Verve Launches Info Power Crank

According to the Australian based company, Verve, their newly released InfoCrank does.  

Claiming perfect, dual sided accuracy at a very reasonable price, the InfoCrank could very well leverage the competition. 

Designed from scratch, the new InfoCrank uses strain gauges, which have been carefully hidden in a load cell, in the direct path of torque –  so that they only measure tangential force –  and not  any "twisting" of the crank arms themselves.

According to Verve, this means unparalleled accuracy to the point where swapping bikes or riders has no effect on the quality of the data, as it remains consistent – even regardless of temperature. Verve also claims that the InfoCranks are accurate to within 0.5 percent of each other.

Verve began developmentof the Info Crank in collaboration with the Australian Institute of Sport. In the end, the company says its new power meter has a variance of less than 0.2Nm – calling it twice as accurate as an their esteemed competitor SRM.  

Former green jersey(s) winner and star sprinter, Robbie McEwan, has become a brand  ambassador for Verve saying:

“I’ve ridden on just about everything there is out there, and InfoCrank is the best power meter I’ve had the pleasure of using.

“It has all the info you could wish for – real-time bilateral power, pedal balance, torque efficiency, and all in a robust form packaged in the crankset. The validity of the data is of top importance when using a power meter to train on, and InfoCrank has the highest degree of accuracy you can get.”

Here’s Verve’s overview:

Design and technology united

Informative. Intelligent. Integrated. Our InfoCrank bike component is designed from the outset as an integrated cycling power meter and road bike crankset. Seamlessly set into the crank arms, InfoCrank’s bike power meter measures each leg’s power with unprecedented precision. No guesses, no math. Just an honest set of numbers that reflect unsurpassed accuracy. The load path, from bike pedal through crank and bike chainrings, is optimized to transmit both data and power.

The info

What power is going in? That’s what moves the bike forward. Heart rate, speed, cadence, time, distance-all outputs. To get results from your cycling training, you need to know input power. That’s the info you need, and that’s what InfoCrank cycling power meter measures like no other bike component. Improve your bike performance with accurate load path measurements in both left and right legs.

CADENCE

InfoCrank power meter road crankset uses a magnetic sensor to measure your cadence – that is, the rate of your cycling pedal stroke measured in revolutions per minute (rpm).

TORQUE
InfoCrank power meter road bike crankset measures the true force driving the bike forward. When you push on the bike pedals, it’s only the tangential forces that drive the bike forward.

InfoCrank isolates and measures the true tangential force you’re delivering. This turning force is known as torque, and is measured in Newton-meters (Nm).

POWER
Power is measured in Watts (W). It’s the product of cadence (rpm) and torque (Nm). Knowing your power input is the single most beneficial cycling training aid any serious cyclist can have to improve your bike performance.

InfoCrank cycling power meter gives you accurate, reliable power measurement in real time. Easy and intuitive to use, InfoCrank gets you quickly cycling ahead to higher levels of fitness with a minimum of technical fussing.

Designed for integration

ELEGANTLY FIT FOR PURPOSE

• InfoCrank power meter bike parts are engineered from the outset to house the high-precision KIP™
• cycling power measuring system. CNC-controlled pockets placed in the load path control local
• strains. Measuring devices transmit accurate, repeatable power figures. Though technically dense,
• InfoCrank cycling power meter road bike crank is elegant and pleasing to the eye.

FOCUSED ON RIDER NEEDS

• InfoCrank power meter is made to meet serious cycling riders’ needs. Nothing is compromised:
• everything is optimized to work perfectly, look elegant, and last at least as long as the bike itself.
• Built for the road, day in and out, in all weather conditions. InfoCrank cycling power meter is
• perfectly integrated into the bike so, when your bike is an extension of you, InfoCrank is a part of
• you too.

Robust design for the real world

InfoCrank bike crankset is built to withstand the worst weather imaginable. Anywhere you can rid your road bike, InfoCrank cycling power meter is there for you. It’s accurate in extreme heat and humidity, seldom needs new batteries, and is almost virtually unbreakable.

POWER METER BATTERY LIFE

• If you ride 3 hours a day, 4 days a week, you’ll only need to replace our power meter batteries once
• a year. They’re inexpensive and commonly available. 

SHOCK RESISTANT

• Even if you crash big-time, you won’t break our InfoCrank bike crank. Even if there is data loss,
• simply re-zero your InfoCrank power meter and all function is restored as good as new.

WATERPROOF

• Pressure hoses are a bad idea. We say that because you’ll damage your bike’s bearings and electrical
• bits. You won’t hurt your InfoCrank power meter road bike crankset though. It’s waterproof.

TEMPERATURE COMPENSATE

• All-weather rider? InfoCrank power meter compensates for temperature variations, so you can
• depend on reliable, accurate bike power measurement wherever you go.

Data you can trust

BILATERAL READINGS

• Many people produce the same power output from each leg. But no human body is entirely symmetrical, and this affects pedaling. InfoCrank cycling power meter measures accurately even small differences between the right and left leg that, over the course of a long ride, can entirely change the outcome. A host of remedial measures exist to correct asymmetrical cycling power output, but until you measure it, you can’t even start getting it right.

CONSISTENTLY ACCURATE

• Yes, InfoCrank cycling power meter is accurate. So you know, here is exactly how accurate it is.
• InfoCrank is a torque-sensing system with ±0.2 Nm accuracy for measurements below 20 Nm and ±1% of actual readings for measurements above 20 Nm.

Let’s put that into some context. Say riding conditions are 90 rpm with a 300 watt reading (not an unusual operating point for a rider). Say the crank length is 172.5 mm. The maths works out that there is an average torque of around 16 Nm per each crank to produce the 300 watts of power. As this is below the 20 Nm threshold, there is an error band of ±0.2 Nm, which translates to ±1.25%. of the actual displayed value. That means your actual power will be somewhere between 303.8 watts and 296.2 watts. Elite riders typically riding above 400 watts and 90 rpm for time trials would produce results with ±1% of the actual reading.

So accuracy, quoted as a relative value, has to have a reference for us to understand at what point it is actually that accurate. InfoCrank shows you that most of the time you ride the bike with loads that can be measured accurately at ±1%, while other times, because the load is less, it may be rather less accurate, ±1.5–1.75%.

DRIFT

When we talk about accuracy, we also have to talk about “driftâ€. For training and testing purposes, it is key requirement that the power you have showing today in watts is the same as the power that you have tomorrow, assuming the displayed watts are the same.

InfoCrank has been designed to eliminate any drift that may occur during a ride or from ride to ride. Actually having accurate data at the beginning and the end of the ride, and having comparable figures today and tomorrow is a challenge for most power meters and was key in our design specifications.

ACCURATE ON ANY BIKE?

There is no difference between the watts measured on one set of InfoCranks and another*. If you switch the InfoCrank between bikes, or you have one on each bike, the watts measured on both are the same watts. Accurate for the whole ride, every day.

*Lab tests during production have shown that each crank is within 0.5% on average.

Works on modern road bikes and ANT+ bike computers

COMPACT BIKE CRANKSET
 

Our first cycling power meter crankset design is in the ever-popular 110 mm bolt-circle diameter (BCD) format, with standard compact double chainrings of 50 and 34 teeth. We’re using a 30 mm spindle, with top-grade, forged Praxis bike chainrings.

ANT+ COMPATIBLE
 

InfoCrank power meter uses the ANT+ wireless communication protocol to talk to any compatible bike computer. This ensures that your bike computer has options for power readings, especially left and right power balance.

INFOCRANK BIKE COMPUTER

While you can use your own bike computer, InfoCrank power meter bike crank offers GPS-enabled bike computers for a modest additional cost. You get optimum compatibility and usability when you use our own computer unit to display and manipulate data from your InfoCrank power meter.

Simple setup

Setting up InfoCrank bike crankset is straightforward. It’s a bike part that is a quick setup for pro shop techs and easy for capable amateur builders.

FACTORY CALIBRATED

Unless you damage your bike crank arm in a crash, you won’t ever need to recalibrate the InfoCrank cycling power meter. These bike parts are calibrated in the factory where it starts life. You never need ro adjust it. But if your bike does get a knock, and you do want the additional reassurance, you can use the ‘calibrate’ function of your ANT+ enabled bike computer.

INFOCRANK AFFILIATES

We’ve set up a network of expert Affiliates worldwide who can help you install your InfoCrank cycling power meter bike crankset. If your bike is already set up properly for a modern road bike crankset, swapping in InfoCrank is a breeze. We’ll help you find a Verve Affiliate near you.

http://www.vervecycling.com/infocrank/