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I suspect it is just my unit having a range issue but you do often hear people say 'my Stages did x but the customer service is great' which about sums up the product. You should zero all power meters before each ride, AFAIK.
If you want to keep cost down, have a look at the 4iiii and stick a 105 arm on (if your OCD can cope). It seems that Pioneers are hard to find in stock right now. There is a Dura Ace arm on CRC which would be about £460 with BC discount.
http://www.chainreactioncycles.com/pioneer-single-leg-power-meter-dura-ace-9000/rp-prod150301Depending what bike you have; BB and chainrings, you can get a Quarq Dzero for not 'much' more.
spinnnout-
Yeah, looks like I could get a 105 stages arm for £363 as well, but that DA arm looks like a good option, especially with the BC discount (there'd definitely be the niggling thought of upgrading the other side of the crankset in future. Do they well the right hand crank with the Pioneer unit by itself?
I think I'm gonna have to do more research before buying anything... Too many options...
TurtleRecall
Hmm, that doesn't sound too promising. The best deal I can find for the 6800 stages PM looks to be £444 from Merlin (with their 10% off offer until midnight).
I think I read that Pioneer has to be zeroed before every ride, but can't remember reading any other downsides to them. I also don't remember reading anything like your issue in any reviews of stages, but the stages reviews definitely aren't unanimously great.
I think I'd prefer a spider-based PM, but it's hard to justify the extra cost. I don't race (at the mo') and only have the one do-it-all type road bike, so it'd be more just for training/fitness/geeky stats.