Quote from: Jb7441 on October 22, 2026, 01:28:40 AMI had two of them, PP replaced the first one after it went crazy, reading an average 420w for an hour after a first 1.5 hour out 330NP. Looked like when I stopped for a wheel change it would've needed recalibration or something.

Then the second one came, worked absolutely fine for a week, and then 2nd race day with it, again rainy. Now this time I never had to stop during the race, but I noticed as the race was going that it kept reading higher and higher... mid race steady 400, 2/3rd into the race 600, end of the race just spinning the legs at over 1000w.

Then after getting home and washing the bike, the power meter never came on again, even after waiting for it to dry.

So in the end I think they had a serious problem with waterproofing on the two units that got to me.

@GLTRV v > I would suggest you take some serious measures to waterproof that usb-c port of yours now that you lost the useless piece of rubber (mine was on the entire time).
@gplama > I suggest when you do end up testing and review it, that you test it in the rain for 2+ hours see how yours reacts.

PP told me they tested a few on their side and never had issues in the rain, on my side it's a 100% failure out of 2 units, so I asked for a refund and got myself a pair of Assiomas as I've wasted enough of my time with inaccurate data over the years on half of my bikes.

That sucks, thanks for reporting your experience. Mine has so far survived a few washes but I didn't ride my bike in the rain. Thanks for the warning. The USB C cover is still there, it's just the flimsy rubber retainer that's gone so I'm weary about losing the cover. If it falls while riding, it's gone.

Quote from: dmt4500 on October 18, 2026, 02:19:20 AMCheck the pinned comment on the YT video "Update: Test ride 2 done and the numbers are looking lots better. 2 x15 min threshold (340w) and was about 1.2% off my Magene pedals. Maybe it really did just need breaking in properly!"

I had issues with two Nexga S1 powemeters that needed several days after delivery to stabilize and produce reliable measurements. I wonder if the issue he is experiencing with his PP6 are related.

Quote from: ediryppah on October 06, 2026, 05:23:30 AM
Outside, as it's supposed to be. But for people having bigger chainrings (let's say 46-50T for gravel) in combination with the ring being closer to the frame on a road chainline crankset can cause problems. Very dependent on the frame though.

Oh, that makes sense. I only used 40-42T chainrings so far without issues, but I could see larger ones being an issue. Couldn't shims/spacers be used?

Those who have clearance problems, do you install the chainring on the inside (frame side of the meter) or on the outside (pedal side of the meter). Mine is on the outside, which puts it pretty much near the center of the cassette and gives loads of clearance from the tire (46mm measured width).

I've installed a Geoid PM500 on my Marin Headlands with 1x11 GRX. Works great and chainline is fine. 110 BCD Narrow Wide chainrings are super cheap.

I bought and installed a second PM500 on another bike one or two months ago.
As I've read a few reports of unsatisfactory results, I wanted to test my second unit to verify if it was as accurate as my first one.

For the first test, I had not calibrated the unit for several weeks as I was curious to see how it would falsify the data or not in light of my recent experience testing the Nexga S1.
The lack of calibration did introduce an error of ~5%.
Calibrating the unit is really simple, just spin the crank backwards for 5 turns, no need to go through menus. While I probably won't calibrate mine every time I use it, I'll certainly do it more often, at least once a week.

I'm not inserting the images of this test directly here as it's not the relevant test, but if you want to see how the results look like, here is the complete test result https://i.imgur.com/SX5deIi.jpeg and here are the details after the last sprint https://i.imgur.com/p6R4soH.jpeg.

After calibration, my second PM500 is spot on when compared to my Tacx Neo 2T.

Complete test (after calibration)


Details of the second sprint (only 850W but the Magene/Geoid power meters stay accurate after harder efforts, so I'm not concerned)



Very happy with the results with both of my PM500.
Again, I wish for a lighter crank option with 24mm spindle, or better yet, a non proprietary interface.

Note that I may not have calibrated my first PM500 before testing it earlier this year. I'll test it again with a fresh calibration at some point.

Quote from: Jb7441 on September 15, 2026, 10:09:09 AM
Hey, did you get an answer yet ?
On my end I had feedback saying calibration issues where only on bluetooth (and it was apparently fixed in a recent update)

But this weekend after a couple of weeks of training on mine with no issue, suddenly the power pre-calibration was showing 600w just cruising on the parking lot before warmup, I calibrated and the offset went from what was usually in the 200-400 bracket went to 5000... Still post calibration power numbers seemed okay until I punctured mid race. After stopping to swap wheels from then on I apparently did 400+ watts till the end of my race, even after I sat up after my last big pull for my team... (So my FTP apparently went from 330 to 400 according to a 20mins at 420, 1.5 hours into a very hard race  )

2nd chinese spider based power meter that turns out to be a random number generator. Waiting to hear back from pandapodium see if there's a solution.

How did you transport your bike to the race? Was the a big change in altitude?
Also, what firmware version was installed? Do you see evidence of auto-calibration in the logs?

UPDATE

I contacted Panda Podium to share my test results with them. They informed me that they would be looking at the issue with Nexga and get back to me, which took less than a day. Nexga determined that the issue was likely hardware related. A replacement unit was set to me.
I'm very happy with the customer service, there was no beating around the bush, lame excuses or denying of the issue.

TLDR of the rest of this post: the new power meter is very accurate, it auto-calibrates at shutdown and doesn't seem to drift much (once settled), but the USB cover retainer is very fragile (I immediately ripped it). I'll also reinstall the first unit at some point to test again how it behaves after I acquire a better understanding of the second unit's behavior.

I'll divide my observations in 5 sections:

• USB cover
• App and firmware update
• Auto-calibration, offset drift and logs
• Test (Tacx Neo 2T vs. Nexga S1)
• Conclusion

1. USB cover

The first thing I managed to do after unboxing the new unit was to rip apart the USB cover. I don't believe I was a brute, but maybe I was. However, whether I was or wasn't careful enough, I believe the design is fragile. The rubber cover is retained by a small protrusion of the cover itself.
Picture of the intact one on my original unit:


2. App and firmware update

The new unit came with firmware 1.6, so I updated my original unit from 1.5 to 1.6. There was also an update to the Android app. Because of the firmware update, I decided to wait before installing the new power meter and test first unit some more.

3. Auto-calibration, offset drift and logs

Before diving into the data and logs, there is a weird behavior with the "Time" column within the log files. The hours change from log extraction to log extraction, as if the time zone changed. One log can have correct time stamps that I can match with my recorded activities (used for tests), then the next log will have all or some time stamps offset by x number of hours, then the next will be even more offset, to the point where the time stamps (at least the first half) in latest log extraction of the first unit are offset by about 3 days. It is therefore much harder to understand the data and match it to test results.

First unit

Looking at the logs of the first unit a few days after updating it's firmware to 1.6, I noticed that the offset seemed to be much more stable, but that was in fact mostly caused by the auto-calibration feature now working (from 2026-09-12 in the logs). The unit auto-calibrates when it goes to sleep.
Log sample that shows the behavior (green = auto-calibration then sleep, yellow = manual calibration, red = sleep without auto-calibration):


I did two tests on the trainer during that time period with the first unit, which yielded good results. The second test was started on September 14 without calibrating the unit, which was, I believe, about 3h after the last auto-calibration, than manually calibrating the unit midway. I'm unsure where the test falls in the log because of the time stamp issue described above. See results in the next section.

Looking at the logs of the first unit, it auto-calibrated only 3 times before updating the firmware to 1.6.
After the update and while it was mounted on the bike, it has auto-calibrated 10 times and failed to do so only once.
After it has been disassembled from the crankset, it has not auto-calibrated once over 3 days (about 15 "power on" --> "sleep" cycles) and the offset has drifted from 0 to -116, with a low of -143 after about 2 days.

Second unit

The second unit already had a very long log history starting from mid August when I received it (over 700 lines, including many manual calibrations). I assume it was tested for a while, therefore already activated unlike the first unit which had no log entry before I first charged it.

I was worried that things wouldn't be better with this unit at first as it drifted quite a bit over the 3 days that went by between delivery and installation.
Note that it does not appear to have auto-calibrated before installation, but I'm not sure as the time stamps are again offset and hard to follow.
Log sample (received around line 719, first manual calibration lines 722-723, probably installed around lines 751, first auto-calibration lines 754-756):


As the second unit was activated before being shipped out to me, I can see the offset drift before, during and after transportation (by plane).
Looking at the log entries, it appears that transportation had a significant effect on offset drift. It also took several days for the unit to stabilize. The first unit also appear to have become more stable with time, but less so than the second unit.
There is about 150 "power on" --> "sleep" cycles between the last calibration before transportation and delivery, which were very likely caused by movement during transportation. Offset started at 16 on the first cycle, went to over 800 a week later and was in the 600s when delivered another 3 days later.

The power meter being sealed, I suspect that pressurization has a significant effect on the sensors and that it takes a few days for the pressure to equalize and offset to stabilize.
If that is the case, this factor would have to be considered if traveling by plane with your bike and when testing the meter. I did test the first unit only 1 or 2 days after it left the plane, which may have affected the results.

The offset of the second unit however, now that it has stabilized, seems to drift far less than the offset of the first unit does.
About 2 days (46 hours) after the last calibration, the offset has only drifted by -6.

Remember that the first unit drifted by -116 over 3 days, with a low of -143 after 2 days.
This could confirm that the first unit does indeed have a hardware problem. I do intend to test it again at some point.

Test (Tacx Neo 2T vs. Nexga S1)

First unit

This test was done about 3h after the last auto-calibration (offset was 32 at power on), than manual calibration was done midway.

Complete test:


ERG steps 3h after last calibration:


ERG steps right after calibration:


Second unit

The first test was done 15h after the last calibration (offset was -16 at power on) than calibration was done midway (which did not have an effect on the results).

ERG steps 15h after calibration only:


For the second test, I don't know when the last calibration was made before starting it (probably not very long before).

Full test:


ERG before sprints:


Sprints:


ERG after sprints:


Conclusion

• Great customer support from Panda Podium
• First unit is probably defective as the offset still drifts significantly, although less than during the first days (when I first tested it)
• First unit may now be usable even for long rides if calibrated at the start
• Second unit has much less offset drift, but did drift quite a bit during the first days following delivery
• Second can be used without really worrying about calibration
• Second is VERY accurate when compared to Tacx Neo 2T
• Offset drift seems to be affected by plane transportation (effect of pressure?)
• Auto-calibration works when unit is installed since firmware update 1.6
• USB rubber cover can too easily be ripped apart

Where did you see that?

Quote from: Jb7441 on September 15, 2026, 10:09:09 AM
Hey, did you get an answer yet ?
On my end I had feedback saying calibration issues where only on bluetooth (and it was apparently fixed in a recent update)

But this weekend after a couple of weeks of training on mine with no issue, suddenly the power pre-calibration was showing 600w just cruising on the parking lot before warmup, I calibrated and the offset went from what was usually in the 200-400 bracket went to 5000... Still post calibration power numbers seemed okay until I punctured mid race. After stopping to swap wheels from then on I apparently did 400+ watts till the end of my race, even after I sat up after my last big pull for my team... (So my FTP apparently went from 330 to 400 according to a 20mins at 420, 1.5 hours into a very hard race  )

2nd chinese spider based power meter that turns out to be a random number generator. Waiting to hear back from pandapodium see if there's a solution.

Hello, yes I did.
Panda Podium was quick to get back to me and determined with Nexga that my unit had a hardware problem. They sent me a second unit, which I received 4 days ago so I'm happy with after sales support. I'll post a detailed reply with test data later this week. So far it looks promising, but offset took about 2 days to stabilize after delivery.

With a wider spindle, you'd need to make sure the bearing spacing would be wide enough to line up with the raised sections of the spindle. It could be a problem if your frame is press fit but could be OK with BB spacers if your frame is threaded.

2026-09-17 update : I was sent a new unit as first unit (tested below) is defective https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,7104.msg119930.html#msg119930

Ok, I've received my Nexga S1 and completed a few tests comparing it to my Tacx Neo 2T.

Buckle up, this will be a long post, heavy with data.

I'll start with a question: should a zero offset calibration be completed before starting each and every ride, perhaps even after pauses during the ride? (not talking about accuracy tests)

I usually don't bother doing so and completed at least 150 rides with my Magene P505 equipped bike, at least 80% of them without spinning the crank backwards 5 times (to calibrate the meter).
While this is not scientific, I've never felt like the numbers reported by the meter were off, I feel like I've developed some sense of what power numbers should be (ballpark) for a given effort. Also, there has be no wild variation in my performance over the 150 or so rides, only a very steady (i.e. slow) progression.
I also have 2 bikes equipped with Geoid PM500 power meters and haven't noticed anything weird either. I don't remember if I performed a zero offset calibration for the PM500 test I did (https://chinertown.com/index.php/topic,6617.msg116827.html#msg116827).

This long introduction leads me to what I believe to be a huge issue with the Nexga S1. It seems to require incessant zero offset calibrations to be performed in order to generate accurate data.

I will frequently refer to "realtime offset" numbers in this post to illustrate this point. The companion app allows to export a log (great feature!), which includes "realtime offset" amongst other data.
Zero calibration brings the offset number back to 0.
It is claimed in the manual that the Nexga S1 has an auto calibration feature.



Offset was at 3813 the first time I started the device.
Offset was at 2262 when the first calibration was done, 2h30m after first startup.

Temperature between the first calibration and the last calibration as reported in the log was between 22.1 and 26.8 Celcius. The bike stayed on the trainer in my living room for the entire time.
Firmware was updated to 0.1.5 before installing.
Installation and setup was straigtforward.

Test 0 (initiation)

This test was performed right after installing the power meter on my bike. Instructions were to install, then do a few out of the saddle efforts, then calibrate. This test shows this.
Offset was -189 right before this test, which started 3h40m after the last calibration.

Calibration is at around the 2m30s mark. Offset before calibration was -227.


There is a 27 watt gap between the Nexga S1 and Neo 2T before calibration. Keep in mind that the power meter was last calibrated only 3h40m before starting the test. Also, Nexga is much quicker to notice when I stop pedaling.


The gap is down to only 7 watts after calibrating, but it is a longer period.


But it doesn't look that good at the last ERG steps with a 12 watt gap.


Sprints look fine tho with a 5 watt gap and no significant residual offset after them. Again, Nexga is much quicker to notice when I stop pedaling.


Goal here was to test cadence tracking. Both Nexga and Tacx managed to keep up to 156/155 rpm, but Tacx thought I kept going when I actually stopped (notice the power curve correctly sloping down for both devices). For some reason, peak power was 96 watts higher with the Nexga 


End of test 0.
I did calibrate the Nexga after the test, offset was at 21 before calibrating.

Test 1

This test was attempted the next day, 21h after the last calibration. It was a bust because I configured a custom workout in Mywhoosh that was too intense for my motivation... but

The 79 watt difference is shocking to me. I did not calibrate before the test in order to test how the Nexga would perform if I did not calibrate it like I do not calibrate my Magene / Geoid power meters before most rides.
Offset at power on just before the test was -719, which is quite a drift after 21h.


Test 2

This test is with a revised workout and is meant to compare the data a day or so after calibration and the data right after a new calibration. It was performed about 22h after the last calibration.

The difference is pretty clear...


84 watt difference before calibration.


4 watt difference after calibration. Offset was -693 at the moment of calibration.


Zoom on ERG segments and the sprint after calibration. That is the kind of results I'm hoping for.


End of test 2.
Offset at the end of this test was 22.

Test 3

The final test's goal was to test if a 1h pause without calibration would effect the data. This test was started 1h after the end of test 2.

It did... Offset was -149 right before the start of this test.


Not calibrating the Nexga for 1h or so resulted in a 17 watt error.


Calibrating the Nexga, again, resulted in data that is aligned with the Neo 2T. Offset was -92 at the moment of calibration, a difference of 57 in only about 5 minutes of pedaling.


Conclusion

• 
• Good accuracy... if freshly calibrated
• Data isn't affected by sprints
• Data is trash after a ~1h pause
• The problems in tests 1 and 2 were very obvious just looking at my Garmin 1040 connected to the Nexga (going back to the intro and me not noticing anything weird using my Magene and Geoid power meters without calibrating them)
• I suspect that the auto calibration feature does not work as I see nothing relating to it in the log (I only seem calibration events initiated by me), nothing in the app and the test results could suggest it isn't working

I'm obviously disappointed, but I knowingly took a risk...
This seems like an unfinished product that wasn't properly tested... or maybe it's teething issues and I'm paying the early adopter price.
Maybe it could be fixed by firmware? Auto-calibration fix?
Or maybe my unit is faulty? The (shorter) pauses seen in test 3 of Panda Podium's report don't seem to cause problems and the unit holds its calibration over more than 4 hours (https://www.pandapodium.cc/post/nexga-s1-the-most-accurate-chinese-power-meter/).
I can't use it as it is.
I'll be contacting Panda Podium.

Edits: a bunch of typos, small mistakes and some points in the conclusion

Quote from: Rajmundx on August 19, 2026, 12:19:12 PM
Where do you set it up on this power meter so that the bike computer also reads cadence? I have a Wahoo ELEMNT BOLT 2, and it only shows power, while cadence is picked up from a Magene sensor.

You don't need the cadence sensor, ditch it. Your computer should read cadence from the power meter if there is no other cadence sensor connected.

Quote from: Da11as on August 17, 2026, 02:13:08 AM
Are you in Asia? NGeco costs 340 EUR incl VAT. which is very competitive for a confirmed bullet proof double side powermeter (Hello Quarq with a single side measurement PM in the spindle)

I'm in North America. Best price I could find was about 2x the price of the Nexga, same price as Assioma Duos.

I placed an order on Panda Podium. I'll compare my unit with my Tacx Neo 2T once received to provide a second test backed with data.

Quote from: Da11as on August 13, 2026, 02:19:29 AM
Don't want to sound like a paid influencer, but at this price point why not get p2max? Any interface you want, 2 years warranty, produced in Europe and reliable as a swiss watch.

The p2max is more than 2x the price for me. At that point I'd get Assiomas.