The last few years have seen huge steps forward in power-meter technology and a massive increase in the choice of power meters available to the non-professional cyclist. This has also helped to bring the cost down from their previous stratospheric levels.
Seemingly every month another new, supposedly innovative design appears — crank-based, wheel-based, shoe-based, one-side only, both sides — from well-known brands and Kickstarter-funded projects alike. The INpower is from the long-established Spanish company Rotor, which is best known for its non-round Q-Ring chainrings.
The INpower is a fresh design approach for a power meter. While other crank-based power-measuring systems position the strain gauges in the crank arms or the spider, Rotor’s INpower houses all the electronics in the crank axle.
ADVERTISEMENT
Like a Stages power meter, the INpower only measures on the left side, then doubles that number for total wattage. However, housing the guts in the axle brings benefits: the weight is centred; the unit is protected from water, dirt and impact; there is room for a larger battery; and it allows a modular design that can be used with all of Rotor’s existing cranks, including the aerodynamic Flow model. It weighs 574g without chainrings.
Sensibly, and following criticism of the previous left-sided model, the Power LT, Rotor offers the INpower as both a crankset and the left side on its own, so you can upgrade your existing Rotor crankset to INpower. There are other gains to usability too. The inexpensive and widely available AA battery lasts a claimed 300 hours (compared with the Power LT’s much stingier 100 hours), you can swap it yourself in seconds without tools, and the cranks are now easier to remove thanks to a captive bolt. You can pair your INpower with any ANT+ compatible device.
Rotor will also soon have a dual-sided 2INpower meter for sale.
You can read more at BikeRadar.com
via BikeRadar All the latest from BikeRadar.com http://ift.tt/1TIzg25
No comments:
Post a Comment