Power Meter Mess - Favero Assioma Duo

[John-Paul_Wood (John-Paul)]

@Andrei_Istratov

John-Paul , since you have DUO pedals, they generate tons of data which you can analyze to understand what is going on. All you need is to capture the data from pedals either on your smart bike computer (e.g., Wahoo or Garmin) or even on a free Android phone app Jepster. Then upload this data to one of the online depositories and import them into WKO5 or Golden Cheetah or into Garmin Connect if you have a Garmin head unit. You will see how much positive and negative power you generate, what is your efficiency, cadence, etc. This should have been your starting point, sorry if I missed it, but I do not seem to find this data in this thread.

Thanks @Andrei_Istratov. I’ve actually done some of this with Golden Cheetah. I do have a Garmin head unit so I can see the data on Garmin Connect as well. The only thing that has really stood out is just the difference in overall power. I can’t say I even fully understand what negative power is, but again, this was Favero’s explanation. All I can really say is, which is so perplexing, is if I keep a steady heart rate on the stationary bike (say 130, 140, or 150 bpm) and then do the same on a flat road on an outdoor bike, the stationary bike will report power at about 60% - 65% compared to any other outdoor bike.

@Andrei_Istratov

Negative power from flywheel? Physically, it is a misnomer, but I think I understand what Favero support means. In this case, you should probably feel a lot of resistance and generate tons of power when you spin it up, and then a drop in power when its rpms stabilize. Also, when you stop pedaling, it should probably continue spinning for quite a bit at your chosen resistance. It would be the same thing as if you are riding on a bike slightly downhill - usually at your preferred cadence, resistance is fairly low and power drops. An excessively heavy flywheel could theoretically create a similar effect.

I know what you mean, but it isn’t really what I see from this stationary bike. “Generating tons of power” on the stationary bike just doesn’t happen. I can push to 800+ watts on any bike outdoors with these pedals. On the stationary bike it is pretty much a miracle if I can get to 500 watts with the same pedals. Outdoors I can maintain 200 watts all day. On the stationary bike I can hold 200 watts for about 4 minutes I think, but that’s it.

I think the only way I’m going to know for sure whether it is me or the pedals is to have a cyclist that can maintain 200 watts for an hour come to my house and ride the stationary bike. If they can hold 200 watts for 30 minutes and can say that it feels like 200 watts, then I’ll concede that for some reason I just can’t ride indoors, but can outdoors. And it wouldn’t be the pedals. However, it could be the other scenario and if they get exasperated quick (as I do) trying to hold 200 watts indoors then I’ll know there is something with the pedals or the bike or interference indoors or something. It just wouldn’t be me.

Fortunately, this opportunity might present itself now that the Pandemic here in Texas is finally getting beat up a bit. I have plenty of cyclist acquaintances I guess you could call them, but I wouldn’t feel comfortable asking them to come ride my stationary bike. However, there are a couple that might indulge me. We’ll see.

Thanks again for all the input here.