What is your take on running power meters?

Not worth the money in my opinion.

Bought one and calibrated (as per Stryd instructions) it on a track (D3 outdoor) with each pair of shoes I ran in and the thing was still neither consistent or accurate. Stryd would not offer me a refund or replacement. Said to hold out for a software update at some point in the future that may or may not help.

Their customer service was timely and tried to offer help but they kept going back to the same concerns on their end. Asking if I was wearing it correctly, maybe my math was wrong (let them try too and came up with same numbers), then said the track could be at fault because the distance is incorrect... It was never their product to blame.

Can only confirm that. STRYD had very similar behaviour to me.

I bought it in May 2021. There is still no firmware update to now!, although i found severe bugs. Severe bugs which any better test athlete should have found in a few weeks. I am really wondering.

More to read on

My Coros watch spits out a power number that is usually a bit higher my HR (how much higher depends on how fast I ran and elevation gain), but I’m never able to think of anything I’d want to do with that number, so even if Stryd promised to measure it accurately — wind being the only additional parameter it can account for on top of what a GPS watch can already compute — I wouldn’t know what to do with that power number.

Cycling on the other hand is a different beast as the impact of wind is huge and there is a lot more of drastic elevation changes, so power is a great metric to have a normalized measure across different trails and wind conditions.

Much like Whoop, it seems like worthless junk. If you’re smart enough to know how to train and recover already it won’t tell you anything you didn’t already know.

YouTuber Kofuzi wears one. I think he tried to use it last weekend at the LA Marathon to maintain a marathon pace effort on the hilly course.

I feel like it’s another gimmick

it's my understanding that Stryd was supposed to replicate power meters in cycling. However, the number Stryd actually provides to your watch is based on some type of trade secret algorithm, unlike a true power reading in cycling. At this point it doesn't appear that power is anywhere near as useful in running as it is in cycling.

I've used my Stryd foot pod for about six months. It's nice in the winter when I'm running on an odd sized indoor track. It reliably tracks distance when it's hard to keep track of on the funky track (GPS doesn't really work effectively on the indoor track).

Stryd distance data is slightly more accurate outside than my Garmin watch, but the watch alone is accurate enough for me.

The power and wind feature might be useful for some in windy or hilly conditions to keep effort in check. I think perceived effort and heart rate work better for me.

I downloaded all of the power data to Golden Cheetah but I really don't think it's all that useful. I didn't really gain any devine insights from the data.

I've also seen some folks become over dependent on the technology to the point where they literally can't run without it. My buddy's Stryd stopped transmitting data during his marathon and it completely ruined his race. He wasn't able to run without knowing his power at any given point. Perceived effort is still paramount to anything else in running.

garbage. not a real power meter. just an "effort meter" based on HR and elevation

I bought one...it works and has great data. It's very accurate distance-wise as well. But, I got injured and now it's collecting dust. Great battery and easy setup, btw.

I have one and have used it consistently it is helpful in calibrating effort on hills not especially useful on the flat. I have find it very useful in race’s with hills especially if I am unfamiliar with the course. If I keep track of my lap power and keep it steady up and down hills I typically run a better race. The Stryd produces a lot of metrics all interesting but mostly useless such as LSS (leg strength stiffness). I am not sure I would replace mine if this one died.