PowerPod V3 High Accuracy Black Cycling Power Meter (for Road, Mountain, Time Trial, Gravel, Cross Bikes) (PPV3)

First of all Velocomp is a part-time business so there for you will have to leave a message or email them. They usually answer your email and will return your call. This my second PP, the taps broke off after many years of use.1. Issac SW was written by Sheldon Cooper. The program is in no way intuitive unless you are a MIT graduate. It has taken all this time to sort of get the hang of the program.2. Newton is the SW Operating Program of the device itself. When it says transfer the profile to Newton it means to put it on the device.3. There is no Issac of Dummies on the web. nor at Velocomp.com. Good Luck.4. When you sort of get use to the Issac program the device does what it's designed to do: show watts on your Bike Computer via WiFi.5. Accuracy appears to be fine but then again I'm not trying to do the Tour day France. If you want more, try Garmin or Shimano for $1200+6. The Velocomp 3 is what I expected; nothing more nothing less. The power number I get (accuracy assumed) tells me whether I had a good ride or a sucky ride.7. Maybe the boys at Velocomp will put out a Issac for Dummies book on day

I tried and tried...and tried... and tried to get this to work. Followed each set up step in detail numerous times, resetting the unit and trying again. Tried troubleshooting from the companies website (which is littered with troubleshooting tickets). No joy. I have a garmin speed sensor on the front wheel and confirmed pairing each try. Calibration would run though 100 watts then jump to 600 then stick at 50. Or calibration would just restart from 0 after reaching 100. I've spent enough time fumbling with this thing. Back to reliable pedals and back to hoping something comes on market that I can easily transfer from road, to mtn, to gravel bike -- and that actually works.

I was really excited by the idea of getting an affordable Left/Right power meter that I could move between bikes. Unfortunately it didn't work out for me.I had trouble calibrating the Powerpod. I am partially color-blind, and the Powerpod's "user interface" is a single LED that displays a steady or flashing red, green, or yellow depending on its status. With some effort, I could distinguish when the LED was red, but green and yellow looked the same to me. In situations like this, I enlist the help of my wife who is great with colors. But she also had trouble distinguishing between the yellow and green. Add to this the fact that when the Powerpod was mounted, the LED was obstructed by my road bike handlebars. So imagine a partially color-blind person riding in bright daylight and trying to decipher a colored -- and partially obstructed -- LED indicator.Chances are that you're not color blind, and so maybe you'll have no trouble calibrating the Powerpod. But I had enough other reservations that I decided to return it.I did eventually get the Powerpod calibrated and used it 3 or 4 times over the course of about 100 miles. I regularly had problems with power readings of zero on steep descents even though I was pedaling hard. I tried calling the support line, but my call went to a voice mailbox that sounded like it was a specific person with the company. So I sent an email to Powerpod support that included my contact information, issues, the specifics of my bike's electronics, and a request to either call me or open a ticket. I never received any kind of response.I'm giving Powerpod the benefit of the doubt and giving it 2 stars. It's a great concept that gets some positive reviews, and maybe it will work for you. But at least for me it was a time suck that delivered no value. Thankfully it was super easy to return and my account was quickly credited.

You dont want to buy this one.Why? This is the version 3. Version 4 is out. The price is the exact same. So you are getting lower end tech (I think from what I can tell in the week I have had it.) This price is the exact same as the version 4. In my opinion if you are liqudating old tech the price should be an incentivized price. It isnt.Ok I am going to be real critical in the next bunch of lines but it gets a lot better. If you are curious about buying this device read the whole thing.Here is the bad..lets start there.Setting this up is a pain. My first calibration ride didnt work. The second did. It was unclear how to reset the device.Oh by the way press the button on the SIDE not the top. "Why isnt this button working?" That is why it looks like it is a button on the top but it is pressed on the side. The instructions dont mention that. You can see a picture of the instructions.So version 4 is out. I have a garmin 830. I will never ride without it. so this device gives it's data to the garmin and the device doesnt record the whole rideon their website the LITE version which is $199 can be fully upgraded by a downloading a software key. So you are buying a piece of hardware that you can uncripple for 69 dollars extra. (seem like the scammy thing software companies do? Yea it does)Their Isaac software looks like a windows 3.1 app and only in doing amateur radio stuff have I seen worse software. This Isaac software is the worst (pic included.. Yuk)Ok now that I have completely assassinated the device and completely told you all the bad.HERE is the good news.The Good is.. check out my strava numbers on my 4th ride with the thing. (Pic included from last night on a slightly uphill ride home)It works. period. It uses the same technology as a Pitot tube on an airplane. That is good for million dollar Airbus and Boeing aircraft to fly across the sky. It is good enough to measure power on my bike. I read a few articles and I think this is as good as a crank based power meter and in some ways it is better.This version is V3. So they are selling their old stock on Amazon and not selling their new stuff here. Maybe from reading the V4 description the features they list on V4 are in V3 too? It looks the exact same and my device from the factory came with version 7 firmware. First update I did with my pc updated it to versin 8.1. There is a 9 dollar pitot tube that costs 12 dollars to ship. I think that might be the only difference between V3 and V4. You cannot tell from the online descriptions.The version 4 seems like an upgrade but from reading I am not even sure. Have a garmin and only use one bike. You probably can buy the lite. simple as that. add the 8 dollar pitot tube and you can ride in the rain.seeing my braking is kind of neat too. nothing gives you that but this device. (because there is some form of accelerometers inside. It also records your tilt and other things. It is super important this not move in the mount. (in practice the mount was good and I was able to lock this in position. It didnt move when I bumped it.Good device.. weird software.. horrible install. Bad instructionsBUT IT WORKS and is intriguing.If you want to unlock power on your garmin.. and see real power numbers in Strava this is probably the best device to do it with.