Power meter survey

gery03
gery03 Posts: 8
edited November 2012 in Training, fitness and health
(This topic is not only for road bikes, so i place this question to the MTB forums too, please do not consider it as spam. Thanks.)
Please fill out my anonym, 2-min long survey, which is about power meters for bike.
I'd like to use it for possibly make a change in availability of these products for a normal person.

I would be really grateful if more and more of You could help me with answering my questions. Help me so I can help You, with a new product. :)

Here is the survey: http://kwiksurveys.com/s.asp?sid=fl1sdnebbby3q6l53686

Greetings from Hungary!

Comments

  • danowat
    danowat Posts: 2,877
    So me having a power meter makes me abnormal :-S
  • GiantMike
    GiantMike Posts: 3,139
    I'd like an accurate, cheap, reliable powermeter that I can use to race and train, costing no more than £200, ANT+ compliant as well please. Oh, and light too.

    What are you currently working on then?
  • gery03
    gery03 Posts: 8
    danowat wrote:
    So me having a power meter makes me abnormal :-S
    You know how I meant it.
    I want to lower the price of power meters to a level, what more people can afford. Not everybody of course, but more.
  • gery03
    gery03 Posts: 8
    GiantMike wrote:
    I'd like an accurate, cheap, reliable powermeter that I can use to race and train, costing no more than £200, ANT+ compliant as well please. Oh, and light too.

    What are you currently working on then?

    Thanks for Your response. The parameters You gave are pretty close to my concept about power meters. To do this in real life isn't that easy, but I will try if everything goes well.
    I only have plans now (both mechanical and electrical). If I'm going to do a development, I want to do it right. So first I have to get information about what people need. After that I will check whether it can be achieved or not with an investment that I can have.
    I really hope that the responses will show that I worth start the real development.
  • danowat
    danowat Posts: 2,877
    gery03 wrote:
    danowat wrote:
    So me having a power meter makes me abnormal :-S
    You know how I meant it.
    I want to lower the price of power meters to a level, what more people can afford. Not everybody of course, but more.

    There are reasons other than corporate greed why power meters are expensive, the tech has a lot of development costs (and issues, just look at the pedal based systems, which are still in development hell), getting strain gauges into a package that is small, light, accurate and able to cope with the harsh environments we expect, isn't easy.

    Price shouldn't (IMO) be a primary consideration, accuracy and longevity should be.

    I would love to see a power meter for £200, but lets be realistic here.....
  • gery03
    gery03 Posts: 8
    danowat wrote:
    gery03 wrote:
    danowat wrote:
    So me having a power meter makes me abnormal :-S
    You know how I meant it.
    I want to lower the price of power meters to a level, what more people can afford. Not everybody of course, but more.

    There are reasons other than corporate greed why power meters are expensive, the tech has a lot of development costs (and issues, just look at the pedal based systems, which are still in development hell), getting strain gauges into a package that is small, light, accurate and able to cope with the harsh environments we expect, isn't easy.

    Price shouldn't (IMO) be a primary consideration, accuracy and longevity should be.

    I would love to see a power meter for £200, but lets be realistic here.....

    I exactly know how complicated it is to create such a thing. But my opinion is that it's possible for about £300 (that's my personal price target) with some limitations. We only have to figure out, which limitations should be made in order to keep the product meeting the buyers expectations.
  • danowat
    danowat Posts: 2,877
    Accuracy, longevity and durability, and work back from there.
  • gery03
    gery03 Posts: 8
    Ok! I will keep them in mind!
  • Herbsman
    Herbsman Posts: 2,029
    Why not just design a heart rate monitor that extrapolates power from heart rate?





















    :wink:
    CAPTAIN BUCKFAST'S CYCLING TIPS - GUARANTEED TO WORK! 1 OUT OF 10 RACING CYCLISTS AGREE!
  • danowat
    danowat Posts: 2,877
    Herbsman wrote:
    Why not just design a heart rate monitor that extrapolates power from heart rate?

    Just think of the amount of people you could hoodwink with such an idea :wink:
  • Alex_Simmons/RST
    Alex_Simmons/RST Posts: 4,161
    factor in distribution, warranty, service backup and support, marketing, legal, taxes, costs to transition from a working prototype to items manufactured and still reliable. and make some money :)

    but go for it!

    Pithy Power Proverb: "The most important consideration when choosing a power meter is the quality of data. Everything else is a feature."
    RST Sport : Coaching - Training Plans - Powermeters -- My blog -- AeroCoach Australia
  • amaferanga
    amaferanga Posts: 6,789
    I'd love to be proven wrong, but I don't think it'd be possible to produce a reliable and functional power meter for £200 or even £300. It doesn't need to be that cheap anyway - if you could sell one for ~£500 that's lightweight, reliable, robust AND produces good data you'd be onto a winner.
    More problems but still living....
  • slunker
    slunker Posts: 346
    Reliablility, accuracy, cost........if it can be done for under £500 I reckon you would have a winning solution there.
  • GiantMike
    GiantMike Posts: 3,139
    IF you could make one that was reliable etc etc and sell it for £300, why on earth would you? With no competition anywhere near that, you could still sell it at £350, or £400 or even £450.

    So, is it hub-based or crank-based? Or pedal-based?

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