Pioneer customer service on this unit was subpar. But leaving that part aside (trust me, it was a hassle but was resolved relatively quickly) the power meter actually works well.
It does require magnets to be installed on your frame which is a little annoying since many companies don't need that now. This is to measure the cadence. Another downside of the unit is that you need to calibrate it at a few different temperatures to make sure you're getting accurate readings. It's not a huge problem at all, but many new models don't require that. Also, this model is only ANT, so don't expect it to report data to anything BT or BTLE. It also means that it can only report data to one source at a time. For indoor training season that kind of sucks because you can't record on your computer and zwift at the same time. I didn't think it would bother me much, but it does, since I import my workouts from training peaks to my wahoo element roam.
Also keep in mind, if you want to use this for zwift on a laptop or PC you will need to order an Ant dongle online. They don't cost much but it's just another thing.
But, down to the important details aside from those downsides, the unit reports data flawlessly. I haven't had any irregularities and and seems to adjust to temperature well once you calibrate it at a few different temps.
All things considered, I would recommend it to a friend as long as they understand what Ant only means.
Easy setup and great customer service when contacting pioneer. Great product.
It was easy to take my new crankset and box it up and ship it to Pioneer using USPS Priority insured, to receive the retrofitted power meters in about 1 week turn around. The techs in SoCal retrofitted two of these for me to go onto two Bianchi Infinito CV Disc bikes running Shimano Ultegra 175mm, 3450t cranksets, and Chris King PF30 BB's.
The Pioneer Power Meter Kit is especially useable when the little display is included with the Power Meter, which can wirelessly feed stats into 'Cycloshpere' on my 802.11 WiFi wireless network at home, and on my IoS apple Iphone. I can see the power results and ride distance along with other useable stats. I can look at instantaneous (albeit with slight delay) from the little display mounted on the handlebars, daily, monthly, yearly, statistical results reflecting my leftright leg power gains when riding with these Pioneer meters.
No worries, though, if I don't have the little display charged up, as the wireless ANT outputs for both power and cadence from the Pioneer strain gauges also are seen by the Garmin Fenix 5X watch (and probably other wireless ANT compatible devices which I haven't tested). I already use the 5X watch for heart rate and mapping and to get other calculations supplied from Garmin so also take a feed from the gauges.
Overall highly recommended.
I have been extremely happy with my Pioneer power meter. I bought a new trainingnon-racing bike last summer, expecting to not worry about power etc. while I used it. However, once youre hooked on data its irresistible. Retrofit an Ultegra crank and it worked perfectly.
