Relief!

So I spent about 3 days (off and on when I had time) trying to figure out why the wireless PowerTap I bought wouldn't work. I tried everything! I went through the directions with a fine-tooth comb and did everything it said. First there was the FIND operation, which I tried about a million times. Then I went through each and every setup menu as they are described in the user manual, but to no avail. Still no communication between the hub and the computer. Then I tried replacing the batteries in the hub, but that didn't work either. Finally, I contacted the seller (I bought it on ebay) to see if they had any suggestions. He didn't really have anything to say other than what I had tried, but did offer to pay for return shipping and a full refund if I couldn't get it to work. For what I paid for it, I would expect nothing less. I was getting really frustrated after I had finally convinced myself to spend the money and then couldn't get the stupid thing to work!!

Then this weekend, I decided to take it down to the local bike shop, Bicycles Plus in old Folsom, and see if somebody could help me figure it out. I got there and it was fairly busy, as you might expect for a Sunday afternoon. Even though he was in the middle of about a zillion other things, the mechanic there (Brad) took the time to help me figure it out! It turns out the computer/head unit is new and had not been connected to the hub yet. For a brand new setup from the factory, they come connected, but this new head unit had to be manually setup with this hub. It said nothing about this in the instructions and I didn't see anything about it when I looked online for troubleshooting tips. You figure something like this might be good to know. Makes sense for you to need to do this if you use one computer with multiple hubs. In any case, it finally worked!! I was so relieved! The guys at the shop hooked me up!

So I chatted with Brad for a few more minutes. He had also noticed that the axle on this hub was a little out of whack, which explains why my cassette removal tool hadn't fit perfectly when I put the cassette on. I had them order a replacement. As an added bonus, the seller offered to pay for any work they need to do to fix the axle and the loose spoke. I also asked Brad about learning more about maintaining your own bike and he said there are clinics once in a while. He even offered to spend some one-on-one time with me sometime after the shop closed to go over some basics. I told him I had a set of PowerCranks that I would want to install so he could show me how to do that... perfect!! I was so impressed by the shop and their willingness to help; it reaffirmed my attitude that they are definitely the best shop in the area!

Now I just need to do the work to put this power meter to use.