Stages Power Meter (Single/Gen III) - Install, Ride, Data Review 

convinced me. Left only is good enough for me.

25°C in Australia: "Winter is coming😱" 25°C in Holland: "I'm really overheating💦"

Omfg when he takes the extension pole outside I nearly died laughing 😂. Shane you are a legend.

A great power meter for the money and the best customer service I have had in years. Super powerful signal on the third gen. I had a problem with my second gen unit draining batteries. They put a third gen unit in my crank. No charge and it took them only three days. Signal is very powerful. Stages is a great company.

Another good review Shane. As you've stated, the discrepancy in readings between power meters relates to leg imbalances. This is only an issue if you are comparing data between power meters. It is not a big issue if people recognise the limitations of their equipment. So long as a rider adopts a consistent protocol to measuring power output over time then the data will remain meaningful.

that was an outrageously brilliant test

And it shall be recorded in history that 12:50 was the time that Sir Shane of Ballarat departed, riding his trusty carbon steed on his noble quest for wireless range. Ave!

Best bike tech reviews on the Internet, and this one was particularly good.

This is why when my brother-in-law says his FTP went up 5 watts (he's a Gen 1 Stages user), I just shake my head. That's within the normal plus-minus. For me, P1s are working great. I have a Stages (Gen 2) on my CX bike, and if the Garmin isn't stem mounted it is nowhere to be found. Great review Shane.

Good job you saved the out out front for suburbia and not the climb - the wallabies will be thankful! Would love to see a similar rigourous test of a single sided 105 4iiii.

Fantastic review as always! I was tossing up between 4iiii and Stages earlier this year and went with 4iiii in the end. Have done over 3000 km and haven't had an issue. The latest Stages looks like a big improvement over previous models. The good thing about Stages is they are often on sale and you can often pick them up cheaper than the RRP.

OMG that last bit with the super out front mount had me rolling! Not at all what I expected! What did the neighbors think?

Imagine being Shane's neighbour.."well, there he goes again, what's he up to this time i wonder.., should i ask him? Nvm, i'll just wait for his next upload.."

That out the front mount was epic. Props for actually riding outside with that contraption. I'd be too embarrassed haha

Deserves a like for that last test!

Hahaha Nice review Shane as always...this ride must have been a sight for your neighbors :D I've experienced drop in signal (couple of times) from Ultegra L Only Gen 2 & Edge 520 combo and only once with Ultegra L only Gen 2 & Bolt Combo (that is because the battery was close to dead on the crank arm)... Stages Gen 2 L only has worked like a charm for the last year or so no issues whatsoever compatibility, pairing and signal strength are all good (I've p1 pedals for comparison). The comparison of a single side only power meter to a dual sided power meter can be unfair if you have a lot of unevenness or imbalance in strength in one's legs (like myself recovering or lack of proper recovery from ligaments tear)... Currently running Gen 3 LR power meter and it is extremely good, I just love it. Have not experienced a lot of water resistance issues but we do not get that much precipitation here in NorCal....

very happy with my gen 2 stages single side PM

Your out front Garmin mount just solved my KOM goals! 🙌🏆😂😅

Awesome as always Shane! Thanks so much for all you bring to us cycling fiends!

Using a Gen 3 Ultegra on my new Giant since early January. Replaced the battery Mid March after about 100hrs in the saddle and 3500km. Pretty happy with it overall.

Loved that review Sir Llamalot!

I'm glad to see they fixed the data dropout stuff. That makes Stages worth buying again. I'm totally happy with my Powertap P1s right now though. Maybe next time, Stages.

My Gen 3 works fine, no dropouts with Edge 520. To be fair I didn't have dropouts with Gen 2 either using the same head unit. I still fear water ingress, which destroyed two Gen 2s I had. Stages replaced the units but still not good. Their customer service is outstanding.

Fully committed review as usual!

I just ordered a stages 105 2 gen crank. Now I know why it was on sale.. Did not know about the 3 gen coming until this. Well if it just works I'm happy.

I was wondering which generation I have. Thank you for answering my question!

Mother of all mounts! Fantastic review!

Stages really needs to add a slope and offset adjustment in their app. This would allow us to match the stages to other PMs.

my friend has had one for 5 years and it still works!

I have only good things to say about Stages customer service. I had the Gen 1 unit and it started to eat batteries, contacted support and they replaced it for a gen 2 unit, no issues since then and I use it year-round in Irish (wetter than an otters pocket) weather.

Great review as always Shane

haha love your last test ride! great thorough review!

The things with power meters is your still going to pedal the bike at how your feeling , some days you fly other days you crawl, it’s a fun data tech for 90 % of people riding bikes. Yes pros and other athletes dive into data , I have the stages gen 2 and it’s great

The image of people seeing that mount and wondering WTF got me, haha good effort!

Thx for the review. Have a Gen 2 for nearly a yr and has been flawless. No drop outs or issues whatsoever. But would like a left /right pm at some stage just to test my left /right balance etc and get a more accurate reading for actual overall power produced. My left leg is my weak leg too which doesn't help! Well I think it is...but without a left/right pm I don't really know.

Just ordered a 105 from stages website for $299 USD. My first power meter.

You can do an incredible bike throw with that out front mount!

Great comprehensive review thank you!

FYI with regards to battery life. I received my warranty replacement Gen 3 unit (SRAM GXP) around April 10, 2018 and I just had to replace the battery on 1.8.19, so the battery lasted 9 months. I had bad power and rpm readings while riding, which should be an indicator to owners to test battery before going off the deep end or contacting Stages.

What a great out front mount!!!

I have the new Stages LR power meter and I love it. Very easy to set up and very consistent. I had the Vector 3 just prior to the Stages and they were a mess.

Great review, Thanks Shane

Looks to be good value. I don't think that new mount will catch on though...

Very usefull review. Thanks!

Thank for you help

Shane Tepes, The Impaler.

I came for the stickers, because stickers, but that was a most informative video. One question I didn't see answered was how long it actually took to swap the cranks around. And I also wanted to ask if you know your left/right balance, because I'm surprised the single-sided crank was so close to your Snap. My balance is 54/46-ish left-to-right and I often joke about riding my singled-sided Vectors whenever I race on Zwift ;) And don't forget -- stickers.

Thanks Shane, very helpful.

Grew tired of Garmin dropouts with my 3 stages PM’s,switched to the Bolt...happy days!! One does need to be vigilant with the Stages battery connection points: that tiny 3 prong piece of metal has needed manipulation on more than a few occasions. Hard to beat a Stages for value tho.

just bought my Gen2 a few months ago, hopefully I'm not missing too much lol

Great review! Been following your vids for some time now and they are really informative and useful! Btw: awesome front-out mount!

Lol...that out front mount is awesome

Good job. I just purchased one. Thanks for the video

Great review - thanks Shane. I've had 1st, 2nd and now 3rd gen Stages. Used on both my mountain bike and more recently road bike. I've compared against my Powertap G3 hub, and now a Wahoo Snap. But very interesting to see you compare against some pedals. I would love to go that route, but currently stuck on Speedplays! The issue I've had with Stages is their complete inability to cope with storage in damp conditions here in the UK, and consequent battery drainage. Something that's unlikely to be an issue for you! I'm really hoping the Gen 3's are better - but it's unlikely since they've not changed the physical design. One question - what smoothing do you use with DCR's tool? I use his tool too - but rarely get such a close match as you. I also haven't quite figured out how his tool matches different start times on different units. Thanks - am loving your channel!

House in you neighbor hood look like Central Texas. Ride On and keep the rubber side down. I just picked up this PM.

I have a gen2 Stages and also had power dropouts with a garmin 520 headunit, switched to an element bolt and the dropout are gone now.

just a little bit

Thanks again for the great content! Have you ever tested/compared the fulcrum (for lack of better term) between power meters? For example, standing vs. sitting... standing further back vs. further forward... sliding back on the saddle vs. on the rivet, etc. Could be interesting to compare crank vs. pedals vs. NEO in all of those scenarios.

Very well done sir, ty! 🙏

The Hoka's can only mean one thing,you run as well.

I'm missing the point about, the Stage is reading high when you know your right legs is wonky, its a fundemantal difference between single versus dual sides meters..

I wonder if there would be a long-term review on this now that it has been about 5+ years since the introduction of the Gen 3 power meter. Has the culmination of updates led us to improved accuracy?

I just ordered a Trek Checkpoint with this left-side power meter. Unfortunately, I'm reading now that there is not enough clearance to use this meter.

@37s you totally psyched me out by not installing it while outside. The only thing more epic is if you snapped your fingers and the background was just the green screen. *dropped mic*

Great content. Crossing fingers for your Zwift Sticker initiative as well ;-) Greets from Munich!

Great review,, given the 6x more ANT+ power it would be interesting to know if it has impacted on the overall battery life and how that compares to the two earlier versions and how long a battery lasts from new (hours of use). I would still prefer a rechargable type unit but that is just me.

Id like to see a dropout test with the joust out front mount with the Gen 2.

Out front mount test 👌

Hi Shane Absolutely love all of your videos and content and love all your videos regarding power meters ! So interesting I am looking at purchasing the stages ultegra power meter generation 3 like the one in this video however I was wondering what is the difference between the 105 and the ultegra version ? Will the 105 will it fit my bike or do I need the ultegra version Thanks Shane

actually there is an older version... before the gen1. i had a prototype one... completely blue... unfortunately the batt cap broke off and stages sent a complete new one... (gen 2)...

The power tap are not a laboratory instrument, using them as a datum does not verify that the stages are out . Either could be incorrect. I agree the about the l/r very just l.

ride on

Shane, that mount was amazing. The movie part well chosen. I had a good laugh 😂 Running a Gen2 here. Question: did they improve the battery door closing system? On Gen2 the CR2032 battery is loose and after a battery change it takes a lot of fiddling to have a proper connection again. I also had lots of signal dropouts, but only with Garmin head units (705 & 820). Elemnt, not a single dropout.

I found on my stages ver2 was the latches that hold the battery cap broke causing water ingress. I tried closing with electrical tape but moisture always got in on wet days. Now I just use it indoors on trainer

Thanks Shane. This was Gen 3 in 2018. - Is there meanwhile a new Gen 4 (or 5) available?

Kudos to stages for at least having a product. 4iiii has been so disappointing with their Podium line up. It’s been delayed for over a month and their customer communication has been awful. As a company, if you’re gonna have delays keep the customers in the loop.

my stages gen 3 left only shows in average 10 watts more than my garmin vector gen 1 left only and my tacx flux 2 . so yeah it shows higher watts than the others. not just a little

Hola es compatible con freno trasero ultegra direct mount ultegra r8000?????

Does anyone know what the normal response time should be? Time between pushing down on the pedals and seeing instant power on garmin. Im worried close to 3sec is too much? Or is it normal

Looks like the perfect power meter for Zwifting with the power being slightly high!! BTW, I assume the crank was the same length as your RH crank?

where can i buy used pm??

Hi Shane, thanks for this great video. I got myself a stages ultegra gen 3 left crank last week. Was wondering if you've notice the Bluetooth signal is much weaker than the Ant+ signal? Or is it just me?

I don’t need power pedals to use the cranks right?

Nice review Shane. Have they added the ability to change the scale factor to account for leg imbalance like on the 4iiii?

ALL - Could someone help? Would someone know the width of the new Stages Gen3? A friend has purchased a 4iiii and its rubbing on the brake (underneath the stays) The 4iiii Ive been able to find at 10.5mm. Anyone know or wouldn't mind measuring one for me?! Thanks

Hilarious. Thanks. Loved the jousting test 😂😂😂👍 you're a legend

Good stuff

Which is your stronger leg Shane or did you say you compared it with a left only pedal? Has the battery cover Improved? Great vid, bike jousting 😆

Which one is better in your opinion between xcadey ultegrar80000 vs stages gen3 ultegra

Ballarat?!?? Have you ever ridden with Dr. Lucien Blake?

Stages lowered their prices as of yesterday. 105 is now 300, and ultegra is 350 USD. I might just get this instead of 4iiii.

Hi Shane, which one would you recommend after all? stages left side or Favero assioma duo? Thanks man!

Does left sided option have any possibility to account for L/R imbalance through adjustment the way Assioma's Uno do? I'm using Assioma's on my road bike and I'm very consistent 48/52 on readings. I'm looking at Stages for my gravel bike with GRX crankset. Does Stages have anything to compensate for it or do you have another recommendation for that setup? Thank you!

Hi shane - thanks for your informative review on stagespower gen 3. I thought I'd share my experience of a gen 2 DA stagespower left crank arm paired to a stages dash head unit..... Interestingly enough I've had no problems with drop off of signal with these two - albeit the dash is not quite mounted as far forward as the garmin units tend to be, but it's not too far off. I'm wondering if the stages dash has some type of booster - as it will happily display data and connect from many metres away, if not another room at times, with out an apparent drop in signal In addition I'll also pair the stagespower to an atv4k with btle and both the atv running zwift and the iPhone running companion are hidden on a bookshelf about 5-6m from the tacx flux/bike set up. Thanks again Liam

Any chance you can get your hands on the power2max Ng eco? They seem like the best budget solution that captures total power!

those results suggest that your left leg might be slightly stronger than your right

Firsr time buyer . Does this fits on any crankset? I have a shimano sora 9s 50/34

Interesting

Can you give us insights on how do i compare powermeter data between powermeters.? I mean the settings on power recording? If u use zwift for the comparison? What software do u use to compare and how do u align the data? And technical stuff please?

I have always had to run 20 mm pedal spacers to save my knees would this effect how this type of power meter works.