Stages Power Meter (Single/Gen III) - Install, Ride, Data Review
ฝัง
- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 5 ก.ย. 2024
- Hands on with the latest generation of the Stages Power cycling power meter. Install, ride, and data review from a number of rides performed indoors and out on the Shimano 105 Stages Left ANT+/Bluetooth Power Meter. I also test out the claimed improvement of their data transmission range with an epic out-front head unit mount.
Please subscribe to support this TH-cam channel: goo.gl/QS5YZg
-----------
Web: shanemiller.net
Instagram: / gplama
Strava: / strava
Twitter: / gplama
TH-cam: / gplama
--------------------------
convinced me. Left only is good enough for me.
25°C in Australia: "Winter is coming😱"
25°C in Holland: "I'm really overheating💦"
That's about the temp in Phoenix today and tomorrow. But ugh... summer is coming 103 projected high for Sunday aka 39C. And it won't be long before we start seeing 110-115 most days aka 43-46 C. It's only May and I already miss winter.
Summer coming to Finland. Hope it get's to 25 someday..
Lol it's high 30s in Malaysia. It's always summer here.
@ΝΟΜΛ More like 25 C in the UK: ''50 people died of head exhaustion in an ASDA car park as they attempted to get their cars out''
Omfg when he takes the extension pole outside I nearly died laughing 😂. Shane you are a legend.
Rofl
I want Cycling Jousting as a sport.
And it shall be recorded in history that 12:50 was the time that Sir Shane of Ballarat departed, riding his trusty carbon steed on his noble quest for wireless range. Ave!
A great power meter for the money and the best customer service I have had in years. Super powerful signal on the third gen. I had a problem with my second gen unit draining batteries. They put a third gen unit in my crank. No charge and it took them only three days. Signal is very powerful. Stages is a great company.
Another good review Shane. As you've stated, the discrepancy in readings between power meters relates to leg imbalances. This is only an issue if you are comparing data between power meters. It is not a big issue if people recognise the limitations of their equipment. So long as a rider adopts a consistent protocol to measuring power output over time then the data will remain meaningful.
This is why when my brother-in-law says his FTP went up 5 watts (he's a Gen 1 Stages user), I just shake my head. That's within the normal plus-minus. For me, P1s are working great. I have a Stages (Gen 2) on my CX bike, and if the Garmin isn't stem mounted it is nowhere to be found. Great review Shane.
that was an outrageously brilliant test
Good job you saved the out out front for suburbia and not the climb - the wallabies will be thankful! Would love to see a similar rigourous test of a single sided 105 4iiii.
OMG that last bit with the super out front mount had me rolling! Not at all what I expected! What did the neighbors think?
Using a Gen 3 Ultegra on my new Giant since early January. Replaced the battery Mid March after about 100hrs in the saddle and 3500km. Pretty happy with it overall.
Imagine being Shane's neighbour.."well, there he goes again, what's he up to this time i wonder.., should i ask him? Nvm, i'll just wait for his next upload.."
Your out front Garmin mount just solved my KOM goals! 🙌🏆😂😅
🤣🤣
Best bike tech reviews on the Internet, and this one was particularly good.
very happy with my gen 2 stages single side PM
Fantastic review as always! I was tossing up between 4iiii and Stages earlier this year and went with 4iiii in the end. Have done over 3000 km and haven't had an issue. The latest Stages looks like a big improvement over previous models. The good thing about Stages is they are often on sale and you can often pick them up cheaper than the RRP.
My Gen 3 works fine, no dropouts with Edge 520. To be fair I didn't have dropouts with Gen 2 either using the same head unit. I still fear water ingress, which destroyed two Gen 2s I had. Stages replaced the units but still not good. Their customer service is outstanding.
Stages really needs to add a slope and offset adjustment in their app. This would allow us to match the stages to other PMs.
I have only good things to say about Stages customer service. I had the Gen 1 unit and it started to eat batteries, contacted support and they replaced it for a gen 2 unit, no issues since then and I use it year-round in Irish (wetter than an otters pocket) weather.
That out the front mount was epic. Props for actually riding outside with that contraption. I'd be too embarrassed haha
I just ordered a stages 105 2 gen crank. Now I know why it was on sale.. Did not know about the 3 gen coming until this. Well if it just works I'm happy.
Buy a Wahoo, then it will
Deserves a like for that last test!
The things with power meters is your still going to pedal the bike at how your feeling , some days you fly other days you crawl, it’s a fun data tech for 90 % of people riding bikes. Yes pros and other athletes dive into data , I have the stages gen 2 and it’s great
Awesome as always Shane! Thanks so much for all you bring to us cycling fiends!
FYI with regards to battery life. I received my warranty replacement Gen 3 unit (SRAM GXP) around April 10, 2018 and I just had to replace the battery on 1.8.19, so the battery lasted 9 months. I had bad power and rpm readings while riding, which should be an indicator to owners to test battery before going off the deep end or contacting Stages.
Hahaha Nice review Shane as always...this ride must have been a sight for your neighbors :D
I've experienced drop in signal (couple of times) from Ultegra L Only Gen 2 & Edge 520 combo and only once with Ultegra L only Gen 2 & Bolt Combo (that is because the battery was close to dead on the crank arm)...
Stages Gen 2 L only has worked like a charm for the last year or so no issues whatsoever compatibility, pairing and signal strength are all good (I've p1 pedals for comparison). The comparison of a single side only power meter to a dual sided power meter can be unfair if you have a lot of unevenness or imbalance in strength in one's legs (like myself recovering or lack of proper recovery from ligaments tear)...
Currently running Gen 3 LR power meter and it is extremely good, I just love it. Have not experienced a lot of water resistance issues but we do not get that much precipitation here in NorCal....
Just ordered a 105 from stages website for $299 USD. My first power meter.
my friend has had one for 5 years and it still works!
Mother of all mounts! Fantastic review!
Fully committed review as usual!
I'm glad to see they fixed the data dropout stuff. That makes Stages worth buying again. I'm totally happy with my Powertap P1s right now though. Maybe next time, Stages.
I was wondering which generation I have. Thank you for answering my question!
Looks to be good value. I don't think that new mount will catch on though...
Loved that review Sir Llamalot!
Thx for the review. Have a Gen 2 for nearly a yr and has been flawless. No drop outs or issues whatsoever. But would like a left /right pm at some stage just to test my left /right balance etc and get a more accurate reading for actual overall power produced. My left leg is my weak leg too which doesn't help! Well I think it is...but without a left/right pm I don't really know.
The image of people seeing that mount and wondering WTF got me, haha good effort!
My first effort was with a 3m pole.... and I hit a parked car with it. (Just on the wheel, no scratches).... I couldn't include that in the video ;)
Shane Miller - GPLama haha quality, all in the name of consumer product testing! We all a appreciate it 👍🍻
I have a gen2 Stages and also had power dropouts with a garmin 520 headunit, switched to an element bolt and the dropout are gone now.
I hope this works. I'll have to dig my Stages out from the bottom of a pit of mess and give it a test.
I've heard other people with similar experience. Edge 500-->Element Bolt and drop outs gone.
I have Elemnt & stages gen 2 & do not experience dropouts
Does any have experience with moving to an edge 1030 instead of an edge 1000. Moving the edge 1000 to the stem already really helped. Thanks for he tip...
Great review as always Shane
I have the new Stages LR power meter and I love it. Very easy to set up and very consistent. I had the Vector 3 just prior to the Stages and they were a mess.
Stay tuned on the Vector 3 update... Mine have been put aside while Garmin sort the battery issue out.
I had to send mine back because the battery issue made them unusable. I went through two pairs and separate battery compartment. One major flaw in design is to rely on a small piece of electrical tape to prevent the battery circuit from shorting out.
Jerry Sobel i was considering vectors until I saw this comment. What exactly is the battery issue you mention?
The battery compartment in my opinion was thought out very poorly. You stack two LR44 batteries and you have to put a small amount of mineral oil on the contact point. On the inside part of the compartment there are these 2 small metal contact points but they have to be covered up so the batteries do not short out the circuit. So Garmin has taken two very small pieces of tape to cover these metal parts. The thing is that the tape can move and if does then the right pedal will not be seen. Also, the threads for the compartment are metal and for the pedal they are plastic. So you can easily strip the threads.
Shane Miller - GPLama my v3 drop off now and then during a ride, was starting to think it was due to range.
You can do an incredible bike throw with that out front mount!
You can win races that haven't even started! ;)
Great review, Thanks Shane
What a great out front mount!!!
I wonder if there would be a long-term review on this now that it has been about 5+ years since the introduction of the Gen 3 power meter. Has the culmination of updates led us to improved accuracy?
Great review - thanks Shane. I've had 1st, 2nd and now 3rd gen Stages. Used on both my mountain bike and more recently road bike. I've compared against my Powertap G3 hub, and now a Wahoo Snap. But very interesting to see you compare against some pedals. I would love to go that route, but currently stuck on Speedplays! The issue I've had with Stages is their complete inability to cope with storage in damp conditions here in the UK, and consequent battery drainage. Something that's unlikely to be an issue for you! I'm really hoping the Gen 3's are better - but it's unlikely since they've not changed the physical design.
One question - what smoothing do you use with DCR's tool? I use his tool too - but rarely get such a close match as you. I also haven't quite figured out how his tool matches different start times on different units.
Thanks - am loving your channel!
Great comprehensive review thank you!
I came for the stickers, because stickers, but that was a most informative video. One question I didn't see answered was how long it actually took to swap the cranks around. And I also wanted to ask if you know your left/right balance, because I'm surprised the single-sided crank was so close to your Snap. My balance is 54/46-ish left-to-right and I often joke about riding my singled-sided Vectors whenever I race on Zwift ;)
And don't forget -- stickers.
More STICKRZ! :) My L/R changes based on the effort/terrain. So I don't have an exact figure there. Time to change cranks over.... hmm... 5 minutes or so. Ignore the SNAP data that pops up on screen, I was doing voodoo magic with that unit at the time, I'll loop back to what I was up to in the near future.
Thank for you help
haha love your last test ride!
great thorough review!
Lol...that out front mount is awesome
K-Edge Jouster.
Shane Miller - GPLama patent pending
Stick a go pro on it 😊
DC Rainmaker would have used a drone instead of that out front mount
Reminds me of back when I was a kid...
Trashcan lids (back when they were made of galvanized steel) as a shield,
A length of 3/4" PVC pipe for a lance
And a nerf football as a pad on the end.
BMX jousting...
It's a wonder no one got maimed.
Very usefull review. Thanks!
Thanks again for the great content! Have you ever tested/compared the fulcrum (for lack of better term) between power meters? For example, standing vs. sitting... standing further back vs. further forward... sliding back on the saddle vs. on the rivet, etc. Could be interesting to compare crank vs. pedals vs. NEO in all of those scenarios.
There’s only so many hours in the day to test and retest. Sure it’d be nice to double down on all the details... but I find my Lama Lab tests and outdoor rides do a pretty good job at what works and what doesn’t.
Grew tired of Garmin dropouts with my 3 stages PM’s,switched to the Bolt...happy days!!
One does need to be vigilant with the Stages battery connection points: that tiny 3 prong piece of metal has needed manipulation on more than a few occasions.
Hard to beat a Stages for value tho.
It's been beaten for value long time ago. Stages is popular because it's well advertised, easily available and compatible with already owned popular crank sets. From value standpoint it's highly over priced in my opinion. There are full blown power meters available at one sided Stages price point.
I'm missing the point about, the Stage is reading high when you know your right legs is wonky, its a fundemantal difference between single versus dual sides meters..
I just ordered a Trek Checkpoint with this left-side power meter. Unfortunately, I'm reading now that there is not enough clearance to use this meter.
Thanks Shane, very helpful.
Shane Tepes, The Impaler.
Great review,, given the 6x more ANT+ power it would be interesting to know if it has impacted on the overall battery life and how that compares to the two earlier versions and how long a battery lasts from new (hours of use). I would still prefer a rechargable type unit but that is just me.
Hi Shane
Absolutely love all of your videos and content and love all your videos regarding power meters ! So interesting
I am looking at purchasing the stages ultegra power meter generation 3 like the one in this video however I was wondering what is the difference between the 105 and the ultegra version ? Will the 105 will it fit my bike or do I need the ultegra version
Thanks Shane
Thanks for your kind words. Regarding Stages - At this point in time I’d recommend seeking alternative options. I have a suspicion Stages as a company are in a volatile position. I don’t have any sold references other than seeing a LOT of their cycle tech staff leave in recent months and the ongoing reports online about their support being almost nonexistent.
Good job. I just purchased one. Thanks for the video
just bought my Gen2 a few months ago, hopefully I'm not missing too much lol
i use Gen2. BLE connectivity is good, but ant+ often gets reading dropouts. It 's due to signal jam.
Very well done sir, ty! 🙏
Great review! Been following your vids for some time now and they are really informative and useful! Btw: awesome front-out mount!
Thanks Shane. This was Gen 3 in 2018. - Is there meanwhile a new Gen 4 (or 5) available?
I'm not aware of any newer generation Stages power meters.
The power tap are not a laboratory instrument, using them as a datum does not verify that the stages are out . Either could be incorrect. I agree the about the l/r very just l.
They perform pretty well against the Neo. And the Stages show the same results against the Assioma.. which is also good against the Neo. I'm not taking wild horse guesses here. If that's not good enough, no problems. It's only data.
@37s you totally psyched me out by not installing it while outside. The only thing more epic is if you snapped your fingers and the background was just the green screen. *dropped mic*
just a little bit
Shane, that mount was amazing. The movie part well chosen. I had a good laugh 😂 Running a Gen2 here. Question: did they improve the battery door closing system? On Gen2 the CR2032 battery is loose and after a battery change it takes a lot of fiddling to have a proper connection again. I also had lots of signal dropouts, but only with Garmin head units (705 & 820). Elemnt, not a single dropout.
It looks the same to me.... I was just super careful to remove the cover and install it dead flat when i pulled the battery tab out. My Gen I had little tabs break off inside itself. I'd like to see them give up a few grams in weight for a more robust battery door.
actually there is an older version... before the gen1. i had a prototype one... completely blue... unfortunately the batt cap broke off and stages sent a complete new one... (gen 2)...
Hi Shane, thanks for this great video. I got myself a stages ultegra gen 3 left crank last week. Was wondering if you've notice the Bluetooth signal is much weaker than the Ant+ signal? Or is it just me?
House in you neighbor hood look like Central Texas. Ride On and keep the rubber side down. I just picked up this PM.
Nice review Shane. Have they added the ability to change the scale factor to account for leg imbalance like on the 4iiii?
Out front mount test 👌
Looks like the perfect power meter for Zwifting with the power being slightly high!! BTW, I assume the crank was the same length as your RH crank?
ride on
I found on my stages ver2 was the latches that hold the battery cap broke causing water ingress. I tried closing with electrical tape but moisture always got in on wet days. Now I just use it indoors on trainer
The Hoka's can only mean one thing,you run as well.
I don’t need power pedals to use the cranks right?
No
Great content. Crossing fingers for your Zwift Sticker initiative as well ;-) Greets from Munich!
Ballarat?!?? Have you ever ridden with Dr. Lucien Blake?
He's kind of.... keeping a low profile at the moment.
Any chance you can get your hands on the power2max Ng eco? They seem like the best budget solution that captures total power!
Trying.... Dr SLane has them, so I may outsource the Lama Lab test to him and put a pair of trusted pedals on his bike for some data collection. Stay tuned!
Shane Miller - GPLama Cheers!
Good stuff
Which is your stronger leg Shane or did you say you compared it with a left only pedal? Has the battery cover Improved? Great vid, bike jousting 😆
Id like to see a dropout test with the joust out front mount with the Gen 2.
Hola es compatible con freno trasero ultegra direct mount ultegra r8000?????
Which one is better in your opinion between xcadey ultegrar80000 vs stages gen3 ultegra
I'd go with the Stages Gen 3 LEFT only over the XCadey.
Hi shane - thanks for your informative review on stagespower gen 3. I thought I'd share my experience of a gen 2 DA stagespower left crank arm paired to a stages dash head unit..... Interestingly enough I've had no problems with drop off of signal with these two - albeit the dash is not quite mounted as far forward as the garmin units tend to be, but it's not too far off. I'm wondering if the stages dash has some type of booster - as it will happily display data and connect from many metres away, if not another room at times, with out an apparent drop in signal
In addition I'll also pair the stagespower to an atv4k with btle and both the atv running zwift and the iPhone running companion are hidden on a bookshelf about 5-6m from the tacx flux/bike set up.
Thanks again
Liam
Firsr time buyer . Does this fits on any crankset? I have a shimano sora 9s 50/34
where can i buy used pm??
my stages gen 3 left only shows in average 10 watts more than my garmin vector gen 1 left only and my tacx flux 2 . so yeah it shows higher watts than the others. not just a little
Hi Shane, which one would you recommend after all? stages left side or Favero assioma duo? Thanks man!
Thank for your review please can you tell us if you are using an ant + or bluetooh connection ?
I use ANT+ for data collection. This unit also supports BLE.
LLama - I'm a recreational cyclist but i'm also a data geek. I've been on the fence about getting a power meter as I don't necessarily 'train' - I just get out and ride my bike. Given this very brief background - would a left only power meter be the way to go if I decide to take the leap?
Does anyone know what the normal response time should be? Time between pushing down on the pedals and seeing instant power on garmin. Im worried close to 3sec is too much? Or is it normal
ALL - Could someone help? Would someone know the width of the new Stages Gen3? A friend has purchased a 4iiii and its rubbing on the brake (underneath the stays) The 4iiii Ive been able to find at 10.5mm. Anyone know or wouldn't mind measuring one for me?! Thanks
Can you give a review about the Velocomp Powerpod ANT/BLE Power Meter! Thanks
Not something on my list to look into sorry. It's an estimator based on wind.... so not all that useful indoors.
It’s exactly what I’m looking for a cheap powermeter for outdoors
So where do you buy these for 650 AUD in Australia?. I've seen $730
Does left sided option have any possibility to account for L/R imbalance through adjustment the way Assioma's Uno do? I'm using Assioma's on my road bike and I'm very consistent 48/52 on readings. I'm looking at Stages for my gravel bike with GRX crankset. Does Stages have anything to compensate for it or do you have another recommendation for that setup? Thank you!
I have always had to run 20 mm pedal spacers to save my knees would this effect how this type of power meter works.
I'm not sure Keith. One for Stages Support.
Can you give us insights on how do i compare powermeter data between powermeters.? I mean the settings on power recording? If u use zwift for the comparison? What software do u use to compare and how do u align the data? And technical stuff please?
DCR Analyzer Tool Overview & Manual: goo.gl/ShUDuZ
Loved the out front mount. Did you get many funny looks?
None. See my Instagram where I rode home with a foam head the other day... and nobody took any notice. I guess nobody sees cyclists anyway hey? :)