mountain bike power meter Archives - Cykelstrom Bicycle Power Meter App

The Mountain Bike For This Ride

waukau dam mountain bike, waukau dam, trek top fuel

Trek Top Fuel 8

I rode a Trek Top Fuel 8 as a full suspension mountain bike for this ride equipped with a 4iiii Precision Pro left sided power meter on a Shimano SLX 11-speed group set. Cykelstrom collected cadence information from the power meter. Cykelstrom used a Wahoo Bluetooth speed sensor to collect speed information. A Polar H7 chest strap sensor collected heart rate information. The smartphone was a MotorolaG6 running Android Oreo and Cykelstrom version 1.36. All of the power meter and sensor data and was collected, saved locally and automatically uploaded to Strava with the Cykelstrom Bicycle Power Meter App.

To learn how to set Cykelstrom up to automatically upload your ride data to Strava visit the article “Upload Your Ride Data To Strava.”

Waukau Dam Mountain Bike Trail Ride Cykelstrom Accuracy

The best accuracy is highlighted in bold.

Sensors	Crank Power Meter (Watts avg.)	Cykelstrom (Watts avg.)	Difference (Watts)	Margin of Error (Watts)
External Speed and Cadence	99.74	87.80	-11.94	+/- 2.79
GPS Speed and External Cadence	99.74	81.34	-18.39	+/- 2.95
External Speed Only	99.20	100.12	0.92	+/- 3.11
GPS Speed Only	99.20	93.85	-5.34	+/- 3.31

Table created using Bland-Altman Analysis using a 4iiii Precision Pro left sided crank power meter as the standard with 95% confidence level.

Discussion of This Ride’s Results

The smallest margin of error occurred when an external speed and cadence sensors were used. This specific ride was a lot of stop and go riding while I was figuring out the layout of the trail system. There was never a long stretch of riding and the trail system is contained in a very small area. Most of the trail is mountain goat, hillside, ledge-type riding.

Waukau Dam Mountain Bike Trail Strava Activity

Click on the map to visit this activity in Strava.

Elapsed Time	Moving Time	Distance	Average Speed	Max Speed	Elevation Gain	Calories Burned
00:54:16 hours	00:47:51 hours	6.18 mi.	7.75 mph	14.57 mph	610.56 ft.	334 kcal

So it's been awhile, I thought I would see what's new at the Waukau Dam Trail.

Cykelstrom is being used as a mountain bike power meter app in this ride demonstration.

Mountain Bike Power Meter App Accuracy For This Ride

The best accuracy for this ride is highlighted in bold.

Sensors	Crank Power Meter (Watts avg.)	Cykelstrom (Watts avg.)	Difference (Watts)	Margin of Error (Watts)
External Speed and Cadence	128.11	187.47	59.35	+/- 7.04
GPS Speed and External Cadence	128.11	145.70	17.59	+/- 5.64
External Speed Only	129.25	213.33	84.08	+/- 11.55
GPS Speed Only	129.25	162.41	33.16	+/- 6.27

Table created using Bland-Altman Analysis using a 4iiii Precision Pro single sided crank power meter as the standard with 95% confidence level.

Discussion Of The Mountain Bike Power Meter App’s Ride Results

Mountain biking presents more challenges in calculating power estimates of the rider on rough surfaces. Rapid changes in grade, roots, rocks, and direction, are challenges that do not exist when road biking. These challenges make estimating the cyclist’s power very difficult.

To address these challenges, I have introduced a new feature in the Cykelstrom Bicycle Power Meter App called “Mountain Bike Mode.” The new feature tunes the power estimate algorithm to more closely approximate the results of the single sided crank mountain bike power meter. Mountain bike mode is chosen under “Settings” in the Cykelstrom App. To learn how to change settings please visit Customizing Cykelstrom Through Settings.

Highlighted in bold, the table shows that when using the GPS with an external cadence sensor presents results which are closest to the crank power meter. To learn how to set up a cadence sensor in Cykelstrom please visit Adding Bluetooth Sensors to Cykelstrom.

Keep in mind that the forest canopy could be dense enough to block GPS reception, and in that case the addition of a speed sensor is suggested. For reasons which I am still investigating, I am finding that speed sensors when used in in rough terrain seem to overestimate the speed of the cyclist. I am experimenting with different technologies to try and determine why this is so. Accelerometer based speed sensors and magnet base speed sensor appear to agree with each other, but not agree with GPS speed. Calculating power estimates when using GPS speed agree more with the crank based power meter. So the saga continues and I will publish my thoughts as my ride testing continues.

Do you have any thoughts about this issue? If so please send an E-mail to: developer@cykestrom.com

Strava Activity

Click on the map to visit this activity in Strava. Feel free to follow me on Strava.

Elapsed Time	Moving Time	Distance	Average Speed	Max Speed	Elevation Gain	Calories Burned
00:37:37 hours	00:37:37 hours	5.69 mi.	9.07 mph	17.05 mph	306.43 ft.	536 kcal

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Tag: mountain bike power meter

Waukau Dam Mountain Bike Trail – November 1st, 2022