What is a power meter?
power meters are a modern discovery in the mountain biking world which works to record the power and energy of your body, heart rate, and legs when you are pedaling.it is like a machine that works to measure accurate estimation of the power and energy transferring from your body and pushing the pedals.it is something that gives you access to check your health, your heartbeat rate, and the power and energy of your body in cycling life.
it makes life and training easier for those riders who run mountain bikes just for exercising.it is a kind of training tool which remains in contact with your body health and always keeps alarm about your body health and how fast you are riding mountain bike on the trails.
The other advantage about mountain bike power meters is that usually, the riders who notice a single second when they are in the race with the pro riders need their installation in their bikes while pedaling they will easily record the power of their ability and the riders which are nearly riding with them. because by noticing the power meter the pro racer will get to know about its own speed and the other pro racer speed and then he pedals by applying more power to win the race or come forward against the other racers.
Like we know it’s a small and unnecessary thing but it has big benefits in mountain biking that’s why the riders desire to know everything about their riding styles, basic Infos about riding, and at what speed we have to ride on different steep terrains.
How necessary is a power meter for mountain bikers?
We ride mountain bikes for improving our health and relaxing our body and mind by pushing pedals on single trails and also we want to run our bikes against other mountain bikers but we never know anything about our health because the health does not remain stable on the new coming days and we think that we are healthy and we would run our bikes same as past days and it results in increasing heartbeat and too much tiredness after that it clears that the health also makes difference on each and every day.
Even in world cup racings if you stay unconscious about the power meter then it creates chances of losing the races.
Power meters are light in weight and do not create any discomfort while racing downhill and climbing trails. but it will give you much more consciousness about your speed.
Power meters help you to run your bike at a stable speed on a daily based riding.
How does a power meter help to improve heart rate?
The power meter records the number of pedals you pushed to cover the required distance and the amount of power that is used to run the bike and bring it into motion. repeating the same process on daily basis or just one or two rides in a week you can also judge your heart pumping rate and the health rate.
- The number of pedals
- the distance into kilometers
- the level of tiredness
- days gap in rides
All of these things will help in measuring the heartbeat rate and you will notice your heart rate whether you are improving your riding or losing. if you are confused related to your health and you are noticing the ups and downs in your speed then the power meter is the exact thing that can help to get rid of all the frustrating things which you are facing in the rides.
When you are climbing the mountain bike trails by pushing pedals then try to sing a song or talk in your own way, repeat it on every ride on the same trail it’s a good habit to stay conscious from your own riding level.
Places to install a power meter in a mountain bike?
power meters are installed on the rolling parts of the mountain bike so that it will record exactly the power of the motion in which the bike is currently running to reach the distance.
- power meters are installed in the pedals of the mountain bikes
- Power meters are installed in the cranks of the mountain bike
- Power meters are installed in the hub of the mountain bike to notice the power of the rolling wheel.
installing power meter pedals in a mountain bike:
their installation is the same and easy as that of the other pedals but when you unbox them these contain batteries which are installed in both their pedals and then tighten the bolt of the batteries with the Hex key. these pedals are small in size from the other Shimano pedals.
Remove the old pedals and give some grease to the teeth of the power meter pedals before installing them on your bike and then install them with the Hex key. their batteries remain in the center place of the pedals and these are chargeable.
- Prevent them from dirt and mud
- By applying force on them you will notice the amount of power in watts on the little screen.
- These are used for exercise or training in your home while standing bike on the rear stand.
- It helps to record the bike speed in fast racings of bikes.
- Used widely for uphill trails.
- Power meter pedals are Recommended for the road bikes
Installing a Crank leg power meter in a mountain bike:
The crank legs also contain the battery of the power meter. installing both cranks need precisely sized spindles which can fit in the bike frame and the other end with the crank leg. use your old spindle for the new crank legs, if it would not fit in the teeth then you have to buy a new spindle from the mechanic shop or online.
crank leg power meters are a little bit heavier than the normal Shimano crank legs, their installation is much easy same as that of installing the other crank legs. remove the whole crankset by opening its bolts and then insert the spindle in the frame, apply some grease on both teeth of the spindle and then tight the spindle with the crank leg.
installation of Hub power meters in a mountain bike:
These are adjusted within the rear axle wheel. their width is thicker than the usual hubs. these are the modern hubs with a power meter and the bearings are hidden within the power meter. the battery lies within the power meter hub and the size is small as compared to the pedal power meter batteries.
In cases, you want to change the rear hub battery it is much easier you have to uninstall the rear wheel and remove the axle and hub. the battery is also hidden in the hub, the cap of the hub gives extra safety to the battery of the power meter. the hub power meter is long-lasting and you use the same power meter hub for your road bike and also for your mountain bike.
There are three types of bike hub power meters that are used to install in the axle of the wheel to check the power:
- Pro Plus hub power meter
- SL Plus hub power meter
- SLC Plus hub power meter
How long do bike Power meters last:
The hub power meter lasts long because of the covering facility from all around, you just need to change its battery when its power became dimmed.
Pedal Power meters have their batteries faced toward the ground and their batteries are also interchangeable when they become expire you just need to buy two new batteries and insert them in the pedal power meters.
The crank power meter also contains batteries, when the storage capacity ends then you don’t have to uninstall the crank legs of the bike, the batteries are also inserted simply on the crank legs without going into complexity.
When it comes to the life span of power meters these are the batteries that will reduce early as compared to the pedal, crank legs, and hub, all of these parts of power meters stay long.
Safety measures of mountain bike Power meters:
As we know power meters are little things that are mostly recommended for road bikes but mountain bikers also have them installed in their bikes. the tracks are rough enough even crashes and accidents would happen so due to their small size these are prevented from having to destroy and damaging but the head unit which is installed on the handlebar of your bike sometimes would break if you got a front crash.
Whereas you also have to protect the power meters from water while washing the bike or muddy trails the batteries of the pedal and the crank are open to the environment.
the other important thing is that never push the battery side of the pedals while pedaling a bike because the batteries are fragile enough and they do not support so much pushing power applied from foot palms.
10 Best mountain bike power meters:
- Garmin Vector 2 power meter
- Stages cycling G3 Power meter
- S-Works Power meter
- Favero
- SRM Look Power meter
- Rotor 2INpower crankset
- DURA-ACE R9100_Power meter
- Quarq DZERo Dub power meter spider
- Bryton
- 4iiii
These are the best power meters in the cycling world mostly used by road bikers, mountain bikers, and other cyclists.