Too good to be true? IQ2 Power meter on Kickstarter - going to sell for as little as £130

cooldad

Still happily taking 'pre orders' on their website.

Looks like bollocks to me. Cash taken when you order, and they might refund you in a year, if they are still in business...

"2. PAYMENT
You will be charged the full Price of the Products at the time of placing the Pre-Order. If iQsquare is unable to commence shipping the Products on or before the one-year anniversary of your placing the Pre-Order, iQsquare shall process a full refund to you. Your placing of a preorder constitutes your express agreement to iQsquare of charging the full Price of the Products at such time."

backo

Thanks for coming back to me...will keep waiting I suppose.

daniel_b

9th Jan

Hi everyone,

First of all, we’d like to wish everyone an awesome and athletic 2019. Secondly, we apologize for the late update. We’re all well, so no worries… but we took some time off to spend with family and recharge.

Ok, here’s the latest delivery news --> we’re shipping the first batch in February.

As you know from a previous update, there was a delay because of the alternative component placement on the Printed Circuit Board (PCB). Somehow, the company producing the PCBs (after successful adaptations) didn’t deliver to our assembly partner in The Netherlands on time. iQsquare therefore missed the December production slot at our partner’s assembly factory. Not cool and very frustrating for all parties involved.

We were told over Christmas by our assembly partner to wait until their new production schedule comes out, which took place yesterday in the afternoon. They told us that our components are being soldered this week (today in fact), but that the testing and visual checks are scheduled for the end of January, after which we will start assembly and shipping. We are at the mercy of their time slots, which are usually filled up 6 to 8 weeks in advance. Regrettably, we cannot force ourselves into our partner’s schedule; their timelines are rigid.

We’d like to have brought you better news and are equally bummed out by this development as you are. It’s now a waiting game in which we realize that patience is as much part of an ambitious startup as is production; we hope you agree with this line of thought.

If you want to know more details or have any questions about your order, feel free to reach out through Customer Support!

Kind regards,

Team iQsquare

17th Jan

Hi all,

Just a quick update to let you all know we've been accepted to publish our app in the Apple store. As some backers rightfully noted, these things take a while. We also just received confirmation that our Android version should be accepted next week. We'll let you know when we go live!
We can now choose when we'll publish it in the app store, great!

Have a good day, we're still on track for first delivery in February.

Kind regards,

Team iQsquare

barry_badrinath

Looks like it is still a goer then. Really just need to see what DCR and Lama say.

super_davo

All great but when you can get a 4iiii for £200 less whatever voucher code you can get from PBK and delivered immediately...

barry_badrinath

Have they started shipping yet?

barongreenback

Well they claim their February deliveries are on track but they can’t give a date. But if they’re on track, then surely they are working to a date? I desperately want them to succeed but there have been so many delays that they are starting to look amateurish. Better to under promise and over deliver (something that Shimano would do well to remember). No demo units to the likes of DC Rainmaker is suspicious as well. Makes me wonder whether they have accuracy issues that have not yet been fully resolved.

daniel_b

Feb 11th

Hi all,


Wow, it’s been two weeks since our last update already. Time flies. As explained previously, we’re announcing less because it’s all hands on deck for production. And… with good results! We’re still on schedule for February shipping and can’t wait to hear from you – and independent reviewers like DC Rainmaker, GP Lama and GCN – while riding with the iQsquare power meter.


There isn’t too much exciting news to share right now; we’re mostly handling details between all manufacturers and tying up some usual loose ends here and there. Concerning some repeat questions we received: the app is not live yet, but will be as soon as we ship the first batch to our Earlybirds and Early’ish birds. We’ll notify you on all our channels of course.


For now, we’d like to tell you that we verified the IP67 specs for dust and water The first number represents dust, with no. 6 symbolizing ‘dust tightness’, meaning NO dust can and will enter the power meter at any point. The second number stands for waterproofness, with no. 7 indicating ‘immersion up to 1m depth’. Basically, this means that you can leave your power meter in a puddle of water unattended for 30 minutes and it won’t break. Though we don’t suggest you do that But it could definitely come in handy for those of us who like to rough it out on a bike. The battery compartment is also waterproof, even though that part isn’t low-pressure molded, but sealed off completely with a rubber seal.


We’re getting closer and closer now and thank you so much for your patience. You’ve been with us since the beginning and we know the project sometimes asks quite a bit of everyone, including ourselves. We’re very grateful to have your support.


As always, keep you posted!


Kind regards,

barongreenback

I’m baffled why they are still promising February as they cannot ship that many on schedule. Better to say end of March and then surprise a few happy early adopters. And still, they’re not publishing data.

ridgeway_swiss

Odd think i noticed as well is that the pre-orders are now the same price as the Kickstarter bids which are higher risk (pre-orders return the money if not shipped within 1yr).

Hence i'm glad a waited for the pre-order pricing.

daniel_b

Just confirmed my delivery address, for umm delivery.

barry_badrinath

Hmmm so they might make February yet!? No word from Lama or DCR though eh.

daniel_b

Hi everyone!

In our last update two weeks ago, we showed you the first finished power meters and were looking forward to do some in-depth testing before shipping it over our first crowdfunding backers and professionals like DC Rainmaker, GCN and GP Lama.

In the meantime, we have indeed been extensively testing these first units. In this phase, we encountered some hiccups that we are now trying to solve. It seems that one of the power meter components influences the power readings in a way that is challenging to fix with software.

As a startup, the quality of the product that we want to deliver is our number one priority. Therefore, we’ll be testing and trying out different solutions all throughout the weekend and will get back to you with another update in the course of next week. There are always a number of solutions to a problem, but they all come with different timelines. Obviously, we’re looking for a way to adapt the current units within a manageable time frame.

Feel free to keep reaching out through customer support and thanks for staying in touch.

Kind regards and have a good weekend,

Team iQsquare

barry_badrinath

My bet is another couple of months then, seems like a pretty serious issue.

darkhairedlord

they'll be spending the last of the cash pile with a "consultant" then...

cattytown

Matt_N wrote:

Cheers Dan, that's really good to see.

Hmm I'm really tempted now, just bought a TT bike and really want power on it. Not sure about the Q factor change though. There was talk of custom pedal axles to bring it back to normal. I use Speedplay too which has shorter axle options but not enough to close 16mm extra each side.

Have you seen Speedplay spindles at a sensible price? Last time I looked when I could find them they were a similar price to pedals. I think Sigma list the custom width pedals at £300 for stainless or £130 for standard stainless. You may find non oem spindles at more sensible prices.

That's going to push the total cost towards the cost of a dzero - I picked on up for a smidge over £600 recently.

Paul.

twotoebenny

cattytown wrote:

Matt_N wrote:

Cheers Dan, that's really good to see.

Hmm I'm really tempted now, just bought a TT bike and really want power on it. Not sure about the Q factor change though. There was talk of custom pedal axles to bring it back to normal. I use Speedplay too which has shorter axle options but not enough to close 16mm extra each side.

Have you seen Speedplay spindles at a sensible price? Last time I looked when I could find them they were a similar price to pedals. I think Sigma list the custom width pedals at £300 for stainless or £130 for standard stainless. You may find non oem spindles at more sensible prices.

That's going to push the total cost towards the cost of a dzero - I picked on up for a smidge over £600 recently.

Paul.

You can get titanium ones on fleabay for less than £30

matt_n-2

cattytown wrote:

Matt_N wrote:

Cheers Dan, that's really good to see.

Hmm I'm really tempted now, just bought a TT bike and really want power on it. Not sure about the Q factor change though. There was talk of custom pedal axles to bring it back to normal. I use Speedplay too which has shorter axle options but not enough to close 16mm extra each side.

Have you seen Speedplay spindles at a sensible price? Last time I looked when I could find them they were a similar price to pedals. I think Sigma list the custom width pedals at £300 for stainless or £130 for standard stainless. You may find non oem spindles at more sensible prices.

That's going to push the total cost towards the cost of a dzero - I picked on up for a smidge over £600 recently.

Paul.

I’m not fussed now anyway, picked up a 4iiii in the recent deals and re-laced my Powertap hub.

itboffin

I hope they succeed, like all technology price trail blazers it levels the market and that can only be good for us the consumer.

barongreenback

itboffin wrote:

I hope they succeed, like all technology price trail blazers it levels the market and that can only be good for us the consumer.

Interesting point of view but I’m struggling to think of an example of a tech AND price trailblazer establishing as an independent. Some great tech examples but new tech doesn’t come cheap. It’s mass market adoption that usually drives down price (or if you’re canny enough, drives up margins).

daniel_b

Twould appear there is some kind of update due today.

chris_bass

https://www.iqsquare.com/products/road-bike

interesting update!

ridgeway_swiss

Yes got a very comprehensive email today about this, it's good news. Assuming it all works out those that pre-ordered or committed via Kickstarter will get a pedal based solution for no extra cost.

And August isn't too far away.

daniel_b

Lots of backers seem unhappy on the facebook page.

Not sure where I stand on it right now, as I have two pedal power meters already, though fortuitously I am an existing Look pedal user.

PhilipPirrip

Interesting response from DCRainmaker, in particular the comment about don't hold them to delivering in August as all the evidence suggests the likelihood of further missed deadlines.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2019/05/iq2 ... edals.html

chris_bass

I think the major problem they will face is that if people bough this to fit with their current pedals and if they aren't look keo style cleats then this update will make them no good for them.

I think their intentions are genuine but all the delays and changes don't really fill me with confidence

timothyw

They've actually gained a lot of respect from me with this decision - I think the moaners need to get a bit of perspective on whether they'd rather have an axle power meter that doesn't work, or a pedal one that does...

I use MTB SPD cleats, if this works and the price is right they might have gained a customer.

chris_bass

TimothyW wrote:

They've actually gained a lot of respect from me with this decision - I think the moaners need to get a bit of perspective on whether they'd rather have an axle power meter that doesn't work, or a pedal one that does...

I use MTB SPD cleats, if this works and the price is right they might have gained a customer.

Sure that works for you but if you bought this because you wanted to use it with spd-sl pedals or you have bikes with different pedal systems, a road bike and a mtb for example, I don't think it is moaning to get a completely different product from the one you ordered.

PhilipPirrip

Chris Bass wrote:

TimothyW wrote:

They've actually gained a lot of respect from me with this decision - I think the moaners need to get a bit of perspective on whether they'd rather have an axle power meter that doesn't work, or a pedal one that does...

I use MTB SPD cleats, if this works and the price is right they might have gained a customer.

Sure that works for you but if you bought this because you wanted to use it with spd-sl pedals or you have bikes with different pedal systems, a road bike and a mtb for example, I don't think it is moaning to get a completely different product from the one you ordered.

Except people weren't ordering a finished product, they were supporting the development of a new product.

I've supported a few cycling related Kickstarter/Indiegogo projects and rarely do they deliver on their original design within original timelines, but you accept that that is the nature of supporting such new projects for what might be a big saving on a final product.

mamil314

Ah shucks so in the end they had to change from pod to pedal. It's a shame, really wanted them to succeed