April 2nd, 2008 by 
thien
Karl from Silicon Valley Cycling Center continues our series of intros to power meters by giving his next brief introduction, the CycleOps PowerTap SL 2.4.
The PowerTap measures torque and rotational velocity much like the SRM Powermeter, only it does it wirelessly from the rear hub. Because it’s wireless it presents a very clean and easy installation. The hub unit also determines your cadence by looking at the fluctuation in power levels and calculates the cadence. A speed/cadence sensor is available from Saris for the chain stay that will measure it more accurately via a magnet on the crank. Pricing for the wireless unit is about $1500 MSRP. Saris does offer a wired version that retails for $900.
More detailed information including technical specifications from Saris.com - click here.
User Reviews of the CycleOps PowerTap SL 2.4 - Click here
Stay tuned for Part 2, where Alex Wheeler will be going over the features and benefits of the Polar CS600 with with Power Cycling Computers W.I.N.D.!
April 14th, 2008 at 9:38 am
Re: incrementally purchasing the PT 2.4 head as a bike computer
You’re really going to have to be convinced you want a PT, because the PT head sucks as a bike computer. Like you can view either speed or cadence on the middle line and it’s NOT a simple button press to switch between the two. You have to go into the (obtuse) configuration menus to do the switch.
There are far better bike computers out there. I’m planning on switching to a Cinqo and a Garmin 705 from my current PT SL.
April 15th, 2008 at 8:58 pm
Yeah, like the Cinqo will ever actually be released…. (Tired of waiting)