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Power Pedals Developing Power Meter Spindles for Any Pedal Brand!

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Pedal based power meters are, for many, the holy grail of power measurement devices. They’re easily portable between bikes, offer true left/right measurement and add minimal weight to your bike compared to crank or hub based systems.

Power Pedals takes it to the next level of Do It Now by building a system that can potentially work with any brand of pedals. Thus far, your options are Garmin’s Vector pedal built around the Look Keo and won’t be available until next year at the earliest (side note: this summer, they embarked on a complete redesign internally to improve durability and aren’t stating any potential dates. The next time you hear something from them, it’ll go on sale that same day) and Look’s own Keo Power Pedal system which is available, but only works with Polar computers.

The video above shows one of the key benefits of Power Pedals’ system: Full rotation measurement and data output. Their program can show your power output at any point in the crank’s rotation, with green being effective power and the length of the bar growing as power grows.

The red, however, shows ineffective power, which translates to not pulling on the upstroke. It’s a simple yet powerful visual that helps you identify weak areas in your pedal stroke.

Unfortunately, we don’t have any images of the product, but the specs are impressive: A repeatable, demonstrable +/-2% measurement, one-time automatic calibration and the 360º measurement for each leg. It’s ANT+ and will work with existing cycling computers, and they’re working on their own smartphone app, too.

More impressive? The target price is just $1,500, though founder Tom Lukatela says they won’t have a firm price until the product is ready to bring to market. For comparison, that’s the same as Vector, and about $700 less than Keo Power.

Right now, they’re in an “advanced stage of development” built around Shimano’s SPD-SL pedal. They’re exploring OEM partnerships with various major brands, but also looking at simply making retrofit kits for Shimano, Look, Speedplay, Time and Campagnolo pedals. They say it’ll work for mountain bike pedals, too.

The system’s comprised of the spindle and a small electronics unit that’s all installed with a standard 15mm pedal wrench. Total additional weight is claimed at just 50g. It runs on a few button cell batteries that are user replaceable and should last a year with about 10 hours of use per week.

Want to let them know what pedals you need a system for? Use the contact form at BikePowerPedals.com

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Champs
Champs
11 years ago

PowerTap/Quarq/SRM/et al continue to fetch $$$$ so I’m not surprised about the high prices or the number of entrants, but it’s a little disappointing that almost none of them come to market.

dale
dale
11 years ago

Speedplay? Easy install? Woot, do want.

Power Meter
Power Meter
11 years ago

$1500 price point is not impressive.

Xris
Xris
11 years ago

$1500 isn’t impressive? I don’t know what type of power meter you’re running but that is pretty damn good for a system that can measure left and right power output. You can spend the 2g’s it takes to get a Quark powermeter then.

Bubbrubb
Bubbrubb
11 years ago

VAPORWARE.

Smac
Smac
11 years ago

Be nice to see an advancement on the current crop of power meters. Power measurement is great but real data to improve pedaling technique is the key feature here.

Ausbike attendee
Ausbike attendee
11 years ago

Vaporware? I saw them at Ausbike and they had about 100 attendees test ride their system. They also had their Power Pedals on a bike with SRM for comparative purposes. To the best of my knowledge the alternative pedal based power meters have not allowed the public to test ride them.

Ghouse
Ghouse
11 years ago

Yes, Speedplay power metering would make me so happy. I’d like to see a reliable sub $1000 option, but comparatively, $1500 is the sweet spot. Sign me up!

RUSTYDOGG
RUSTYDOGG
11 years ago

I wonder why Polar didn’t make their system ANT+? Thats a serious question. Can it be simply to sell more Polar systems. That’d be silly with all the ANT+ heads out there. Garmin, etc…

Psi Squared
Psi Squared
11 years ago

This, if it comes to market, would be the ideal power solution for pedals: no matter your pedals, just switch your axles out for theirs. Of course, this presumes that their axles will have the same specs and tolerances as the OEM axles. I’ve got Dura Ace pedals, and I’ve no interest going back to Keos (Polar), Keo Like pedals (Vector), or Speedplay (Brim Brothers). In terms of market potential, this is the clear winner, at least in concept. As a bonus it uses Ant+ and doesn’t have a wire running outside the shoe. Can’t wait to see more from them……including a video that actually gives some details.

brit_in_oz
brit_in_oz
11 years ago

I rode these at Ausbike and side by side vs SRm was within a watt. Awesome product, the data they output is amazing showing the torque and power across the complete stroke, so you can see how your pedalling action changes through the stroke. I have not seen data out of a power meter like this before , very useful!

Hope they can get one or more of the manufacturers on board

jasbo baleful
jasbo baleful
11 years ago

Please make them for MTB pedals (Crankbros would be nice).

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