New Power Look Pedals and Polar

Cannonit

Has anyone seen this announcement yet

http://www.polar.fi/en/about_polar/news ... wer_pedals

It appears to be the Metrigear pedal working on the Polar system.

I wonder how much it will cost when it becomes available next spring.

Will Brim get their product out soon?

Are Metrigear still working on an ANT+ based pedal?

amaferanga

I think I'll wait for one that's ANT+ that'll work with a Garmin. Big mistake by Metrigear to team up with Polar IMO.

Cannonit

At least its a new means of measuring power that may as a product prove to be cheaper than the competition. We may as a result get to see more pedal based power products that are ANT+ compliant.

There are a number of new products appearing or about to appear in the USA to record data from ANT+ sensors using an iPhone, some with mounts and some with water proof cases as well, extra batteries may be useful though! Competition for Garmin as the computer is arriving.

jibberjim

Cannonit wrote:

At least its a new means of measuring power that may as a product prove to be cheaper than the competition

http://www.triathlon.de/eurobike-2010-l ... 22500.html suggests it's more expensive than the competition.

Cannonit

What a shame. I was under the illusion that a new product would enter the market at a lower price to gain market share - bad assumption on my part.

eh

All looks a bit Heath Robinson for me, and Look pedals aren't know for lasting well. So for that price I'd just get a SRM or Power Tap. Know if they were dirt cheap then it might be a bit different.

Not sure who wrote the website but surely this is either taking the p*ss or its lost in translation:

Kéo Power is a must-have novelty

Anonymous

Ow much?!! :shock:

I thought they would be releasing it at about 7-800 Euros to undercut competition, not price themselves out of it!!

BrenD

Think I'll stick with my Polar surfboards for measuring power for now, which I picked up for less than £100 on ebay. And I like my Speedplays too much.

tomb8555

Oops. It's a shame they've gone with Polar (or at least it's a shame that Polar have stuck with WIND rather than ANT+). I also thought one of Metrigear's main aims was to bring an 'affordable' powermeter to the market, with talk of a sub-$1000 price point (excl. pedals).

I was pretty much guarunteed to buy the ANT+ metrigear as see a huge benefit to being able to use various wheels (so not powertap) and without having to buy a Cinqo + matching brand chainset for other bike so I don't have to swap chainset + bottom bracket each time. Not that I would have to do this that often I guess, just from winter Turbo season to outdoors training season..

Anonymous

Me too, an Ant+ metrigear for 700 quid ould have been a perfect powermeter for me.

twotyred

Very disappointing. This is a solution to power measurement I think the market is crying out for. Can be used on any bike- no need for special cranks or wheels. If they had priced it to undercut the existing players and given it ANT+ it would have flown out the door. Surely one of the useful aspects of power measurement is to be able to combine power data with positional data from a GPS so you can see how hard you were working up a particular hill or at a particular point in a race. Unless Polar have GPS enabled computers that's not going to happen without ANT+. As it is Polar must be hoping existing Polar users have more money than sense. Lets hope the Brim Brothers do better.

amaferanga

I'm another potential customer who would almost certainly have bought one if it was ~£700 and ANT+. At almost double that price and for Polar only forget it.

GavH

Doyler hypothesised a couple of weeks ago that this would happen. VERY dissapointed if this is the only fruit of Metrigears efforts (if indeed it is their effort!) as I for one was hoping for ANT+ pedals for use with the 705. :evil: Worth noting though that Metrigears Twitter feed was last updated barely a fortnight ago and still mentioned their product by the name Vector, not Keo Power, which frankly, sounds like the catchphrase of a kids super hero.

amaferanga

Someone has posted on the Google Wattage forum that this is not actually the Metrigear system.

Anonymous

amaferanga wrote:

Someone has posted on the Google Wattage forum that this is not actually the Metrigear system.

Anyone with any credence?

I hope that's right!

tomb8555

Would seem kind of crazy that two very similar looking/working pedal spindle based systems could be penciled in for release at very similar times.. Surely metrigear must have some patents that would make it very difficult for someone else to do virtually the exact same thing?

If metrigear do bring out their reasonably priced ANT+ spindle power meter that works with a range of pedal options, then literally zero people are going to buy the 'Keo Power'.

GavH

tomb8555 wrote:

Would seem kind of crazy that two very similar looking/working pedal spindle based systems could be penciled in for release at very similar times.. Surely metrigear must have some patents that would make it very difficult for someone else to do virtually the exact same thing?

If metrigear do bring out their reasonably priced ANT+ spindle power meter that works with a range of pedal options, then literally zero people are going to buy the 'Keo Power'.

Which if you think about, makes perfect sense as to why Look and Polar are getting their product out first.

LangerDan

I'd give it a couple of weeks before the hexagonal push-fit battery pack is falling out of the end of the pedal axle or getting caught between the crank arm and chainstays on low q-factor chainsets. Not to mention that a couple of o-rings doesn't seem to be the best waterproofing for a component that will be routinely less than 150mm from the road.

amaferanga

NapoleonD wrote:

amaferanga wrote:

Someone has posted on the Google Wattage forum that this is not actually the Metrigear system.

Anyone with any credence?

I hope that's right!

Alan Cote (Googling has led me to believe he was behind the Polar chain-based power meter thingy):

The Cote Bros (and other partner) have no involvement in the Polar-
Look project.
While I have no inside information from Polar on this, I don't think
the Look pedals are Metrigear deal / use their technology (for reasons
I can't detail).
Alan Cote

G-Wiz

http://www.bicycling.com/bikes-gear/201 ... wer-pedals

Doesn't look like the same system as Metrigear at all

At that price and needing to put in £250 for a polar computer instead of an existing Ant+ head unit I'd rather buy a Powertap.

Fingers crossed Metrigear come up with the goods soon, I really want to get some sort of powermeter in place for this winter's training.

tomb8555

Yay, Garmin have bought Metrigear.. I imagine we'll still be waiting a while for it though.


http://garmin.blogs.com/my_weblog/2010/ ... folio.html

http://velonews.competitor.com/2010/09/ ... ice_142041

G-Wiz

Given Garmin's habit of launching products needing a mass of firmware updates, if you're prepared to take a bit of a risk I wouldn't be surprised if it was here in the spring.

This has probably been on the cards for a while. Announcing it the day Interbike opens in Vegas is no coincidence, and my Google alerts went mental yesterday. A very impressive PR machine is going on here.

Don't forget this is a working product that's been seen in real life tests, it's the scale of manufacturing and keeping the reliability with that scale that's been holding things up. Garmin are in a far better position to deal with that than a small start-up.

Love or hate Garmin, this is probably the best outcome in terms of getting something on the market quickly. I've already decided to hold out for it rather than cough up for a Powertap, or think about Polar just yet. Might have to look at a rental for part of the winter though.....

roadracedave

The Polar one has nothing to do with Metrigear, and I expect the only reason the Polar system doesn't have ANT+ is probably due to the fact that it would have had to use technologies which are patented by Metrigear. It's the same as Ergomo using a similar system to SRM.

I have been looking forward to the release of the Metrigear system since it was launched at Eurobike last year, and as long as it is not more than a Powertap hub then I will definitely be on the list to buy one.

There is also the fact that I don't use Look pedals, and I have got a Polar CS computer and it has had to go back for repair twice and is really unreliable when using speed, cadence and hrm.. so shan't be buying another Polar computer.

At least with Garmin on board, the Metrigear system is definitely going to make it to the market, and as G-Wiz said, it probably won't be long before it does, as long as you don't mind paying full price to be a beta-tester for the first couple of months!