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
