Thinkrider PP5 power meter

[Rajmundx]

Maybe this problemas will be solved vía firmware... I hope so. And Maybe, once the firmware is optimized, the price grows up!

I hope that spindle in this crankset is made of steel not aluminium. When it arrived I will check it.

The seller assured me in the messages that the axle was steel, not aluminum. We'll see...

[hamzo]

It's steel. I got it yesterday

[wanted100]

Maybe this problemas will be solved vía firmware... I hope so. And Maybe, once the firmware is optimized, the price grows up!

The chinese guys doesnt works like that.. even with good reviews they dont touch the price.. look at Elilee and QuickPro.. when they were announced as World Tour sponsor teams, they didnt touch the prices.. as well with Magene head units, etc..

[Velocity-Velo]

I hope that spindle in this crankset is made of steel not aluminium. When it arrived I will check it.

The seller assured me in the messages that the axle was steel, not aluminum. We'll see...

Great, did you get the DUB or 24mm spindle?

[DavidG]

I think some of the comments and issues with cheap PM have  to be put in context of use case. I am new to the sport, I have wimpy legs with a 210W FTP and never push more than 700W. So when I hear a review talking about issues during sprints with 1200W, am I really concerned, should I really be? I spend 99% of my time between 140 and 270W, at this point of my journey, I don’t care about a 2% offset. So the cheap $120 PM might be all I need right now.

The thing is that if the PM is not consistent then imo it is totally useless and no matter what the price is or what watts you put in. You are just wasting your time (and money). From Shane's comments in his Strava ride, the issues are not just tied to sprints but more about consistency at random times.

Anyway lets wait for his full review and find out.

[TribesMan]

Not everybody is using power meter for training.
You might use it just as a simple "power estimator", to help you control your efforts on longer rides.
+-5% or even +-10% is good enough for that kind of use. It is still much better than using just HR alone.
And why pay 500+$ for +-1% device, if you don't need that kind of accuracy?

I might buy it for my GFs bike. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[wanted100]

Not everybody is using power meter for training.
You might use it just as a simple "power estimator", to help you control your efforts on longer rides.
+-5% or even +-10% is good enough for that kind of use. It is still much better than using just HR alone.
And why pay 500+$ for +-1% device, if you don't need that kind of accuracy?

I might buy it for my GFs bike. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

For that you dont need to buy a pm.. just use the Strava watts/power estimation.

[carbonMad]

The chinese guys doesnt works like that.. even with good reviews they dont touch the price.. look at Elilee and QuickPro.. when they were announced as World Tour sponsor teams, they didnt touch the prices.. as well with Magene head units, etc..

It happened almost every time TraceVelo gave a good review to a piece of kit he bought on Ali. Ti spindled road pedals went 50-100% up overnight. Magene and Elilee didn't raise the prices because they're already high for Chinese products and they don't yet have the reputation, trust and customer service Garmin and others do.

[Rajmundx]

Great, did you get the DUB or 24mm spindle?

24mm

[Rajmundx]

For that you dont need to buy a pm.. just use the Strava watts/power estimation.

This Strava watts/power estimation is crap.

[Da11as]

Not everybody is using power meter for training.
You might use it just as a simple "power estimator", to help you control your efforts on longer rides.
+-5% or even +-10% is good enough for that kind of use. It is still much better than using just HR alone.
And why pay 500+$ for +-1% device, if you don't need that kind of accuracy?

I might buy it for my GFs bike. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

I am not going into the philosophical debate how effort has to be paced or how one should train, but 10% drift in power on the same training could be a difference between blowing yourself up and making it through at exact effort. It is mandatory for power meter to be:
- reproducible in its technical error
- reliable in its ride-to-ride comparison
- able to compensate for temperature/pressure drift

It MATTERS WAY LESS how high or low it reads, how much it lags on sprints or how much it weighs or costs. If it makes it possible to compare today's training to the same training from 2/6/12/128 weeks ago, than it is good enough. If not, then it is more convenient to install some RNG plugin on your Garmin screen and call it a day, there is no need for a power meter and you are better off with HRM and RPE only (yes it is possible to train effectively that way too).

[TribesMan]

For that you dont need to buy a pm.. just use the Strava watts/power estimation.

How can I access or check strava watts/power estimation during the ride?

I am not going into the philosophical debate how effort has to be paced or how one should train, but 10% drift in power on the same training could be a difference between blowing yourself up and making it through at exact effort. It is mandatory for power meter to be:
- reproducible in its technical error
- reliable in its ride-to-ride comparison
- able to compensate for temperature/pressure drift

If you need that kind of accuracy and repeatability for training purpose, then its time to accept that maybe this product is not for you.
Move along. 

On the other hand, you have thousands of people who are training successfully for years with one side power meters.
And it is well known that that kind of measurement/estimation has big issues when it comes to fatigue or drift in L/R power balance when under load compared to easy riding.

Maybe 5% error in measurement is not that big of a drawback as one might think.

[kubackje]

Not everybody is using power meter for training.
You might use it just as a simple "power estimator", to help you control your efforts on longer rides.
+-5% or even +-10% is good enough for that kind of use. It is still much better than using just HR alone.
And why pay 500+$ for +-1% device, if you don't need that kind of accuracy?

I might buy it for my GFs bike. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

Are you serious?

[toxin]

At 5% error, you might as well ride by heart rate or rpe. Or alternatively, dont wate time and money on  a power meter in the first place

[gauomzei]

This Strava watts/power estimation is crap.

My friend was getting her power estimated by Strava way below 100W every ride, then she got a Magene PM and suddenly she was recording 130-150W. This function is totally useless.

At 5% error, you might as well ride by heart rate or rpe. Or alternatively, dont wate time and money on  a power meter in the first place

5% accuracy at 200 W is 190-210 W, if I didn't know what riding at that power feels like and waned to learn my zones, even with that margin of error it would still be a valuable information for me. That could be acceptable for people who don't even know if their FTP is 250W or more like 150W, and can't afford more proven PM for over twice that price. However, for someone experienced with using a reliable PM, that would be too much drift.

Two of my friends just ordered these Thinkrider PMs, but if they turn out to be a total crap in GPlama test, they'll just return them.