Anyone hear of metrigear force/power meter?

Saw this last month and I'm interested to see the results. Putting it in the pedals is such a brilliant idea, because you can swap it between all of your bikes a lot easier. I'd like to see how they will compare against SRM and PT's, in terms of percentage loss of wattage. I'm assuming that since it is directly at the point pressure, the numbers will be higher for these guys, as you lose a small percentage in the SRM and a greater percentage (due to power lost through the chain) on a PT.

hmmm.... looks interesting! Does anybody know what the price point is expected to be?

Is this the only one that is like that? Seems to me like I heard of another one that uses the speedplay spindles, but I don't think that was the name.

Kevin

Yeah, I'm actually saving up money for a power meter as we speak, I'm very interested to hear reviews once they get some pedals out.  The concept is dynamite, I just worry about wear on the pedals, how long are these things expected to hold up for, that sort of thing. 

I'd love it if these things come out as advertised, the benefit of swapping out pedals rather than having one designated wheel (or crank) is just awesome. 

Edited by Brownie28 2009-11-16 1:34 PM

I believe it's supposed to be under $900, including the pedals--speedplay only, though. 

It sounds like a great idea though I don't like it to be limited to one pedal model. That said same as with the Ergomo I will wait a few years after it hits the market to make sure it works well, check reviews and also assure the company is around after a while.

If it's just strain gauges and accelerometers there wouldn't be ANY wear on the pedals. The device just measures deflection of the spindle that already occurs when you mash.

No, what I meant is that you'd have a foreign object sitting in the middle of the pedal...how does that effect the integrity/strength of the pedal itself?  It might be nothing at all, I'm not even going to pretend to know a thing about the engineering of these things.  But as Jorge said I'd like to see a few years of feedback and trial and error from customers before feeling comfortable buying one of these.  I love the concept and it sounds like it could be the most cost effective power meter on the market but I'd hate to be one of the first people to find out that there's a major flaw with them.   

Yes, that's a good point. I'm just so happy to see a less-invasive power meter. And the idea that you could visualize your force throughout the stroke, well, that's just fancy.

I want something to measure power on my bike and I have been lusting for a PowerTap, but the cost is just too high for me right now.  While holding off buying something, two or three new methods have cropped up.  Gotta' like that.  I don't know which one will turn out to be 'the best', but I do know that within about six months it should be cheaper than it is now to get power measurement on your bike.  This method definitely is one to remember due to the ability to easily switch from one bike to another, lightweight, and no more worries about putting the PowerTap on your race wheels or training wheels.

Greg

Less invasive power meter? It's not like it's taking biopsies of your thigh muscles, lol.

The Vector has potential to be one of the best on the market for the sole reason that it is measuring power (force, deflection, torque, strain, etc) at nearly the closest possible point to where you apply the force.

Every power meter has to be inserted SOMEWHERE in the drivetrain (or in the case of the ibike...really far away) ,and in theory, the closer the meter is to the origin of the force, the more accurate it can be.

The vector is placed inside the hollow pedal spindle of the speedplay. If/when this power meter holds its own compared to SRM/PT, then you'll be seeing all the major pedal manufacturers coming out with hollow spindle versions of their pedals.

I've been watching the different posts/boards since they had a booth at Interbike....seems like a very promising concept.  It'll be interesting to see when they actually get them to the market and the results then.  The price point seems pretty good (under $1000 but still need a head unit...) and the promise of accuracy seems good.  I'm not a speedplay user so that's a drawback for me....I'm not looking to give up my powertap anytime soon....

First, the strain gauge is added inside the existing hollow spindle, so that changes nothing is terms of structural stability compared to any other Speedplay Zero pedal.

The price point is somewhere below $1000, and the release date is in Q1 2010 (guess we'll see about the accuracy of that date... as with most new products, by the summer would probably be more realistic). With the price, keep in mind that it does not come with a computer, so you either need to use an existing ANT+ enabled computer, such as Garmin 705 or 310XT, or you need to buy a computer as well.

One way or another, if this works and proves reliable, I will probably buy a pair shortly after they are released. I have a wired powertap wheel set right now that I was thinking about converting to wireless, but when I got quoted $750-950 for the conversion from Saris, then these look very much interesting... Saris basically take your existing hub, reuses the shell and replaces everything else, so it is a new hub basically, but still.... the old conversion used to be in the the $500 range...