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News: Eurobike 2009
![[Photo of MTB jump]](http://www.brimbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Img_0954.jpg "The demo MTB track at Eurobike")
![[Photo of Alberto Contador]](http://www.brimbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Img_0899.jpg "Alberto Contador was just one of the famous names visiting sponsors' stands")
![[Photo of bike]](http://www.brimbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Img_0932.jpg "Nifty little foldup electric bike, but the price is painful!")
![[Photo of recumbant 3 wheeler]](http://www.brimbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Img_0955.jpg "You can have 2 wheels at the back and 1 in front...")
![[Photo of another recumbant 3 wheeler]](http://www.brimbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Img_0956.jpg "...or you can have 1 wheel at the back and 2 in front.")
(Rollover images to see the captions)
![[Photo of group watching]](http://www.brimbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Img_0922.jpg "You should see what those guys with cameras can see...")
![[Photo of cross trainer bike]](http://www.brimbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Img_0949.jpg "Now you can cross train while cycling (but why???)")
![[Photo of recumbent tandem]](http://www.brimbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Img_0927.jpg "A 4 wheel recumbant tandem")
![[Photo of derailleur]](http://www.brimbrothers.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/09/Img_0942.jpg "A very early derailleur on a 1928 Diamant in a display of historic bikes at Eurobike")
We visited the big European bike trade exhibition, Eurobike, in Germany about 10 days ago. There was no sign of the recession here – the exhibition was packed, with every corner and every bit of space occupied by exhibitors, and huge crowds attending every day. We were there for business, but 14 halls of shiny new bikes and equipment kept distracting us. It was all too easy to start thinking that if only I had that new Cervélo I’d start getting the race results I know I deserve. There were bikes of all shapes and sizes and with 1, 2, 3 or 4 wheels being ridden around the show, but the most striking thing was the large number of electric bikes. Apparently they’re the Next Big Thing for commuting. I particularly liked the one that fitted a hidden battery and electric motor inside the down tube of an otherwise normal road bike, driving the bottom bracket. Could be the solution to getting dropped on the Mullagh on the last lap…
As we talked to people at the show it became clear that there’s great interest in power measurement among equipment companies. One concept prototype of a pedal based system was on display, and rumours of other pedal based ones were circulating. Measuring in the pedal seems to be flavour of the month. The more we found out about these the more we became reassured that our cleat based system is better. All the pedal based ones will still require the cyclist to either move the pedals between bikes or buy a pair of the measurement pedals for each bike they own.
On the other hand, our system will have all the measurement in the cleat and on the shoe, so absolutely nothing will need to be moved between bikes (except you, wearing your shoes). You won’t even need a cadence detection magnet on the frame. Measuring in the cleat also avoids the problems of trying to completely seal rotating parts against moisture, and of falling accuracy as bearings wear, so we know that we won’t have those problems. We’re confident that our system will tick more boxes for you than any systems based on wheel hubs, cranksets, bottom brackets or pedals.
Another point that became apparent to us at Eurobike is that the growth of ANT+Sport as the preferred wireless standard will continue. ANT is the wireless system used by most power measurement systems, and will be used by our system. Many of the ‘conventional’ bike computer companies we talked to told us they have ANT power display devices in development, so over the next 12 months we can expect a number of new display devices capable of working with ANT compatible power measurement systems. That’s good news for you, because you’ll have more choice.
In the Brim Brothers labs things are progressing. We’ve been examining the performance of our prototype, testing and analysing its behaviour and accuracy under various conditions. We’re now designing the next prototype iteration, which we hope will be very close to the final design. This version will be used for limited road tests. By the way, we get a steady stream of offers to help with testing, but at this initial test phase we’ll just be using a very small number of local test riders. We appreciate the offers we get from all over the world to help with the testing, but we won’t be doing wider testing until we get closer to the final product.
One thing you can be sure of – we won’t be launching the product until it’s real and is ready for use. No marketing hype here.
Hi,
that all sounds wonderful – good luck with it all! Just a question, will the sensor be damaged if one walks around with their cycling shoes on? Surely a little bit of walking is inevitable.
cheers,
Stephen
No, it won’t be damaged by walking. We’ve put a huge amount of work into developing the tiny sensor. Robustness is our middle name!
All sounds great Barry.
I’ll be racing 66 next season so I hope you are going to have me powered up before I’m too old for any new PB’s.
Best of luck,
Phil.
Will your cleat sensor measure power through 360 degrees of crank rotation? If so, how will power data be collected and displayed? Very interesting concept and would like to know more about it.
Is the product commercially available?
John
All your questions answered on our FAQ page.
All of the existing systems are just estimates either from chain tension, crank / bottom braket stress or hub stress lets know how much to see if worth waiting for
This may be the first product for use on a tandem. I know tandems are a small market but I’ll certainly welcom a product that woorks. Hope you can develop a screen that shows both readings so stoker and captain can adjust for maximum speed without wasting effort.
How will your system deal with cleat wear? Cleat lifetime is certainly finite. Will it have a somewhat involved calibration process, as others on the market do?
We don’t want to say much yet about how we deal with cleat wear. As for calibration, an important objective of our design and development is to minimise or eliminate the need for a user to do frequent calibration procedures. We’ll only know how well we’ve met this objective when we get to road testing.
Barry:
Is your invention similar to that of REVOLUTION by Micro Sport Technologies? The two seem very similar.
John
Our system is not the same as Microsport. The most obvious difference is that our sensors are in the cleats while their sensors were to be inside the shoe.
Hi guys
With your cleat system, how do you hope to handle wear and tear from walking around? I guess the cleats will not be plastic but it would still be a challenge.
Diarmuid, as mentioned above, we don’t want to say much yet about how we will handle cleat wear. Information about that will be published over the next few months.
I would be interested to know whether the same unit would be usable for both road and cyclocross, considering that the two disciplines use different pedals and cleats, and not require that two separate units be purchased. Also what effect the running required in cyclocross races would do to the power data.
Alan, in principal our cleat based power meter will work on any bike, including road and cyclocross, but in practice it will depend on whether we support the cleat & pedal you want to use. We have not yet decided which cleats we will support with our initial product, or what the timetable will be for supporting different cleats.
As for running, the power data will not be affected because the system can distinguish between pedaling and other movement, and will not record any power data while running.
Barry, sounds like a product with a lot of potential.
Two Qs
- how does the sensor differentiate between pressure that turns the crank, and static pressure that is applied when a mountain biker is balancing on the pedals riding downhill out of the seat?
- I am an Australian physiotherapist, and very interested in the efficiency of foot to pedal force transmission. I still wonder when pedal and cleat manufacturers are going to wake up that standard pedal design should allow most force transfer to pass from the head of the first metatarsal (ball of the foot) to the pedal. This would avoid ITB friction syndrome and stress fractures of the 5th metatarsal. Cleat wedges are one solution though very few bike shops seem to fit them anywhere in the world. How will your sensor cope with cleat wedges or asymmetric force transmission through the cleat? i.e. more force through the medial aspect.
Bruce, the rate of forward movement of the cranks & pedals is part of the information used to calculate power, so when the pedals are static the calculated power is zero no matter how much force is being applied.
Our system measures forces passing through the cleat to the pedal. A wedge should make no difference. Asymetric forces will make no difference either, because our system measures right across the width of the cleat. In fact, it measures separately at a number of points, so it will be able to provide information about asymetry in the application of force to the pedal (and about how it varies around the crank rotation).
I’m new to your system but am very anxious to see this. Great idea! I hope this is affordable.
So what’s the status in this powermeter?
When will they hit the market?
It has been a very long time since the blog was updated.
You’re right Peter, it’s been too long since we let people know how we’re doing. We’ve been completely occupied with working on it, and writing up the blog was always tomorrow’s job. So I’ll try to fix that now, and write an update. Stay tuned.