Favero ASSIOMA Review – Longterm Report

My original Favero Assioma Review was in August 2017. Six and a half years on they are still going strong and I used my original (& only) pair this week. They are like many other sports sensors – as they always work correctly, it is that simple.

There are lots of positive points and a few negative points included below, and I really had to think hard to find some negatives. The VERY detailed review is further below, if you have half an hour to spare for a good read about every last detail, there is a table of contents to help you skip to the appropriate section.

You could probably save £100 by buying a crank-based alternative but I can’t understand why many people would need such a solution when you can have versatile and accurate power meter pedals like these. Why would you want to buy some marginally prettier Garmin Rally units? Garmin has probably just about sorted out all the early teething troubles now with the original Vector 3, haven’t they? Are you sure? Maybe. Perhaps @ $1,000, they ought to have done but they never quite nailed it. Other reviewers say that the Garmin Vectors and its Garmin Rally replacement are AWESOME…but then don’t use them day-to-day. Go figure.

My Favero ASSIOMAs were probably the first pair ever used in the UK. #NoTeethingTroubles. Go figure. Great Design. Great Build. Many thousands of miles. Still working fine. Still accurate and, as GPLAMA and DCRAINMAKER also use them as comparators in tests, you know they are accurate.

Check Current Pricing at several local retailers: link

Favero discourages discounting. In Europe, this link above will take you through to the best current prices at Amazon (UK), Power Meter City (USA).

Favero Assioma Duo Review – A Detailed Look At Favero’s Duo (Uno) Models

The Assioma is a candidate for the Best Power Meter – it’s accurate and versatile

Favero ASSIOMA Duo Review – A Quick History

Favero surprised us with the BePro in August/Fall 2015 – out of nowhere came a dual-sided power meter pedal to rival the incumbent Garmin Vector 2 and PowerTap P1 pedal-based alternatives. Fast forward two years and Favero has sneaked out an improved ASSIOMA power meter pedal just ahead of the expected announcement of Garmin’s replacement Vector 3. We take a detailed look at them in this Favero ASSIOMA Review.

There are no other realistic pedal-based alternatives to Assioma and Garmin RALLY. (for a complete list: See best Power Meter pedals)

The original Favero bePRO was pretty good. I used a pair regularly and had a few issues. I would still keep the bePRO BUT Favero has taken on board even the smallest of criticisms and has made several incremental improvements to create the ASSIOMA. As we shall see by the end of the review you may well wonder if there is ANY scope to improve it further in the years to come.

If you are still in the early research stages then narrow your options down first by considering this guide for the Best Power Meter.

WHAT’S NEW – Favero ASSIOMA Review

There are lots of relatively small improvements compared to the earlier bePRO that together add up to a great package to keep the ASSIOMA up with the changes happening to power meters and their place in the market through 2018 and hopefully WELL beyond. Whilst these changes do NOT add up to a reason to upgrade from a bePRO they may well appeal to new PM users and PM users looking to switch brands for many reasons:

• Bluetooth SMART (dual) has been added. This might, at first, seem strange as most head units and watches are trending towards being dual-band themselves. So surely ANT+ alone would have been good enough? No, because…
  • Power dropouts: Several Garmin tri watches are experiencing power dropouts over several 3rd party sensor types. Having two protocols to connect through de-risks the purchase for you somewhat.
  • Zwift – many of us have got very familiar with staring at the walls of our winter ‘pain caves’ and have watched every box set of ‘Breaking Bad‘ WAY too many times. Online training options like Zwift are starting to take our fancy and Bluetooth is the connection protocol of choice for that.
  • STRAVA – apparently a few cyclists use this from time to time? 😉 It’s on your phone and will inevitably need a BLE connection.
  • Simultaneous dual-band transmission: you can transmit to your smartphone or tablet for the INTERACTIVE EXPERIENCE of STRAVA or ZWIFT and, at the same time use a WAHOO or Garmin head unit in ANT+ to RECORD YOUR SESSION as you would normally
• App-based configuration – the smartphone ASSIOMA app is an improvement on the previous computer-based alternative for firmware updates and firmware settings.
• New proprietary charging connector – yep another one! This attaches magnetically and no longer requires the plastic flap that covers the bePRO’s micro USB port.
• The diameter of the black sensor pod was reduced to 33.5 mm (bePRO was 37 mm), this significantly reduces the occasional need for a shim with flatter bike shoes.
• The sensor covering is thicker and is made of a tougher compound which maintains the aesthetics for longer
• The battery life has been considerably increased
• Accuracy has been improved to 1%
• The ease of movement between bikes has been simplified. It’s very much ‘switch and go’ when previously it was a combination of switch, align, calibrate and go. It now takes 2 minutes to change between bikes with the ASSIOMA rather than 5 minutes with the bePRO
• Weight reduced from 156g to 150g per pedal
• Battery life increased from 30 hours to 50 hours.
• Waterproofing increased to  IPx67  from IPx7 in the bePRO (and the chance of standing water remaining in the charging port has been eliminated). Definitions: wiki
• There are 2 versions of power measurement – dual-sided and left-sided power (DUO and UNO models)
• There are 2 versions of cleats supported – Assioma for Look, and Assioma-SHI for SHImano.

Of those reasons perhaps only simultaneous BLUETOOTH and ANT+ support, the cleat support, accuracy and the extended battery might tempt some bePRO users to upgrade.

IS IT FOR YOU?

The best way to try out riding with power for the first time is either with a relatively inexpensive POWERPOD or with a virtually free way to convert indoor trainer speed to power using an ANT+ dongle and PC software (eg Sporttracks/others). But when you have the option of a single-sided ASSIOMA UNO for £450/$450/Eu500 then that is not so much more to pay for most people compared to the entry-level alternatives.

The ASSIOMA is much more simple to self-install than crank-based, spider-based and some other unusually-located alternatives. OK, a wheel is easier to change but many of you might have a trainer wheel, a race wheel and a disc wheel. And even if you did have 3x power meters on 3x wheels, would you get the same readings across all 3?

To me it just feels obvious that most cyclists should get a decent pedal-based solution

There are a few counter cases where you might need something else such as a seemingly more consistently accurate offering that can handle higher power levels (>2000w…ahem); or maybe you use elliptical chainrings where the readings would be slightly out; or maybe you want the ability to change a battery during a ride like with the PowerTap P1, or maybe you have a high degree of power asymmetry, or maybe you HAVE to use non-LOOK/KEO cleat types, or maybe you are concerned about drivetrain power losses affecting your readings.

Still not sure if the ASSIOMA is right for you? Maybe have a look at the following post which covers the Best Power Meter for each kind of rider:

Best Power Meter 2024 Cycling Recommendation 🥇 Top 10 Review | Comparison

UNBOXING & CONTENTS

SEPARATE SECTION: UNBOXING AND CONTENTS  – read

If you’ve just bought a pair and want some more detailed guidance on what’s in the box and what to do with it, then that is all (here) in the UNBOXING AND CONTENTS SECTION as a separate post. It’s not that interesting unless you already own the ASSIOMA. Even then the words ‘paint‘, ‘interesting‘, ‘watching‘ and ‘dry‘ seems to conjure up the need for a sentence to describe the Unboxing and Contents section.

INSTALLATION, CONFIGURATION & PAIRING

In most cases, the installation is as simple as changing a normal pedal. No proprietary tools or alignments are required (a large, standard Allen key/hex wrench is provided). No special manual calibration is required and there are no special tricks of the trade to pair the device.

Probably about 1% of you might have: head units that can’t set crank lengths; sports watches that can only accept single-channel Bluetooth power meter signals; or different length cranks on different bikes. For you (here) at the end of the UNBOXING SECTION are two sections that cover the unusual configuration and pairing issues.

Changing between bikes will take less than 2 minutes and all that is left to do is the daily zero offset calibration on your cycling head unit.

VERSIONS, SPECIFICATIONS, SPARES

The ASSIOMA comes with a dual-sided power option (the ‘DUO’) and a single-sided power option (the ‘UNO’).

The UNO has one ‘blank’ pedal and one real PM pedal – it is NOT firmware upgradeable from a UNO to a DUO.

The UNO can be upgraded to a DUO with the purchase of a new pedal at just over half the price of the DUO. ie upgrading later will probably cost you £/$/Eu100 more than just buying the DUO in the first place.

You could probably firmware DOWNGRADE your DUO to a UNO in some strange scenario that I can’t think of.

Many cyclists don’t care much about the specifications of pedals. Others do care about pedal specifications that include; weight, stack height, Q-factor/pedal centre, lean angle, and float angles of compatible cleats. So here goes:

WEIGHT

• ASSIOMA – 300g per pair
• Vector 2 + POD – 358g per pair
• Powertap P1 – 430g per pair with batteries
• Garmin Rally – 320g per pair

BATTERY LIFE

• ASSIOMA – 50 hours (internal, rechargeable)
• Vector 2 –  175 hours (CR2032)
• Powertap P1 – 60 hours (AAA lithium only)
• Garmin Rally – up to 120 hours (4xLR44/SR44 or 2xCR1/3N)

Consider: will you carry 2 spare batteries? Are the spares easy to change by hand or do they need a tool? If you get a flat power meter battery is this important to you or just a shrug of the shoulders? Does your head unit reasonably reliably indicate the remaining battery charge to enable you to plan for recharging?

Q-FACTOR

Definition: wiki

Many of us seem to really mean the PEDAL CENTRE which is the distance from the crank to the centre of the pedal when fully inserted.

STANCE = “how far apart the cleats are horizontally on your bike” = TREAD/Q-FACTOR + PEDAL CENTRE + SPACERS

• ASSIOMA – 54mm (Source: Favero)
• Vector 2 –  55mm (measured, approx)
• Vector 3 – 53mm (measured, approx)
• Powertap P1 – 53mm (Source: Powertap, others say 54mm)

Consider: Your cranks might require the use of spacers for the ASSIOMA (see INSTALLATION). This may increase the distance by 1-4mm (1mm per washer, 1 or 2 washers per pedal).

STACK HEIGHT

• ASSIOMA – 10.5mm (Source: Favero)
• Vector 2 –  10.5mm
• Vector 3 – 12.5
• Powertap P1 – 14.5mm

Vector 2/P1 Not verified.

SUPPORTED CRANK WIDTHS – FAVERO ASSIOMA REVIEW

Garmin’s standard Vector pedals might not work at all on thicker cranks and come in a separate version with a longer thread just because of this (12-15mm and 15-18mm thread). This is not an issue for Powertap P1 or ASSIOMA.

CLEATS

• ASSIOMA –  LOOK Keo-compatible
• Vector 2 – LOOK Keo-compatible
• Powertap – Powertap own-brand 6 degrees cleat float or 0-degree float (anecdotally KEO compatible)

The SHI version of Assioma now supports Shimano cleats

Consider: 0-degree float (typically black-coloured) may contribute to knee problems. I use a 3-degree float (grey) and usually, you are supplied with a 6-degree float (red). I used to turn one of my feet on the downstroke and this caused the shoe to contact the sensor body and hence affect the power reading with the earlier bePRO. A grey cleat stopped this movement sufficiently to avoid contact.

OTHER – SENSOR DIAMETER

The key physical difference between the bePRO and the ASSIOMA is that the black sensor body/POD that is next to the crank is reduced in size from the bePRO. Whilst that’s probably part of the reduced weight the main benefit is the significantly reduced likelihood of your cleats or shoes then catching the sensor.

• ASSIOMA – 33.5 mm
• bePRO – 37 mm

OTHER – DATA SHEET

To consider other technical data, such as IP67 waterproofing, look at the DATA SHEET.

SPARES

Whoever sold you the pedals should also sell spares. Or you can buy them directly from FAVERO. I disassembled a bePRO when I considered replacing a bearing. The ASSIOMA, below, looks VERY similar in construction. It’s not hard. But you would be better cautioned to make use of the 2-year warranty if possible before a piece of DIY.

Some people wear out the spindle/pedal bearing on one side more quickly than the other. Some people may damage the pedal with a serious ‘knock’. Smaller components, such as bearings to replace the effects of the above, are replaceable at a sensible cost (here) in Favero’s online shop.

FIRST RIDES – GENERAL

Check: Are your crank lengths set? You can do it in the app.

No big surprises were expected when using the ASSIOMA. It is ‘just’ another power meter after all. After a generally straightforward pairing, we move on to pedalling! And my Garmin nicely started by asking me which power meter I would like to use and then if I would like to calibrate the chosen one. As expected.

The initial auto-calibration period of the ASSIOMA passed and the data appeared. Ta Da!

The first ride was on my TT bike. That’s nicely set up with some rather awesome carbon cranks on ceramic bearings.

Moving onto other bikes, I will get some use on Cannondale Hollowgram,  cranks, ULTEGRA, 105s, various ROTORs and a few flavours of Deore on my MTB for trail rides.

Other than specifying the crank length, if necessary, there shouldn’t be any issues with most of those cranks. The only one I will watch out for will be the TRI-MAX carbon cranks.  Favero says that carbon cranks should be OK.

I have a mixture of round chainrings and elliptical chainrings (ROTOR Q-rings). With the earlier bePRO, Favero stated that power could be overestimated by 1-4% but with the ASSIOMA they are now saying 2-4%. For a reason, known only to myself, I have one bike set up with a round inner and an elliptical outer chainring so I should be able to do some interesting direct comparisons on one ride from one ring to the next. (Edit: What Favero says about the oval chainrings appears to be true…slight and consistent over-estimation)

Moving then to some old MTBs, I tend not to do technical rides with them. The only serious MTB rides I do tend to be very long trail rides of 5-11 hours (Note: Favero has specifically asked me to point out that the ASSIOMA is not recommended for MTB). It’s always good then to collect some power data to add to the higher duration end of my power duration curve. I found that the power levels I can put out on my MTB are pretty much the same, probably due to a more upright and comfortable position, however, on those long rides I never seem to be able to get anywhere near the CPs that the CP models say I should. Most probably due to the stop-start nature of trail cycling.

I would just add that I would NEVER risk the ASSIOMAs with a technical MTB ride. I would imagine they do not like being whacked by a stone or tree.

One great thing I’ve found with the ASSIOMA is that they look quite cool. But it’s obvious to potential bike thieves that they might also look cool. If I carry the large hex wrench then I can easily take the pedals off at the destination. This eliminates the chance of the pedals being stolen entirely AND makes the bike harder to steal and cycle away with. I would never have done that with the bePRO as the 5 minutes required to tighten those up would be a little too much for my impatient self.

A viable commuting option perhaps?

I also should point out here that selecting in and out of the pedals can be quite tricky. They are TIGHT when new. I seem to remember the bePRO being similarly tight. The pedals can be adjusted to have less tension for cleat retention.

COMPATIBILITY – FAVERO ASSIOMA REVIEW

I have paired the following and they pick up a power (w) signal with ANT+: Garmin Edge (520, 810, 820); WAHOO ELEMNT & BOLT; LEZYNE SUPER GPS; MIO CYCLO 505HC; Garmin Forerunner (920XT, 935); Garmin Fenix 5; Garmin Forerunner 945; Garmin Edge 530 and many more.

Using BLE I’ve also paired with the following and received a power (w) signal: WAHOO ELEMNT; Suunto SPARTAN (SPORT, SPORT WHR, ULTRA, TRAINER); Polar M450/M460.

I am actively using a WAHOO ELEMNT, Garmin Edge 820 and WAHOO ELEMNT BOLT. So I am NOT specifically saying all the above models that I paired with are fully and operationally correct.

There are obviously vagaries in how each head unit interacts with a power meter to make the experience better or worse than others. That is not in the scope of this review.

There is one big compatibility issue and then I will add to the list of smaller issues as they come up:

1. A Dual-sided BLE power meter is only as good as the head unit/watch. Specifically, Polar’s M460 is also dual-sided and a pairing is required for both the left and right channels. However, Suunto’s SPARTAN/S5/S9/Vertical/Race are single-sided and can only pair to one side and double it. In that case, it makes sense to buy the ASSIOMA UNO not DUO.
2. I have found quite a few times that head units (WAHOO) seem to prefer to pair in BLE. That’s fine but bear in mind that when you try to additionally and simultaneously pair your smartphone/tablet/Zwift it won’t work. Pair and open the smartphone + app + Zwift FIRST and then pair subsequent devices by ANT+ (the only method that will be available). WAHOO will give a message saying which protocol was used in the pairing in this scenario.

BATTERY

As we’ve seen, the 2x long, USB cables can be used to charge both pedals simultaneously either on the bike or off. It’s a standard USB cable with a proprietary end connector piece. The dual-adapter plug even has a light on it which glows when plugged into a wall socket.

The charger connects to the pedal body magnetically. It’s a strong enough magnet for the cable to hold the entire weight of the pedal. There are two copper connectors which complete the charging circuit.

The battery in each pedal is rated for up to 50 (fifty) hours of use. That’s enough for me.

Favero states, “After 500 full recharges, battery capacity is reduced by only 20%; 20 full recharges are equivalent to 1000 hours of use.” ie that is 25,000 hours of usage. But this relies on a full discharge (which is unlikely to happen) and Favero adds (sic), “If the battery is recharged once not empty, the number of the recharges increases a lot.”

After more than two years with the earlier bePRO, I get the sense that possibly the battery life has decreased from its stated 30 (thirty) hours. But it’s still more than 20 hours. That bodes well for the ASSIOMA but is not conclusive of any aspect of the ASSIOMA’s future battery performance.

Some cycling head units will report the battery status of a sensor. This can be useful even though the information is hidden away in details about the sensor rather than on a data field. This information can be inaccurate.

LEDs

Favero ASSIOMA has 4x LEDs. This is a further minor improvement over the earlier bePRO as you can see the LED flashing from any angle. It sounds trivial but it has removed a slight annoyance!

• Fast and continuous blinking for 3 seconds – Assioma is being switched on.
• Short blinking every 3 seconds – Assioma is switched on.
  Fixed light – the battery is being charged.
• Short blinking every 0.5 seconds – battery charging has been completed.

I would prefer a RED/AMBER/GREEN approach to indicate battery levels.

DATA METRICS

The data metrics that are provided by ASSIOMA are the same as the first tranche of Cycling Dynamics that was released for Garmin’s Vectors (technically they are standard ANT+ power-related metrics). WAHOO, Garmin and several others support these metrics on their head units. The head units then produce various other additional metrics based on bits of maths – for example, a 30-second moving average of power or normalised lap power. Other things too.

Essentially most transmitted metrics are also usually available for both left and right sides or combined. For example, it doesn’t make sense to provide a left+right version of some metrics such as cadence.

Measured data, linking to definitions on Favero’s website:

• Power
• Cadence
• Left/Right balance
• Torque efficiency (TE)
• Pedal smoothness (PS)

Note that Garmin’s second tranche of advanced cycling dynamics is not measured and transmitted ie seated/standing; Platform Centre Offset; and power Phase. That’s no great loss for most of you to worry about. This data is transmitted by Garmin’s private ANT+ channel and is not available outside Garmin.

It’s quite likely that you will eventually end up NEVER looking at left/right data unless you have a specific technique issue. However, don’t let that necessarily put you off buying the DUO version. Remember it is still ‘correct’ to measure left and right-sided power separately.

Ignoring drive train losses of power, it is more likely in the future that if you use another power meter (eg watt bike at the gym) it will match your previous efforts. ie doubling of one side of your power WILL over- or under-estimate power levels for many people because of asymmetries to some degree.

DURABILITY

Ultimately someone needs to use a pair until they break and then tell us how long it took, doing what kind of cycling. That will take a LONG time.

The pedals certainly DO NOT seem flimsy and seem more robust than the bePRO model that I have been using for over 2 years and which is still going strong.

After 200 or 300 or 400 hours of use and loading into cars and vans and dropping against walls and hanging on bike/transition racks then I can only speculate what the ASSIOMA’s condition will be – I don’t know yet. Look at the condition of your regular pedals now – likely not a pretty sight. The ASSIOMAs will have to handle that same level of inevitable long-term wear from even the most careful of us.

I changed the pedals between 4 bikes/5 cranks. I didn’t particularly notice any discrepancies and bedding in time for each new installation. I have completed two >50km trail rides and the pedals were probably periodically hit by grit and gravel. There are no specific signs of damage (Note; Favero has specifically asked me to point out that ASSIOMA is not recommended for MTB use)

OTHER TIDBITS for the Favero ASSIOMA Review

• Elliptical chainrings/ovals/Q-rings affect power readings by 2-4% (Source: Favero). If accuracy is your thing (as opposed to consistency) then this makes the ASSIOMA fairly INaccurate
• Favero delivered a firmware update in 2017 to better accommodate oval/elliptical chainrings

Favero Assioma POWER ACCURACY

I am going to completely update this section in September as I pull together various combinations of ride types for power data comparisons. I already have some comparisons with products that are under NDA (exciting!).

My findings so far are that: they look accurate

And

Favero state a +/-1% accuracy.

Here are 3 good charts for starters showing ASSIOMA (duo) vs Watteam Powerbeat (dual) vs WAHOO KICKR. Compared to the WAHOO KICKR, the ASSIOMA was +/-0w on average and the Powerbeat +4w.

Along a similar vein, here the ASSIOMA was 3w over on average over the KICKR.

Yep, and more, this time around Watopia, again 3w over on average. Nothing particularly stands out for the ASSIOMA on these tests. It just looks pretty solid.

So, 6 years on and the accuracy will have fallen right? Nope. Check this out. I’ve got a pretty noisy drivetrain at the moment and that might explain some of these trivial differences.

GPLlama has a quite nice test that covers extended periods at 200w and 250w followed by some short under/over sprints. It covers sensible power ranges that most of us will encounter in normal riding. You can click this and explore the source data charts if you like…

Note: One Wahoo element ran out of battery at about 18 minutes so the replacement recording device started at that time.

Favero Assioma Alternative Review

The direct alternatives are listed in this review. Namely the POWERTAP P1 and GARMIN VECTOR 2 (detailed review).

I can’t see why anyone would buy the Vector/Rally that offer the same accuracy but at a greater price.

The other alternatives you have are power meters in other places on your bike. These are a few:

• CRANK – single- or double-sided solutions exist eg STAGES, 4iiii. These can be ones where you: buy the crank; have your crank retrofitted; or where you stick sensors onto your cranks. Moving a single-sided crank between bikes IS easier than you might think but changing pedals is much easier IMO
• CRANK SPINDLE – ie the bit that both cranks fasten onto that goes through your bike. Changing that requires a compatible bike width and compatible bearing diameters. Can be simple…or not.
• An insert between the pedal and crank eg LIMITS
• REAR WHEEL HUB – eg Powertap
• NOVEL solutions – eg POWERPOD (opposing forces) or shoe-based systems.

SUPPORT – Assioma Review

I have been given excellent and detailed support as and when requested. Then again Favero knew I was doing a review so it is not possible to extrapolate that to the full customer base.

PROBLEMS Found In Assioma Review

I’ve tried to put the battery charger on the wrong way around (sigh) but that’s about it. After only a few weeks of use, I’ve not encountered any problems of note. As and when and if I do then I will update this section.

These are things I will be specifically watching out for

1. Durability – the previous bePROs were fine for well over a year but then started to look a bit ragged after the cumulative effect of numerous knocks started to show (but still worked fine). The ASSIOMAs are supposed to be MORE durable. Let’s see.
2. Power Balance – I have an asymmetry issue but I also noticed some inconsistencies with the bePRO’s power balance over the years. Maybe that was due to recalibrations through firmware and dangling weights from the pedals! – I did those with the bePRO but they are not required for ASSIOMA.
3. I seem to have issues with Garmin’s picking up the ASSIOMA once the signal is lost…although it only appears to be with Garmins. Reboot the Garmin and all is good. (Although it’s not good when you’ve just come out of T1…grrr).

PRICE, AVAILABILITY & WARRANTY

There is a 2-year warranty (UK) and in all my dealings with Favero, and in all the dealings with Favero that I hear other people have had, they are out to make friends. Warranties in other countries might differ.

DISCOUNTED LINKS IMMEDIATELY BELOW: These should be the cheapest deal you can get (if not it will be VERY close to the cheapest).

>> Current Pricing: link <<

Favero discourages discounting. In Europe, the link above will take you through to the UK/EU options – depending on exchange rates they usually have the best price (check club deals)

RECOMMENDATION & SUMMARY

Whichever way you look at it, the price of a consistent/accurate power meter is going to cost you the same as the price of a basic, budget bike, or top-end Garmin Fenix or Edge. If you are going to buy a power meter based on this Assioma Review then you are already happy with that fact.

The cost consideration then comes down to what you can afford; what you are willing to spend; and if you have a specific need that requires the power meter to be situated in a specific place on the bike.

Next comes the accuracy criteria. Even if you can afford multiple, excellent power meters then ask yourself if they will all report the exact same consistent power. I doubt it. Similar, but I doubt the same.

Most power meters, including the ASSIOMAs, have stated accuracies of 1-3% or thereabouts. One brand could be +3% and your other -2%..that’s 5% difference or somewhere between 5w and 20w for most people.

So is accuracy really that important? For a multiple power meter solution, it probably is important. But for most people “consistency is king”.  A transferable SINGLE power meter, I would argue, is most likely to be consistently the best accurate solution. Especially one like the ASSIOMA that further claims to be consistent as temperatures change.

If you are looking for advanced cycling dynamics metrics then the Garmin Vector 2 or Vector 3 is your choice. Personally, I don’t buy into the usefulness of the advanced cycling dynamics and, as I have pointed out, the ASSIOMA produce the base-level cycling dynamics anyway ie L|R/TE/PS Vectors (technically they are standard ANT+ power-related metrics). 

For the mass market at which ASSIOMA is aimed I HAVE NO CONCERNS

Edit: A personal area of concern for me in this Assioma Review WAS oval/elliptical chainrings. With the April 2018 firmware, this concern goes away.

It seems sensible to me that most of us should rely on one technology that is readily transferable between our bikes. If you have the money you might go for the Powertap or Garmin alternatives and if you are in need of super-accuracy and super-consistency then there might be a better choice for a power meter located elsewhere on the bike.

For very many of us the ASSIOMA are a very convincing ‘buy’ – in my opinion.

This review took a considerable time to prepare and write. Hopefully, you benefitted from it in some way.Thank you for any support you want to give.

DISCOUNTED LINKS IMMEDIATELY BELOW: These should be the cheapest deal you can get (if not it will be VERY close to the cheapest).

>> Current Pricing: link <<