The next step for power meters

As you’ve likely heard, this is Interbike week down in Las Vegas, where tens of thousands of industry types spend five days in the Sin City checking out the latest and greatest gear from nearly every major manufacturer.  The show is always fascinating as it serves as a launching pad for new products from existing companies and for new brands just getting their feet wet in the business.

You’ll read more about both Interbike and our earlier Canadian industry show Expocycle in our December/January issue of Canadian Cycling Magazine, but we thought this was too big to wait for.

Though most people thing training with power is a fairly new concept, it was actually first tried in the early 1900s using thrown together ergometers. The first bike-based power meter, however, arrived on the scene in 1986 when medical engineer Ulrich Schoberer  invented the crank-based system and SRM was born. Today, the main players in the power meter business are SRM and Quarq, both with crank-mounted systems, and Cycle Ops, with the PowerTap.

That playing field will likely get much more crowded in the coming few years, however, now that technology is allowing for pedal-based systems, which is what Schoberer was looking to design in the first place.

Getting back to Interbike, Look and Polar were both working on their own systems separately when they met and realized they would make strong partners. The result is what you see below, a Look Keo pedal with a specifically-built spindle that has power sensors mounted on a tiny circuit board. The power information is read separately between the left and right pedals, and then sent to a Polar head unit using two transmitters mounted on the crank. Polar heads units must be used because the companies aren’t part of the ANT+ alliance.

The units on display this week at Interbike were fairly complete prototypes. Testing is currently under way with Polar and Look employees and company officials say the pedals are accurate to within two per cent. Wide testing with bike teams will take place this fall, with an expected spring release date. The price is expected to come in at around $2,000 to $2,300 US, putting it in the same range as the other power meters currently on the market.

Below, Look Product Manager for Pedals, Frederic Roudergues gives us an introduction to the system.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9mhNu0otELs