Polar 720i (710) Power Meter Performance

I have the power meter and am quite satisfied with it. Can't
say much about accuracy against other units, but when
comparing my efforts w/ same meter suits me fine. Only issue
that I find is that it appears to suffer from interference
near power lines. I pass by a network of powerlines when I
ride and sometimes see my power go up to 900 watts. I think
" pretty impressive... I'm on par w/ Cippolini", but once I
get past the line it returns to the 200 watt range. Oh well.

Set up was easy on my road bike. On my triathlon bike
(KM40), has a curved chain stay and I was unsure if I had
the placement set right. Comparing power between the bikes,
they appeared similar, so it was probably not an issue.

"Pippen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:MqMGc.36074$a24.9818@attbi_s03...

Quoted message said:

I'm currently interested in the Polar Power Meter for the
720/710 HRM. I have researched the web and have a pretty
good idea as to how they compare to the SRM and the Power
Tap. I'm looking for individual feed back, not so much on
accuracy as consistency. I should metion that I currently
have a 720i and I'm not willing to sink another $700
(Power Tap) to $1500 + (SRM) on another system.

Most of the sites I found using google dealt with accuracy
which the Polar falls behind compared to the others
mentioned above. I don't care if I'm

40

Quoted message said:

watts off actual on a particular climb only that the next
time that I ride that climb I'm still 40 watts off the
actual wattage.

I know that this is very difficult if not impossible to
test. What I'm looking for is gut feeling on consistency
of this power meter...

Thanks,

-p

In article said:

I have the power meter and am quite satisfied with it.
Can't say much about accuracy against other units, but when
comparing my efforts w/ same meter suits me fine. Only
issue that I find is that it appears to suffer from
interference near power lines. I pass by a network of
powerlines when I ride and sometimes see my power go up to
900 watts. I think " pretty impressive... I'm on par w/
Cippolini", but once I get past the line it returns to the
200 watt range. Oh well.

Your bike is probably draining power from the
powerlines... ;-)

One one of my routes, there is a point where my heart rate
goes up to 280 bpm, the speed up to 80-90 km/h and my
cadence to 150-200... It last for 5-10 seconds, then it's
normal again. No powerlines around, but I can see an antenna
nearby the road.

--
Jørn Dahl-Stamnes

"Pippen" <[email hidden]> wrote in message
news:MqMGc.36074$a24.9818@attbi_s03...

Quoted message said:

I'm currently interested in the Polar Power Meter for the
720/710 HRM. I have researched the web and have a pretty
good idea as to how they compare to the SRM and the Power
Tap. I'm looking for individual feed back, not so much on
accuracy as consistency. I should metion that I currently
have a 720i and I'm not willing to sink another $700
(Power Tap) to $1500 + (SRM) on another system.

Most of the sites I found using google dealt with accuracy
which the Polar falls behind compared to the others
mentioned above. I don't care if I'm

40

Quoted message said:

watts off actual on a particular climb only that the next
time that I ride that climb I'm still 40 watts off the
actual wattage.

I know that this is very difficult if not impossible to
test. What I'm looking for is gut feeling on consistency
of this power meter...

The answer to your question can be found by perusing the
archives of the wattage list on topica.com:

topica.comreadOpen ↗

Andy Coggan