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SRM drops pricing on PowerMeters, plus new limited lifetime warranty

Written by Cory Benson
23 Comments
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SRM_THM-Clavicula-M3-powermeter_detail

The power meter price wars have begun and customers are beginning to reap the rewards. German stalwart and pioneer of the power measurement game SRM have just announced a big shift in their pricing for the American markets. Effective immediately their prices drop about 30% across the board. SRM says they have been working for months to optimize how they do things to get their prices down in reaction to customer and bike shop feedback, and finally have come away with a substantial price drop that will help them stay competitive with the numerous other options on the market now. Jump past the break for a rundown of some of their pricing, plus a look at the new limited lifetime warranty…

SRM-Rotor-spider-only-front SRM_SRAM-S975-carbon--powermeter_detail

The new pricing will put the lowest cost SRM at $1400 for spiders that will fit on Cannondale SI, Rotor 3D+, Specialized Fact, or SRAM XX1 arms (cranksets not included.) The lowest price complete crank will now be the SRAM S975 PowerMeter that will sell for $1600 with carbon crank arms, spider, and Praxis rings for either compact or standard road and GXP or BB30 bottom bracket compatibility.

SRM_Shimano-Dura-Ace-powermeter_detail

The most popular 11 speed power meter built on a Shimano Dura-Ace crank (but not branded as Dura-Ace, since SRM cuts them down so much) will run $2200, down from $2970. With the most premium running $2500 for a THM Clavicula M3 or Campagnolo Record-derived complete crankset.

As to the new warranty, apparently it will only apply to North American customers for now (elsewhere SRM’s 3 year warranty will continue.) The new Limited Lifetime Warranty is for the structural and electronic components of both the PowerMeter and PowerControl heads, and is good only to the original buyer. It includes the usual list of exclusions and requires product registration, but does allow user installation (if done properly) and should offer some security on your investment.

SRM.de
Cory Benson
4,335 articles

Cory Benson is the EU Tech Editor of Bikerumor.com.

Cory has been writing about mountain bikes, enduro, cyclocross, all-road, gravel bikes & bikepacking for over 25 years, even before the industry created some of these names. Prior to Bikerumor, Cory was a practicing Architect specializing in environmental sustainability, has designed bike shops & bike components, and worked as a bike shop mechanic.

Based in the Czech Republic for 15+ years, he is a technical mountain biker, adventurous gravel rider, and short & medium-haul bikepacker. Cory travels extensively across Europe riding bikes, meeting with key European product developers, industry experts & tastemakers for an in-depth review of what’s new, and what’s coming next.

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Eric Hansen
Eric Hansen
8 years ago

What the hell good is a lifetime warranty when the part will be obsolete in five years?

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wewe
wewe
8 years ago
Reply to  Eric Hansen

well, if there’s a warranty issue and the part is not available you would get a new power meter, in theory. When my cervelo R2.5 got warrantied I was handed an R3 because there were no R2.5 available. And since my R3 kept the lifetime warranty I suppose that I’ll get a new generation R3 if there are any issues.

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greg
greg
8 years ago

@Eric Hansen,
Normally I’d agree with you, but SRMs specifically have a very long useful lifespan. Lots of people still use SRMs with their old wired computer heads because they’re dead reliable. Those used ones also seem to have a strong presence in the used marketplace.

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PsiSquared
PsiSquared
8 years ago

I wonder if there will be a response from the rest of the industry? Already Power2Max’s spider for Rotor cranks is $760 cheaper than SRM’s offering. I also wonder how low SRM will be willing to go in pricing and what impact recent rounds of industry price reductions have had on SRM sales?

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Juan Sevo
Juan Sevo
8 years ago

Hansen-SRM’s from 20 years ago are still in service and working just fine and are still far more accurate than anything else out there.

SRM isn’t a price point item. It’s not a bit of marketing fluff to get on board to a trend. It’s still the best and will be as long as the competition is focused on price wars vs offering a quality device that’s truly accurate.

End of the day too, SRM’s survived races like Paris-Roubaix where pros switch to alloy and go heavier on other parts. SRM’s keep working. Ask for the power files from all other company’s who were on bikes during the race. Chances are, they don’t have them because most didn’t even get turned on.

Fun fact while we’re talking pros. Most parts of a pro’s bike (including the frame) are swapped at least 2-3x a season. SRM’s have lasted 2 full seasons only to be swapped because of core component group sponsorships. Some SRM’s are under teams 3 full seasons, and after that they aren’t cashed out and often get sold to friends of the teams and spend another 5-10 years in service easy.

You buy an SRM. You’re buying a product for life. Part of why I have one. 🙂

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PsiSquared
PsiSquared
8 years ago
Reply to  Juan Sevo

Sure the SRM Science power meter is likely to be more accurate than any of the other companies’ offerings, but the regular ol’ SRM is likely in the same class of accuracy as Quarq, Power2Max, and PowerTap’s offerings. There’s certainly no performance benefit you’d gain from any difference.

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Chris
Chris
8 years ago

So they’ve noticed that the new kids on the block are eating their lunch. Unfortunately this price drop, though massive, isn’t enough to compete with the $500 options available to the public.

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mccthug
mccthug
8 years ago
Reply to  Chris

HA, “garbage”, a little pretentious don’t you think?

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mattmcculley
mattmcculley
8 years ago

When you want junk, you buy junk. When you want nice, you buy nice. Stages is cheaper but is garbage compared to my Quarq.

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John Moore
John Moore
8 years ago

The fact that most riders in the ProTour use SRM means it will always have a premium reputation. I don’t think SRM is going after the same market that 4iiii or other entry level products are, but they were in ‘get the f*** out of here’ price range before, now they are just in the ‘German Engineered’ price range

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Veganpotter
Veganpotter
8 years ago

They definitely don’t need to go cheaper just as Zipps $400 price drop is plenty to keep people that were on the cusp of saving money to simply go with the real deal. Gotta keep in mind, these things are made in Germany with highly paid assemblers. Also, unlike some of the $500 options, you don’t have to worry about any glue separating and losing your power meter. I’ve only seen this happen from one customer that had it happen with a stages but I’ve seen two people knock them off due to pedals being tangled in storage…not an issue if its built in to the crank. That said, these still aren’t double sided which is becoming more and more important. Sure, its the most accurate thing fro your right leg but its not even close to as accurate for your left since it doesn’t even bother giving you a real measurement.

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PsiSquared
PsiSquared
8 years ago
Reply to  Veganpotter

Which power meter are you referring to that isn’t double sided?

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Veganpotter
Veganpotter
8 years ago
Reply to  PsiSquared

SRM…not really double sided even if it computes as such

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STS
STS
8 years ago
Reply to  Veganpotter

Do you even know what you are talking about? Any SRM has its strain gauges attached to the arms of the spider. So it measures the deflection of those arms no matter if the force which causes the torque which causes the deflection is put into the system via the left or right hand crank. There is no “computing” process involved – as with Stages or many other systems – which doubles the power calculated from the deflection of one crank arm or the spindle. It’s for a reason that SRM is still considered the reference when it comes to the precision of power meters.

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PsiSquared
PsiSquared
8 years ago
Reply to  STS

Perhaps he means that the SRM isn’t able to independently measure the force or torque applied by each leg and then report a L/R bias. If that’s what he means, then that’s a metric that hasn’t been shown to be becoming more and more important.

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whobikes
whobikes
8 years ago
Reply to  Veganpotter

Not necessarily assembled in Germany by highly paid assemblers.
http://www.bikeradar.com/us/road/gear/article/inside-srms-colorado-springs-assembly-facility-38803/

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Rixter
Rixter
8 years ago
Reply to  whobikes

Whether it’s German or USA assembled it’s still using German made parts assembled where people make a descent wage.

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Nick
Nick
8 years ago

Will infocrank soon be the new model by which others are judged? http://www.vervecycling.com/store/infocrank-135

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jb
jb
8 years ago

really…Shimano will soon enter the power market…….srm is worried..very worried

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Durianrider
Durianrider
8 years ago

In 5 years SRM will be bankrupt. Have to send it back for a battery change? LOL!

SRM are 5300AUD for the DA9000 model now and online you can see heaps of stores still struggling to clear out old units.

I can get 8 Stages for 1 SRM here in Australia.

I have 7 Stages and no problems. I know how to change batteries properly and let it dry out overnight if I rode in the rain.

I was out training with Chris Froome a few times this week if you look at my youtube channel and they are all still running Stages.

If a one side power meter is good enough for those guys then it is good enough for me.

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Durianrider
Durianrider
8 years ago

Ive spoken with pros who run SRM and yes, many have reported issues with SRM durability and battery problems.

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Durianrider
Durianrider
8 years ago

I was out training with Chris Froome twice last week in the local mountains and they are running Stages.

If it is good enough for them then it is good enough for us.

I laugh at the fact you have to send back an SRM for a battery swap out.

Ive got 7 Stages and no problems. I know how to properly change the battery and if the unit gets wet, I take out the battery and let everything dry out over night.

Stages is the best product so far in 2016.

I can afford anything but wanted the product with the least hassle.

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elvis
elvis
8 years ago
Reply to  Durianrider

“if it’s good enough for them then it’s good enough for us”

Seriously? I may have overlooked the sarcasm font but that might be the most naive thing I’ve read on here.

I’m glad your happy with your 14 left leg power measurements

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