inside the stem). But maybe the VRK alone will help reduce "buzz."

After I wrote the above post, I got a long e-mail from John at iBike about my concerns. Credit to him for taking the time to write. I can't imagine the CEO of Saris replies to consumers.

Apparently the new iBike software can detect errors in device calibration and settings after a ride, and correct them. He ran my latest file through the software and found that:
1. My tilt/slope averaged +2.2% for the entire ride. The iBike thought I was going uphill most of the time. I did set the tilt/slope to 0.0 manually before my ride, so I'm not sure how this happened.
2. The draft coefficients I input months ago are somehow gone from the devive, so it's using factory default settings. As I'm 5'7" and 152, I assume the default settings think I'm bigger than I really am.

Also, I'm now supposed to do some new coast-down and 4-mile test ride procedure and run it through the new software. This is supposed to improve overall accuracy. I guess I will give that a try.

The VRK is completely independent of the wired or wireless mount or the cadence or HR sensors. It is just a mechanical device you put inside your stem to interrupt the vibrations that can turn into harmonic frequencies that throw off your iBike. I agree with a previous post that they should include that with the iBike in the first place. But that solved the problem of registering watts while coasting downhill at >25mph.

I'm planning to do a bunch of coast-downs and a 4 mile ride today to calibrate it. I have high hopes that it will compare favorably to other people's power meters on tomorrow's ride since it was very consistent with a friend's PT when I was running it with the wired mount a month or so ago. I changed over to the wireless mount and am eager to have HR and cadence all on the same device and eager to be able to analyze the results in the application.

The VRK is completely independent of the wired or wireless mount or the cadence or HR sensors. It is just a mechanical device you put inside your stem...

I wonder about this. iBike's website states it plainly: Simply insert the VRK into the interior of your stem, reattach your handlebars, and install your iBike stem mount directly over the VRK. REQUIRES: - Round stem at least 75 mm length, no taper - iBike Stem mount (SOLD SEPARATELY).

So did you try the VRK device with your iBike mounted on the bars?

After much back and forth with the folks at iBike, we figured out that the glue holding the mount cap to the mount body is weakening. I can lift the cap with my thumb. This is causing my iBike unit to "bounce" on the mount, which is screwing up my tilt. They are willing to send me a new mount under warranty. This will be my third mount. The first one snapped when I hit a pothole at 19 mph.

My PowerTap is coming in the mail.

Well, I broke down and bought a PowerTap on eBay from a seller with plenty of positive feedback. After much wrangling with the iBike, I just got fed up at all its idiosyncrasies. When the iBike is dialed in, yes, I believe it is as accurate as the PowerTap...or as accurate as a recreational rider/low-level racer needs it to be. But it's not worth the trouble, IMHO. Per the guys at iBike, here is the procedure I had to go through on cold mornings to make sure I got accurate power data:

1. Cool down iBike close to outside temperature--put in the frig for a few minutes.
2. Make sure I have enough battery power to cover the ride.
3. Make sure I have enough available memory to record the entire ride.
4. Cover wind port with hand (without touching it) and try to reset wind offset to 0.
5. Make sure weight of me and bike is set correctly.
6. Go outside.
7. Find a flat surface and reset tilt to 0.
8. Ride

Even with that, the particularly "buzzy" road surfaces on my rides were inflating my power numbers. I was told to spend about $220 on an upgrade kit that would get me a vibration damper and a stem-mount with wireless heart rate and cadence. (This is after spending nearly $400 on the iBike.) For my No. 2 bike, I suppose I would have to spend another $220 for a second upgrade kit, because I could not use the vibration damper without the stem mount. And if I wanted to use the iBike on my trainer, I needed to spend another $40 on the trainer sensor.

So instead of spending $260-$480 on upgrades, I spent $460 on a used PowerTap wheel. So far it works perfectly. I just jump on my bike and go, and of course works as-is on my trainer. The downsides are the added weight of the PowerTap and the electrical tape on my frame.