ak-tux
Zen MBB Master
Hello good people! I haven't posted for a while, but Iam still doing well and enjoying my S40!
I have consistently noticed that I climb faster on my upright roadbike than I do on my recumbent. Besides the difference in weight , maybe 3Kgs or so, it still puzzles me why such a big performance difference. So I've beeen wondering how much power I really produce in a recumbent position and for a long time the thought of installing a power meter has crossed my mind. However looking at the prices of these devices , it was always too discouraging to pull the plug.
I came a cross a fairly affordable single sided power meter on AliExpress for about $185 called Xcadey. Apart from a 4 year old youtube post from Shane Miller of GP Lama, the reviews were very few and the customer support seemed none existent. But for the price, I decided to take a chance. I made the order in January this year. It is a Shimano 105 Left-side-only crank arm fitted with a power sensor.
After about two months of logistical delays, I almost gave up. I even intertained the idea of looking for a used/secondhand main brand Stages/4iiii on ebay but I got out bid. Thinking I may have lost my money, I opened a dispute with AliExpress, but they told me to wait a few more days. And sure enough, it finally arrived. It was well packed, brand new and no blemish on it!
It's a a sealed system with a rechargable battery and a magnetic charger cable. It looks a like a genuine 170mm Shimano 105 Left crank arm! For $185 this is amazing!
The plan was to transfer my old 170mm Sora triple crankset from my old DIY recumbent becuase it was Hollowtech-II compatible and put only one narrow-wide chaniring in the middle. Offcourse the colors don't match but it works like a charm! The chainline is perfect and the rear SRAM Apex1 derailuer still shifts as expected.
Next was to zero-calibrate the unit, which was simple. First I charged the unit to wake up the batttery. Then after installing I rotated the cranks a few times to wake it up and launched the companion Xcadey app on my Android phone. To Zero the unit , I set the left crank arm to 6 O'clock postion and hit 'calibrate' and that was it!
I didn't have a head unit yet, so I just used my Android phone and the free Wahoo fitness app and it paired flawlessly!
Seems to work well. It assumes 50/50 pedaling effeciency which is o.k. for my purposes. Response is good and seems like wahoo app was displaying 3sec average power since it seems to wait about 3 secs once I start pedalling.
The unit seems only suited for temperate conditions (manual says 10 to 50 deg c) which is o.k. for my African equatorial climate. Probably may not work properly in freezing winter , which we don't have here in Kenya.
Next steps will be to now see what adjustments on the bicycle gives the highest power output. Well, and offcourse , the mandatory FTP test. Hope it helps me improve and learn.
I have consistently noticed that I climb faster on my upright roadbike than I do on my recumbent. Besides the difference in weight , maybe 3Kgs or so, it still puzzles me why such a big performance difference. So I've beeen wondering how much power I really produce in a recumbent position and for a long time the thought of installing a power meter has crossed my mind. However looking at the prices of these devices , it was always too discouraging to pull the plug.
I came a cross a fairly affordable single sided power meter on AliExpress for about $185 called Xcadey. Apart from a 4 year old youtube post from Shane Miller of GP Lama, the reviews were very few and the customer support seemed none existent. But for the price, I decided to take a chance. I made the order in January this year. It is a Shimano 105 Left-side-only crank arm fitted with a power sensor.
After about two months of logistical delays, I almost gave up. I even intertained the idea of looking for a used/secondhand main brand Stages/4iiii on ebay but I got out bid. Thinking I may have lost my money, I opened a dispute with AliExpress, but they told me to wait a few more days. And sure enough, it finally arrived. It was well packed, brand new and no blemish on it!
It's a a sealed system with a rechargable battery and a magnetic charger cable. It looks a like a genuine 170mm Shimano 105 Left crank arm! For $185 this is amazing!
The plan was to transfer my old 170mm Sora triple crankset from my old DIY recumbent becuase it was Hollowtech-II compatible and put only one narrow-wide chaniring in the middle. Offcourse the colors don't match but it works like a charm! The chainline is perfect and the rear SRAM Apex1 derailuer still shifts as expected.
Next was to zero-calibrate the unit, which was simple. First I charged the unit to wake up the batttery. Then after installing I rotated the cranks a few times to wake it up and launched the companion Xcadey app on my Android phone. To Zero the unit , I set the left crank arm to 6 O'clock postion and hit 'calibrate' and that was it!
I didn't have a head unit yet, so I just used my Android phone and the free Wahoo fitness app and it paired flawlessly!
Seems to work well. It assumes 50/50 pedaling effeciency which is o.k. for my purposes. Response is good and seems like wahoo app was displaying 3sec average power since it seems to wait about 3 secs once I start pedalling.
The unit seems only suited for temperate conditions (manual says 10 to 50 deg c) which is o.k. for my African equatorial climate. Probably may not work properly in freezing winter , which we don't have here in Kenya.
Next steps will be to now see what adjustments on the bicycle gives the highest power output. Well, and offcourse , the mandatory FTP test. Hope it helps me improve and learn.
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