https://www.pinkbike.com/news/srm-launches-1499-power-meter-flat-pedals.html
Wow that's not cheap.... not cheap at all.... but, well, they do now exist...
Flat pedal fanatics no longer have to miss out on measuring their wattage through their pedals as SRM has launched its new flat pedal power meters.
While pedal-based power meters have previously been reserved for riders wanting to be clipped in, the German cycling brand now offers the technology for those wanting to keep their feet less attached to the bike. SRM previously released an X-Power pedal that was SPD compatible and the new flats use the same spindle containing the power meter inside a flat pedal body. It's definitely an odd pairing but there must be some riders there who want the feeling of flats but still want to keep track of their power.
SRM claims the pedals are accurate to +/-2% accuracy and should be able to keep track of your watts for 30 hours on a single charge. With only the pedal spindle containing the electronics if the pedal platform is damaged, there is no need to swap out the whole pedal system. SRM has also made it so the X-Power flat pedals can be run as a pair or you can just have a single power meter on one side with a meterless pedal on the other foot.
As someone who dabbles with turbo training and have a power meter crank (loaned by a mate) I can see the benefit of seeing this value. However, I don't use it or work to it enough to justify the price. I'm also not quite convinced it would work well off-road. Flat pedal power meters I'm struggling to see any real benefit at all.
I'm really taken by the Garmin SPDs but it is a huge chunk of money and I definitely do use it enough to justify the purchase. Given the varying terrain off-road I'm also not quite convinced it would work for the amount of time I'd be using them.
I can see the benefit on a clipless pedal system but in my head (due to 30+ years of riding SPDs) I'm not sure a flat pedal would be able to be used for consistent power delivery throughout the whole pedal stroke - in my head they are more up-and-down movements so you'd get good power on the down stroke of each pedal but not much gain anywhere else. (that doesn't sound like it makes sense, but I know the power delivery on a flat pedal is from about the 1 o'clock position down to 6 o'clock and the rest is 'dead', on a clipless pedals it is something like 1 o'clock to 9 o'clock (or something) a the pedal is joined to shoe.
How accurate are they once they have been smashed into rocks repeatedly on the first ride?
I felt bad after scratching and bending my £130 Burgtecs!
Is there much of a crossover between the kind of rider who is sufficiently invested in their output to drop over a grand on power meter pedals and those who don't mind losing watts from running flats?
Is there much of a crossover between the kind of rider who is sufficiently invested in their output to drop over a grand on power meter pedals and those who don’t mind losing watts from running flats?
No. I think that's the whole issue here. Everyone understands the benefits of power meters but the people who use them aren't the ones dangling a foot off while doing skids in the bikepark.
I'm amazed they think there's a market for these, it will be interesting to see how they sell.
It does give an opportunity for ordinary riders to test out the theories that flat pedals are much less efficient, as mentioned above, in real world conditions. I suspect the difference is much less than some people assume - do you really generate power in the upstroke? Surely power from your left leg upstroke leads to reduced power from your right leg in the downstroke? Ultimately in a steady effort your FTP is the limiting factor?
Is there much of a crossover between the kind of rider who is sufficiently invested in their output to drop over a grand on power meter pedals and those who don’t mind losing watts from running flats?
No, but there’s plenty of rich noobs that want/think they need expensive stuff to measure their output, but are scared to use clips…
Mods, could you please shift this to the priced out of biking thread? 🤣
Yeah. Err, no.
The opportunity for trashing these seems high!
If I were stinking rich I'd get some just for curiosity. But I'm not, so I won't.
struggling to see why you would buy these over a crank based like a Quarq and then use whatever pedals you have, and save a grand in the process
struggling to see why you would buy these over a crank based like a Quarq and then use whatever pedals you have, and save a grand in the process
It’s easier to swap pedals between bikes than cranks. I guarantee that the people buying these have more than one bike.
I reckon I know the real target market:
Peleton ****ers, and fancy Spin classes.
The Gym bunnies and Fitness Shut-ins always like an extra metric sent to their apple watch, but they're not changing out of their Sketchers just for 30 mins on a stationary bike ~£1.5k probably seems like a bargain...
How would these pedals handle landing jumps or drops? would that see a big spike in power? then this spike several times on a ride would increase the average power of the ride?
How do current SPD power pedals handle this or crank arm power meters?
How do current SPD power pedals handle this or crank arm power meters?
I imagine the software filters out short sharp shocks.
Peleton ****, and fancy Spin classes.
I dunno. It seems to be a badge of honour to have a nice shiny part of spds to changes into ready for a spin class.
Are these just the same spindle as the spd power meter with a flat pedal body?
If so I can imagine some riders might want to swap bodies between flat and spd.
edit: yeah it does say that.
