One of the downside of the SRM power meter has always been the need to send it back into the company in order to replace the battery. Sure there are many consumers who have figured out how to do it themselves with the aid of well crafted online tutorials. However there are probably far more people who are less inclined to get out the tiny screw drivers and figure out what type of battery it needs, and are forced to ship it back to SRM and pay the $50 battery replacement fee which includes inspection and testing.
For anyone looking for battery changing convenience in addition to drastically improved battery life, SRM has announced their new UCB or User Changeable Battery design. Created in part with FSA, the crankset is based on an FSA K-Force Light BB386 EVO crankset and uses commonly available batteries. Instead of coin cells or square batteries inside the power meter, the UCB crank uses two standard AA batteries which are stored inside the crank’s spindle. After about 4000 hours, the batteries can simply be removed from the spindle by the consumer and replaced with two more for years of juice. Thanks to FSA’s one-crank-fits-all BB386 spindle and cup design, the crank can be used on BB386, BB30, PF30, BBRight, and standard threaded bottom brackets with their threaded MegaEVO cups.
Full specs including pricing after the break!
At $2845.00 the SRM UCB is not cheap, but in line with previous power meters offered by the company. Currently available in a 110 compact BCD, there will be a 130mm BCD available soon.
- Q-factor: 147mm
- ANT+ Compatible: Yes
- Battery Life: 4000 Hours
- Warranty: 3-Year World Wide
- MSRP: $2845.00
- Accuracy: ±1% (Scientifically Proven)
- Weight: 784 g(Including 2x AA Batteries)
- BCD: 110 mm (50/34 Chain Rings) 130mm (coming soon!)
- Crank Lengths: 170, 172.5, 175
