I have been interested to incorporate power into my cycling training for some time. I have found the expense to be prohibitive, and the complexity to be aversive. I have looked into Powertap, SRM, Polar WIND and IBike, but none have appeared to be an obvious choice for the recreational racer. IBike is priced well relative to the others, but complex to set up, and its accuracy is questionable. Polar WIND is heavy and much the same as the IBike. SRM is the obvious choice for performance, but the cost is prohibitive and it's complex to transfer from 1 bike to another, making it a luxury few can afford. Powertap appeared to be the best choice, but I hesitate to get another set of wheels as I already have a few race sets and a pair of clinchers for training. So what to do? Enter MetriGear. A new player due out in the spring of 2010. It incorporates 32 piezoresistive strain gauges within the spindle of a Speedplay pedal. The price goal is to be under $1000 and it's ANT+ . Still in development, the R&D process is being well documented on their site. If this sounds as interesting to you as it does to me, tie into their Twitter feed to keep up on their progress. The posts are a little complicated, but they try to bring the Engineer speak down to a layman level without diluting the authenticity of their efforts. http://www.metrigear.com/
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