by Morten Gade on behalf of PowerAxl
PowerAxl is the first universal power meter for bicycles. One power meter for all your bicycles: Road bike, MTB or TT bike.
PowerAxl is a bicycle power meter. It gives the rider the effect in watts that is being put into the pedals. The measurement is done on the left side by inserting a short axel between the pedal and pedal arm. For symmetry a dummy axel can be inserted in the right side.
Visit our web site for more information about PowerAxl: https://www.poweraxl.com/
Power is of interest to bicycle riders because it is a better metric than e.g. pulse rate which was previously used. Power does not lag like e.g. pulse rate does. When you push harder your watts will increase immediately unlike your pulse rate which will increase after some time. Also a rider’s power does not change as much as pulse rate with sickness, sleep, eating, recovery etc. Not having to compensate for these changes makes it an easier and more precise metric to use. Because of this power is a better metric that e.g. pulse rate.
With power the bicycle riders get the tool for training as efficient and precise as possible thereby improving their performance. Also using power during competition the rider can cycle at optimum performance thereby increasing the chances of winning.
The PowerAxl power meter is different from the power meters currently on the market because it is a universal power meter. It is universal because it is compatible with all frames, cranks, pedal arms, pedals and computers on the market. This means that you can use this power meter on all your bicycles. With the PowerAxl power meter you only need one power meter for all your bicycles: road bike, MTB, TT bike etc.
Because it is compatible with all bicycle components you get complete freedom in choosing the components on your bicycle. You do not have to make any compromises. Current power meters on the market will limit your choice in pedals, pedal arms or cracks and maybe even computers. PowerAxl is different because you only need one power meter and it gives you:
You use the PowerAxl power meter in the same manner as other power meters:
1. Mount it on your bicycle
2. Configure it using the buttons
3. Pair with your computer
4. Do a calibration from your computer
5. Start cycling
To mount the PowerAxl power meter on your bicycle simply remove the pedals from the pedal arms, mount the axels in the pedal arms, re-mount the pedals in the axels and mount the plastic housing on the pedal arm.
To configure the power meter insert the battery and push the buttons until you have the setting that matches you bicycle. The two settings needed are the length of the pedal arms and the width of the pedals.
How to pair and calibrate from your computer varies depending on the computer. Your computer user manual will describe how it is done on your computer. Make sure your computer has ANT+ and power support.
Now you are ready to start cycling and will get power values in watts on your computer.
Not to our knowledge. The only requirement is 9/16” threading on your pedal arms and to our knowledge this is standard on all pedal arms.
We need your help to bring this product to the market. The design of the product has been completed: axels, plastic housing, electronics etc. Prototypes have been made and the concept and design has been verified. We have been testing the product extensively for over half a year now. We are satisfied with the results and functionality of the product. Tests against other power meters on the market show identical measurements in power values.
We and this product are ready to go from working prototype to production and sale and we need your help to do it.
There is low risk in this project since many of the risks have been eliminated during the development and testing of prototypes. This work has also eliminated many of the challenges since they have already been overcome.
The challenges left are associated with production and regulatory approval. The individual components are made by subcontractors so the production challenge lies in efficiently assembling, testing and calibrating the units. This is primarily a matter of up-scaling the work done on the prototypes.
The measurements needed for regulatory approvals will be done by laboratories paid to do the measurements. We do not expect any problems getting these approvals since we are using standard solutions in the affected areas but you never know until the measurements have been made. If a problem is revealed in the measurements we feel comfortable that the design can be adjusted to fulfill the regulatory requirements.