Early thoughts about the ibike

I rec'd the ibike power meter on Monday(July 3rd) evening as promised and I wanted to give some initial thoughts on the product.

As promised, it was easy to set up. The product comes with everything needed to get rolling. I would recommend that you skip the quick start instructions and read the detailed set up info. For those of us that are on a 3rd grade reading level, it has pictures. Seriously, the pictures are very helpful.

To make this entertaining, you have to realize that I've been waiting for the ibike for 3-4 months. And, the night that it arrives, my wife requests that we go out to dinner and run a few errands. After that, we agreed to shoot off fireworks with the neighbors. I ended up putting everyone to bed at 10:30pm and I returned to the garage to "my project". I didn't finish playing with it until 12:30am. Yesterday(July 4th), we spent the day and evening with family. We didn't get home until 11:00pm and I stayed up until 12:30am again. I need more sleep.

Overall, the ibike appears to be a first class device. I was disappointed that the handle bar clamp is designed for a 26.0mm bar without option for a 31.8. To compensate, I had to move the ibike to the right until bar narrowed down to allow installation. This is a rather serious oversight in my opinion.

Setup and calibration are pretty straight forward. I've only ridden with the ibike on one occasion (more on that pathetic performance later). I recommend that you calibrate the ibike immediately before each ride. I had a bit of a problem with the inclinometer readings that determine hill slope. I had calibrated the tilt the night before the ride. So, I didn't re-do the tilt test before the ride. By the time I got into the ride, I could tell that it was off a bit. I need to do more evaluation on this aspect of the device.

After I got home from the "pathetic" ride, I was able to download the ride file very easily. The ibike comes with it's own software to view the ride data. Don't expect much from the software. Compared to Cyclingpeaks, it is a very limited product. I have to find a way to get the info into Cyclingpeaks to truly analyze the information.

Typically, it's still dark when I get on the road during the week. It was hard to view the display to determine my effort. I'm going to get a single LCD light for my helmet. I hope this will be enough light to see the display as I'm riding. So, I still have more evaluation before I get I real feel for how the ibike is going to help me on the road.

List of things to do:
Get more sleep
Purchase a LCD light for my helmet
Get more sleep
Calibrate the ibike before each ride
Get more sleep
Find a way to get the information into Cycling peaks for true analysis.
Ride and use the ibike often.