Woud using power pedals/crank with a Wheel on trainer help with power accuracy?

So I am a rower who likes to Zwift in winter as it fits the family schedule, daylight issues and helps with the competitive side of me. I have a Kinetic Smart Control Road machine(new version) that while frustrating at times to calibrate I find more enjoyable than my old fluid trainer with the changing resistance feature. I know direct drive is better at everything including watt accuracy but I struggle to justify the cost as Zwift is just one part of the workout plan. I find it very annoying that my Kinetic Smart trainer is very jumpy with watts in comparison to the Kinetic fluid I had that transmitted watts especially in a race.
What I thought I could justify is a power guage that works my current 9 speed road bike. I was thinking I can use them as a power source for outdoor riding and Zwift. Was looking at either Assioma or Garmin Rally pedals or 4iiii or stages crank. Pedals seem to be easier for my older bike.
Question I have is if I go single sided power pedals/crank will it help with overall accuracy? Not concerned with left/right power. Or is it basically the same as the wheel on trainer power accuracy? Would using power pedals/crank still allow my trainer to control resistance just not use the power numbers from it?

Thanks and good points I am thinking of. Right now my watts will drop from mid 200s to 100 or lower on a downhill. Seems a bit drastic.
Rowing equipment I know, still figuring out cycling.

You need to gear up to your biggest front chainring and smallest cassette.

I Have used Kinetic trainers for several years both fluid and control of the best thing I did was to get power pedals (which can also be used outdoors on my road bike) and now no need to calibrate the trainer to get consistent results

1 Like

So after a 6-8 rides I am pretty happy with the setup of using Assioma Duos with Kinetic Smart Control. First 3 rides I had Duos as power source on Zwift and Kinetic trainer on Garmin head unit. Kinetic power was 40-50 Watts lower (after calibration) on every ride with a lot more fluctuations. Definitely trust the Duos over Kinetic trainer and just changed the Zwift power source to Duos. The Kinetic still gives me the resistance changes I want so I see no reason to change to a high end setup as any gains are minimal at my FTP level.
Thanks for the help everyone!

1 Like