if i want to evaluate wingate, and i don't have the budget to buy a monark or excalibur, could i use a cycling simulator with power measurement, is there an economical alternative to perform such a test?
If you wished to use a separate cycle ergometer which could be used with various participants bicycles. Direct drive units such as the Tacx Neo, Wahoo Kickr or various Elite models would support this. There are many units which are in the hundreds of pounds versus thousands which have measurements of circa 1-2% accuracy.
From personal preference, I would suggest heading down the route of Wattbike just due to there ease of use and pre-programmed testing protocols already supporting a Wingate Test.