Pioneer get into the power meter game

Strain gauges aren't very expensive nor are the electronics, and they are (by themselves) insanely accurate. It's all the labour involved - including calibration. Since I've been building prototype powermeters and asked about pricing a lot, I finally broke it down. Based on my calculations the low end of this type of system is 700 dollars. The more people involved the more it goes up. You have to put financial muscle behind driving down the cost much lower than currently. So a consumer low end price for a full crank system is close to 800.

http://keithhack.blogspot.ca/2013/06/good-cheap-fastpick-two.html

Power meter systems are expensive because of the strain gauges themselves - we're talking mega complicated and fine tolerance instrumentation here, which has to be miniaturised yet sturdy enough to stand up to everyday use. Just think about what they do, it's a device which determines the force you put into the crank by measuring its distortion. That distortion would be imperceptible to you or I if we were able to try and feel it with our fingers!

They just aren't easy enough or cheap enough for the manufacturers to produce for them to offer lower prices and it be worth their while... yet.

Can only think that the fundamental problems must be difficult to solve, otherwise a. the Garmin Vector would be out by now, and b. some little startups would be touting a £400 device by now.

But still in and around the £1k mark

Yes BRIMBROTHERS shoe based system sounds interesting..

Yep still WAY too expensive for the likes of me..Im sure there's an Irish startup working on a shoe based system...

Extortionately expensive. but another player in this market can only be a good thing; competition will, with time, drive down prices.
This is a new market for Pioneer and, with a bit of luck, if they price in line with the established players they're going to struggle to gain traction.
If they're serious about diversifying into the cycling market, I suspect they will employ penetration pricing. That $2,000 might be the RRP, but I suspect (hope!) that there will be some fairly significant discounting to get their product accepted.
Let's face it, if the cost is the similar, would you really choose Pioneer over SRM / Quarq?
Shame the $ is not still trading at 2:1 against £ though

Not transferable? It's as transferable as any crank based system...

Far too expensive and not portable. I've got several bikes and need to have something I can transfer between bikes.

How about a solution built into my shoes?

Pioneer have completely missed the market here. There are already plenty of £1000+ power meters with all the recording and reporting tools well developed by other folk.

What they should be doing is bringing their electronic expertise to market in a stack-em-high, flog-em-low model.

Most serious cyclists/triathletes/others have bought or have access to power measuring. The real money is made selling to people who will stretch to £300ish but not beyond.

If they team up with Shimano they might make that market although they could have already tried approaching the big S but couldn't reach agreement

Hi Colin, I know what you mean about Strava. Have you checked out Trainerroad for turbo work? That sounds like it might get closer to the mark. You buy a £40 ANT+ sensor for the back wheel and pair it with your smartphone or whatever. Trainerroad have calibration for loads of Turbo Trainer models (mine is listed on their site), so it then works out your power based on your wheel motion + knowledge of your turbo model. I've not actually gone for it myself yet, but suspect I will do so for the winter.

Re Strava, I also note that the latest update removed the best effort wattage figures over 5 and 10 minutes in the free version. No doubt they are still there in the paid version, but I've not bothered upgrading.

It'd be nice to see how the product works. Those graphics don't really show you what it can do.

I like the idea, but at $2,000 it's still out of my league. I guess I keep having to trust the computer on my turbo trainer.....btw does anyone know how Strava's estimate of power works? It always seems to be a bit 'low' in my opinion. But I only have stationary bikes and turbo trainers to compare it against.

Interesting that a mass-market consumer electronics maker is getting into cycling, and in such a niche area. They could have started with normal bike computers, but that's a much more crowded market. They obviously think there's room in the market here.

cue, the 'how much' comments