After their recent rebranding and price drops, they’ve just announced the new PowerTap G3S hubs. They upgrade to DT Swiss machined hub shells and torque tube with their Star Ratchet 11-speed Freehub body system. It’ll use 24 straight pull spokes and looks a lot sharper than their G3 for J-bend spokes, which is manufactured by Joytech. Retail is $1,089.
They’re working on a Bluetooth PowerCap to swap in for the ANT+ one, letting you choose how you want to transmit data. The hold up is waiting on industry consortiums to finalize a Bluetooth Cycling Power Profile. Their hardware is in development, so once the code’s approved and standardized, the unit should drop shortly thereafter. It’ll be available as an aftermarket upgrade or as an option on new hubs.
A new app called PowerTap with basic cycling computer functions that can wirelessly upload directly to Strava, Map My Ride and others. It’ll read data from their PowerCal heart rate power measurement strap and their BT speed/cadence sensor. Obviously, it’ll start taking data from their BT PowerCap when it’s ready. Available free in iTunes now.
CYCLEOPS
The new CycleOps direct drive magnetic trainer is called the Silencer. They say it’s extremely quiet and uses a massive flywheel for better road like feel. It’ll come with a handlebar remote with 5-increments of resistance adjustment. Available with or without a 10-speed cassette, based on a SRAM/Shimano freehub body. Retail is $659 without, $729 with cassette. 11-speed and Campagnolo compatibility coming.
For their classic series fluid, mag and wind trainers, all of them get a new frame that works better with 29ers and better leveling feet. It also gets a spring loaded axle clamp with three positions – one each for track, road and mountain.
The tension knob that raises the roller to the rear wheel gets a new clutch dial that starts to click and spin free once the proper tension against the tire is achieved – like how a vehicle’s gas cap works. It’ll come on the Pro Series, Fluid 2 and Magneto.
Their Virtual Training Software that was introduced last summer gets upgraded to include interval power training. They’ve also added a tablet version that take your speed info from the PowerBeam trainer and broadcasts it to an ANT+ or Bluetooth tablet or dongle and shows your ride data and video. Both versions are going to subscription plans rather than an upfront purchase, and both allow you to stream or download riding video and data. You’ll also be able to use any ANT+ or Bluetooth speed/cadence sensor or power meter or trainer (Wahoo Kickr, for example) and send data to the program. With the trainers, it’ll send back resistance data to make the virtual rides more competitive.
