Velocomp PowerPod V5 Power Meter

it was a pleasure to purchase from Power Meter City. The company deserves five stars. My order shipped promptly and I received exceptional support from their staff when i had questions about another possible purchase. Perhaps I should have availed myself of their aid surrounding issues with implementing Isaac on an M1 Mac (which is only grudgingly supported by Velocomp).

As noted above, the setup instructions are provided on what are essentially two sides of a post-card. As such, they are decidedly limited. Videos online proved helpful, if not essential.
Interpreting the single flashing LED during setup was a trial for me, but in the long run things progressed without my full understanding….
It can be difficult to mount the Powerpod tightly enough to prevent its movement, which is imperative if one wishes to avoid frequent recalibration rides. Even recharging and syncing with a micro USB cable risks displacing the device enough to require recalibration. The connecting port itself seems a bit flimsy. Be careful.
The Isaac software is not compatible with an M1 Macbook, and the Velocomp website workaround PDF instructions (for installing a Windows 7 emulator) harbor at least one error. Be prepared for a tedious afternoon. If you are lucky.

However, once the setup was completed and I became familiar with the Powerpod it has proven straightforward to use.
It’s a great product if your finances, anatomy, or knees won’t support the purchase of strain-gauge based platforms.

I’d give five stars to the Powerpod V5 if it came with better software and documentation; a bayonet mount, and a better connecting cable.

Do you have to calbrate the powerpod v3. everytime? Is there a way to skip calibration and ride and still get the watts?

It’s a huge pain to set up. Its only indicator of any status is flashing lights that all are in the same spot. So it’ll flash red and green, or yellow, or just green, or just red. And there are things that the manual in the box doesn’t tell you. Like it says to go into pairing with your cadence and speed sensors and what it doesn’t say is that if you’ve got two separate ones it’ll flash red and green instead of just green while it’s connecting to the first sensor and then only green when it’s done. When you do the calibration ride it really just feels like you’re pressing the buttons and hoping it’s going to work right but not knowing for sure.

That being said, I use my bike for commuting sometimes and need the flat platforms so I can use regular shoes, so clipless power meter pedals aren’t an option. And there aren’t crank options for my folding bike. Besides that, the crank type power meters aren’t something that I could switch between bikes like with this.

Once you get it calibrated though, it works pretty well. I have no real reference, but it feels accurate. The best I can say for sure is that my average power over a ride is in the ballpark of my Strava estimated power. But there’s no denying there’s a ton of room to potentially improve ease of use.

First a note about power meter city: this is my first purchase with them and they did everything right. shipping was fast and my entire experience with them was excellent.

About the power meter: Now that I’ve got this unit up and running, I really enjoy it. The instructions that come with the unit are limited to a two sided postcard. There is no troubleshooting guide or anything like that. This is a pretty serious limitation. I went to the velocomp website and got a bit more information, but it still wasn’t great. I recommend you go to YouTube and watch the videos. Once I did that, it was easy to finish the setup and start riding.
This unit has a bit more lag in data reporting that I am used to having, but other than that, it is consistent and seems to be very accurate. I certainly agree with a couple of other critiques that show up in the reviews. First, the micro USB port is pretty frustrating. Plan on multiple tries before getting it to plug in and connect. Second, don’t count on pulling this unit on and off the bike quickly and easily to connect to your computer. The mount is good and sturdy, but a bayonet style mount like Garmin uses would be a huge improvement.
Overall, I’m happy with it and would buy it again.

All what I want to say has been entered by rtj above. Once set up after a few tries and after I understood the use of 0s, 4s, and 12s button pushes, it has been providing what seems like accurate data. Isaac SW also takes a while to understand and use. Better, consistent manuals will significantly help improve the product adoption.