Considering power metre pedals.

Antipathetic

Hi everyone, apologies in advance for the long post.

I hope you're all enjoying a great weekend.

I'm considering investing in a pair of power meter pedals. The reason behind this is that my parents recently relocated to the UK, and I sent my mountain bike with them since there are some promising mountain biking trails around their new location. Initially, I thought of getting a left-side crank arm power meter by Stages for my road bike here, with the plan to switch it to the mountain bike when I visited. Unfortunately, the clearance between the crank arm and the frame on the mountain bike is too narrow for a crank-based power meter.

Since I use SPD on both my mountain bike and road bike, my options for power meter pedals are limited. I've narrowed it down to two choices. The first is the Duo-Shi by Asioma. Although SPD is not officially supported, I've read that you can fit the spindle into some SPD pedal bodies, and I already own a set of compatible spare pedals. I like the fact that they have rechargeable batteries, though I am concerned about how long these non-replaceable batteries will last. The biggest worry for some reviewers is the added width due to their design, making it a deal-breaker for some and a non-issue for others. Another significant advantage is the cost; although they're still pricey at around 600 euros, they are in the same ballpark as other dual-sided meters.

The other option I'm considering is the Garmin Rally XC 200. These are a bit more expensive than the Asiomas but have the advantage of not increasing the q factor. Depending on your perspective, they have user-replaceable batteries that last at least double the amount of the pedals mentioned earlier. However, one disadvantage is that the pedal bodies are significantly more expensive to replace, and I've read about potential issues with squeaking after extended use.

If anyone has experience with either of these options, I would greatly appreciate it if you could share your day-to-day usage insights.

G1032

Have Look compatible Assioma Duos. Purchased Nov 2020. Pretty much faultless so far. Easily serviced (i.e. bearing replacement). Battery lasts 50 hours per charge. Supposedly good for 500 charge cycles. That's 25,000 hours in theory. In short, battery life is not going to be an issue. Transfer from bike to bike is easy and fast.

gn3dr

I have Assioma dual sided pedals on my road bike. Have them for just over 2 years now and find them great. I've probably only had to charge them about 5 or 6 times in that period (averaging about 6K km's per year) - so based on battery life vs no. of charges they won't need to be replaced for a lot of years.

I had read a lot about the Garmin reliability issues with their first few generations but I think they have it sorted now? At the time though I wasn't prepared to spend the extra on Garmin for no extra benefit. I considered the Shimano Assioma option because I had been using SPD SL pedals prior to the change, but decided against this due to the Q factor as you said. The switch from SPD SL to Look was seamless also.

I would question the benefit of power meter pedals on a mountain bike though? The cycling is a lot more stop start so not sure really what having power data will tell you. Also the risk of damaging a pedal much higher. I also wouldn't be a fan of SPD's on a road bike. I find I can feel the difference in the smaller footprint on them (granted I have only used SPD's with a mountain bike shoe which has a softer sole that a rigid road shoe.

Mr. Cats

I have the Assiomas as well and they are a great bit of kit. On your idea to use the hack to put a different pedal body onto the spindle, it might work out but I’d guess that it won’t be perfect. Some people have reported that they needed to cut away bits of shoes etc to get the cleat to engage. Also, no one knows if these hacks will impact the functioning of the pedal/pm over the log run - that’s likely a much bigger risk than the rechargeable battery risk you mention.

As mentioned above, the Garmins are supposed to have sorted out the initial quality issues. Worthwhile to have a read of GP Lama or DC Rainmaker’s latest reviews to see the current state of play. At least with them you’re using the product as designed. Also, I have the duo’s but if it came time to replace, I think I’d go for the single sided option. I don’t think the dual sided data is really worth it for the price differential.

dahat

Assimo dual sided pedals over 5 years old and still going strong, yearly kms around 15k with no noticeable battery drain.