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TECH NEWS

Power meter developer Brim Brothers ceases operations

Cleat-based Zone DPMX power meter will not be delivered, and no refunds will be provided

Brim Brothers, the Dublin company that had been developing a cleat-based Zone DPMX power meter over the past few years, has ceased operations.

“We have run out of time and money,” said Brim Brothers CEO Barry Redmond in a statement on the company’s website. 

“The difficulties we have had with production quantities, together with variable accuracy of the finished units when in use, mean that we are unable to deliver and we don’t have the resources to continue.”

The Brim Brothers system was a power meter fitted to your shoes. One of the chief advantages, said Brim Brothers, was that it would be easy to transfer between bikes: you’d simply move from one bike to another and take the power meter with you.

The system was designed to work with an adapted version of Speedplay cleats. Sensors inside the cleats measured the force between your shoe and the pedal, and your power was calculated from that. 

brim brothers 3.png

Brim Brothers had originally intended to get the product to market in 2012, but the delivery date was postponed on several occasions.

We ran a story in February of this year saying that Brim Brothers intended to deliver its power meter in May. The company smashed the funding target of its Kickstarter campaign at that time.

“Over the last couple of weeks it has become clear that putting an innovative product into manufacture has more challenges than we planned for, particularly achieving the consistent accuracy that a power meter requires,” said Barry Redmond. 

“Our first production batch demonstrated that more time and investment is needed to test and re-test new production processes. This is beyond our resources, and our efforts to find new finance have not been successful.”

brim brothers 1.png

And if you’ve already parted with cash?

“What this means for you as a customer is that we can’t deliver your power meter, and we can’t provide a refund,” said Barry Redmond. “For me personally this is what hurts most, and I wish there was something I could do to change it.

“We attempted to create the most innovative power meter in the world, the only wearable power meter, and in doing that we probably took on bigger technical challenges than any other power meter design team. Over the last eight years we solved so many of the challenges, and created new technologies, but we have fallen short at the last hurdle. We very nearly made it.

“To our customers, our employees, and the many people who have supported us in so many ways I say thank you, and I’m sorry we couldn’t deliver.”

For more details go to www.brimbrothers.com.

 

Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. We send him off around the world to get all the news from launches and shows too. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.

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19 comments

Avatar
macrophotofly | 7 years ago
0 likes

I feel Brim Brothers tricked a lot of people to part with their cash.

I have also followed from the early days and was very disappointed at the point they then suddenly decided to offer them on Kickstarter (dropping their "early interest list", which I had a low numbered place on, in one fell swoop). I didn't then put my money down but more because I was annoyed I had gone from the front of a queue to purchase,  to being a fair way down it (The early bird delivery slots having gone before I noticed the e-mail declaring the change of approach). I decided if they treated loyality like that, I would go elsewhere with my money.

A lot of people are indicating above the dangers of Kickstarter and that is good. But I feel the use of Kickstarter for Brim Brothers was a far more calculated money extraction then you usually see on Kickstarter. The way Barry led the Early Interest List people onto Kickstarter to part with their money would have led many of them to think this was just a change of vehicle to purchase the product. There was no suggestion of risks that the product would not be delivered, in the way you usually see them on Kickstarter.

My remaining hope is that someone else with a pedal based product will now pick up the Speedplay format, which until now they had avoided due to the threat of this product appearing

Avatar
brooksby replied to macrophotofly | 7 years ago
0 likes

macrophotofly wrote:

I feel Brim Brothers tricked a lot of people to part with their cash.

I think you need to be very careful saying things like that on a public forum on the internet...

Avatar
fenix | 7 years ago
0 likes

Aah that's a shame. I wonder if their learnings will be picked up by any of the bigger companies.

And yes kckkstarter is a bit of a gamble. If you don't understand that you shouldn't be backing things.

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Jackson | 7 years ago
2 likes

It's a shame, hopefully they can implement what they learned somewhere.

I have one Stages left crank, and my road/CX/TT bikes all have 172.5mm Hollowtech II crankset. I can get power on 3 bikes, 2 different pedal systems in less than 5 minutes changeover time.

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Pifko replied to Jackson | 7 years ago
0 likes

Jackson wrote:

It's a shame, hopefully they can implement what they learned somewhere. I have one Stages left crank, and my road/CX/TT bikes all have 172.5mm Hollowtech II crankset. I can get power on 3 bikes, 2 different pedal systems in less than 5 minutes changeover time.

Stages tho  7

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Ginsterdrz | 7 years ago
0 likes

I followed the project from the start BUT didn't invest. I have some tech savvy and BB's idea was flawed. Cleats are too variable and flexible to be an accurate measure of power. When 'putty' was thrown into the mix, the game was over. 

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racingcondor | 7 years ago
0 likes

After a bunch of delays ironing out the concept took it to Kickstarter thinking that they had a product and then hit a wall.

Shame really, I'd been following them from the start, they were clearly trying to do something different and it looked like they had made it.  I suspect thought that when everything was done they had a £1,000 product in a market that needed it to cost £650.

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j@n | 7 years ago
0 likes

A real shame, I would have been very interested in this depending on the pricing. It would been ideal, as I hate swapping my Vector pedals between bikes.  Sadly, out of the 5 different Kickstarter campaigns that I've backed, none have come to fruition, so I didn't really confortable backing this time.

I hope someone else picks up on this idea, and manages to develop something.

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DrJDog | 7 years ago
1 like

It amazes me that Limits delivered something and these guys didn't.

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kitkat | 7 years ago
0 likes

I have been following Brim Bros from the start and it was a promising solution. I think Barry & the team have invested massive amounts of their own time &  money into it, were really dedicated and genuine people. They also seemed to resist the crowd funding route for a long time but did 'give in' at the end to try and finish the product.

Another factor is probably due to the plummeting value of power meters. When they started in 2012 it was SRM or PowerTap hub with a premium attached. Now every man and their bicycle are at it and the cost is tumbling with new entrants all the time. Even if they did get to market they probably struggle to recoup all of the outgoings.

It's cold comfort to those who put down the kickstarter cash but this world isn't perfect. Things go wrong and I do think it's the right decision for Barry to be clear about the end of the project rather then enter in to a Limits-esque communication method with a questionable product delivered at the end.

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Jeffmcguinness | 7 years ago
9 likes

I have backed a few Kickstarter campaigns and so often you see people who treat Kickstarter like Amazon.  For me, it isn't a gamble, it's an investment.  Its an investment in a group of people who have a vision to bring a product to market.  I like the idea of supporting entrepreneurs in their business.  If there's a product for me at the end of the process, great, if not, then that's how it rolls, but I'm still happy that I invested in people to have a go at developing their ideas and their business.

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danthomascyclist | 7 years ago
4 likes

Quote:

go ahead and invest

Quote:

 I am sorry that the investors

Quote:

but it is hardly the first kickstarter project to fail with investors losing all their money.

I wouldn't use the word "invest". Any transaction where the best possible outcome is you get exactly what you paid for isn't really an investment. I'd call it a gamble. These people took a gamble and lost.

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Sniffer replied to danthomascyclist | 7 years ago
2 likes

danthomascyclist wrote:

Quote:

go ahead and invest

Quote:

 I am sorry that the investors

Quote:

but it is hardly the first kickstarter project to fail with investors losing all their money.

I wouldn't use the word "invest". Any transaction where the best possible outcome is you get exactly what you paid for isn't really an investment. I'd call it a gamble. These people took a gamble and lost.

It is fair challenge on the use of 'invest' and it might be at the heart of the Kickstarter issues when they fail.

The company takes the money on the basis that people have backed and believe in them and see them as investors.  Like all investors they will want a return, in this case a product at a discount to 'non-investors' when it comes to market.

Many of the people who 'invest' see themselves as constomers who have ordered a product early at a discounted rate.

Whether they are investors or gamblers, they are not customers in the same sense as buying a product in the normal sense.

Avatar
Rapha Nadal replied to danthomascyclist | 7 years ago
0 likes

danthomascyclist wrote:

Quote:

go ahead and invest

Quote:

 I am sorry that the investors

Quote:

but it is hardly the first kickstarter project to fail with investors losing all their money.

I wouldn't use the word "invest". Any transaction where the best possible outcome is you get exactly what you paid for isn't really an investment. I'd call it a gamble. These people took a gamble and lost.

Investing is a from of gambling though.  Why do you think that there's always the caveat of "you might not get back what you originally put in" on most investment based things?  Sadly, it's the nature of the beast and platforms such as Kickstarter are akin to venture capital funds.

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DaveE128 | 7 years ago
0 likes

That's a real shame, it was a great idea in concept. I suspect the idea will re-emerge in future when the tech is more developed. Serious bummer for those that lost out.  2

Avatar
paulrattew | 7 years ago
3 likes

Kickstarter is essentially a gamble. It's hugely unfortunate for all those involved with this particular project, but it is hardly the first kickstarter project to fail with investors losing all their money.

Avatar
Sniffer replied to paulrattew | 7 years ago
1 like

paulrattew wrote:

Kickstarter is essentially a gamble. It's hugely unfortunate for all those involved with this particular project, but it is hardly the first kickstarter project to fail with investors losing all their money.

A gamble it is.  I see too many comments when people treat it like a cheap way to order a product.  If you are happy to accept the risk then go ahead and invest, but always you have to decide whether it will succeed or not.

I don't write this with any pleasure and I am sorry that the investors will have to wear this one.

Avatar
tritecommentbot | 7 years ago
4 likes

Sad. Shame for everyone involved.

 

Must be tough Kickstarting a project like this - I'd always be thinking, "maybe Garmin has already R&D'd this and written it off as non-viable."

 

 

 

 

 

 

Avatar
brooksby | 7 years ago
4 likes

Quote:

“What this means for you as a customer is that we can’t deliver your power meter, and we can’t provide a refund,” said Barry Redmond. “For me personally this is what hurts most, and I wish there was something I could do to change it.

I bet it hurts the people who paid their money a whole lot more...

Seems like they should have done a great deal of extra testing before they went out and started taking orders and actual money.

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