Calibrating power vs speed for a trainer

I am using BikeStudio software
http://www.powercurvesensor.com/bikestudio/ but I have doubts about
whether the power vs speed curve for my trainer is correct. Does anyone
have any good ideas on how to calibrate my trainer from first principles
without needing $100,000 worth of lab equipment? Borrowing a bike with a
PowerTap hub seems to be the easy way out, but I worry that the bike I
currently have on the trainer (an old mountain bike with a clapped out road
slick) would have substantially different tire losses than most bikes that
have a PowerTap hub installed.

Any good ideas out there?

On Sun, 19 Feb 2017 04:25:06 +0000 (UTC), Ralph Barone
wrote:

I am using BikeStudio software
http://www.powercurvesensor.com/bikestudio/ but I have doubts about
whether the power vs speed curve for my trainer is correct. Does anyone
have any good ideas on how to calibrate my trainer from first principles
without needing $100,000 worth of lab equipment? Borrowing a bike with a
PowerTap hub seems to be the easy way out, but I worry that the bike I
currently have on the trainer (an old mountain bike with a clapped out road
slick) would have substantially different tire losses than most bikes that
have a PowerTap hub installed.

Any good ideas out there?

Not a solution to the accuracy of your trainer but
http://www.americanroadcycling.org/a...WattsSpeed.htm
might give you some numbers to cross check with.
--
Cheers,

John B.

"Ralph Barone" wrote in message news
I am using BikeStudio software
http://www.powercurvesensor.com/bikestudio/ but I have doubts about
whether the power vs speed curve for my trainer is correct. Does anyone
have any good ideas on how to calibrate my trainer from first principles
without needing $100,000 worth of lab equipment? Borrowing a bike with a
PowerTap hub seems to be the easy way out, but I worry that the bike I
currently have on the trainer (an old mountain bike with a clapped out road
slick) would have substantially different tire losses than most bikes that
have a PowerTap hub installed.

Any good ideas out there?

An alternative would be to find someone with a crank, chainset or pedal based power meter so you could swap their back wheel for yours to do the calibration.

Also bear in mind that if you have a fluid trainer in particular the calibration curve will drift as the unit gets hot.

Graham.

---
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On Saturday, February 18, 2017 at 11:25:10 PM UTC-5, Ralph Barone wrote:
I am using BikeStudio software
http://www.powercurvesensor.com/bikestudio/ but I have doubts about
whether the power vs speed curve for my trainer is correct. Does anyone
have any good ideas on how to calibrate my trainer from first principles
without needing $100,000 worth of lab equipment? Borrowing a bike with a
PowerTap hub seems to be the easy way out, but I worry that the bike I
currently have on the trainer (an old mountain bike with a clapped out road
slick) would have substantially different tire losses than most bikes that
have a PowerTap hub installed.

Any good ideas out there?

slipping ? try tape or CRC BELT DRESSING .... CRC is prob solvent dilutable try CHOH .... figures relative to calories/miles or ? or a continuing performance index ?

Graham wrote:

"Ralph Barone" wrote in message news
I am using BikeStudio software
http://www.powercurvesensor.com/bikestudio/ but I have doubts about
whether the power vs speed curve for my trainer is correct. Does anyone
have any good ideas on how to calibrate my trainer from first principles
without needing $100,000 worth of lab equipment? Borrowing a bike with a
PowerTap hub seems to be the easy way out, but I worry that the bike I
currently have on the trainer (an old mountain bike with a clapped out road
slick) would have substantially different tire losses than most bikes that
have a PowerTap hub installed.

Any good ideas out there?

An alternative would be to find someone with a crank, chainset or pedal
based power meter so you could swap their back wheel for yours to do the calibration.

Also bear in mind that if you have a fluid trainer in particular the
calibration curve will drift as the unit gets hot.

Graham.

Pedal based power sounds hopeful, as I could just leave the rest of the
drivetrain in place. The only issue might be shoes (I run mountain SPDs,
and I suspect most serious power junkies don't), but I could always ride in
tennis shoes if I had to.

My present "best idea" is to drive the crank of my bike with a hex key
mounted in an electric drill and then measure the power consumption of the
drill. I could tighten up the accuracy by measuring the power consumption
of the drill at the same speed under no load to estimate mechanical losses
in the drill, and also measuring the resistance of the motor winding to
calculate I^2*R losses in the motor. All I need for that is an electrical
power meter, which I can borrow from work, and a big-ass electric drill,
which I'm sure one of my neighbours owns.

https://www.milwaukeetool.com/power-tools/corded/1107-6

Ask goo or cusservice for a chart.

No charts on android.