Get the Vector, Victor - another bike power meter, this time in the pedal spindle

Power meters for bikes? OK, I"m an ibike fan, and I paid for it, too. It's
light and easily bike-swappable. I have a Mark 1 and I can swap it from my
trainer (a Felt on an Elite mag unit) to my ye old Colnago steel track bike
in 2 twists of the locking system (once to get it off, and again to get it
onto the other bike). True, I have to swap to a different saved profile (I
have 3 - one for the track bike and 2 road profiles) but that's it, job
done. All for around $US600; and it installs just like an old-style bike
computer - in just a few steps. Importantly, the results are both
consistent and accurate relative to itself, so I have no problem comparing
rides, setups and positions with confidence. It also offers reasonable
absolute accuracy, if you take the time to set it up and remember a few
quirks about how it measures power (which it does by back-calculating from
speed, acceleration, slope and wind). For example, pulling hard on the
handlebars may lift the front of the bike and distort both the measured
slope and the calculated power. So you remember to be smooth.

Of course you can spend a lot more and get a force-measuring device that,
if calibrated, offers greater absolute accuracy. At a much, much higher
price. These come with strain gauges in wheel hubs or BB axles, or in the
crank arms themselves (like an SRM). Or you can spend your money on systems
that offer about the same level of features as an ibike, almost, but do it
in funky ways, like Polar's slightly tricky chain-tension system. And now
here's a new idea that makes a lot of sense - a power meter in a pedal
spindle:
http://www.cyclingnews.com/features/on-show-interbike-2009-part-15. The
MetriGear Vector.

This one makes a lot of sense - it's relatively simple to swap onto another
bike, as everyone uses pedals, it's cheap (but still not as cheap as the
ibike) and it measures force and its vector, so you can analyse pedalling
action in new ways. That may be the clincher. You may well be generating a
lot of power, but how can you be sure that it's all going in the right
direction? Some of it may be wasted in bad pedalling habits, and that may
be revealed with these Vector pedals. I guess we need to see them in action
and take a look at the software...

Another report here:
http://nyvelocity.com/content/gallery/equipment/2009/metrigear-vector

And the MetriGear website: http://www.metrigear.com/products/

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