Aside of our outstanding customer service and custom power meter installation service, Tempo is a submersible, robust, thin, accurate, and repeatable, power meter. It continuously measures torque around the entire pedal stroke to capture your true energy output. Not only do we continuously measure torque, we continuously measure cadence. Instead of an acellerometer which is subject to false readings in bumpy roads, we use a gyro to measure actual rotational cadence. This reports your true cadence continuously and without flasing due to road conditions. The power at every point in time around the pedal stroke is used in the computation of power. This allows us not only to produce accurate power measurements, they are also produce repeatable results which is absolute essential when computing training interval efforts and racing.
This is important because simply put,
Power = Torque X Cadence.
If either are off, your power readings are off.
This is critical to both training and racing. When training, you should first determine your FTP. This is the maximal average power you can output for one hour. You want this to be a true representation of your energy output. Workouts can be structured around this power to gain significant improvements in performance. If your FTP is incorrect, your interval intensities will be incorrect. Also, as you fatigue, your pedal stroke changes. Tempo captures these changes as you apply various forces around the stroke differently as your leg muscles fatigue differently.
This is the key! Other meters measure peak torque and assume a smooth pedal stroke. This make for an easy calculation of power. This is OK when you are fresh or if you have a decent pedal stroke. As soon as you deviate from this stroke due to fatigue or other reasons, other meters will still report the same power since they only measure torque and cadence at the peak of the stroke.
Since we measure power continuously during the entire stroke, you can truly maximize your performance by knowing exactly the energy your legs are putting out, regardless of fatigue or pedal stroke shape.
We developed a simulator that calculates power based on pedal stroke. We then varied the stroke and applied the various methods of measure power.
Tempo power algorithms are designed to match the true mathematically power generated at the crank, independent of your pedal stroke.
Case 1- Sinusoidal pedal stroke. This will produce the maximum power output.
-Mathematically, this is a 215W output.
-Tempo will measure 215W. Tempo measures at every point that is on the graph and calculates power at each of those moments in time with cadence at that moment in time.
-Other meters will also measure 215W. They will take the peak, calculate the time between the peaks and report power.
So far , so good.
Case 2 - If you change the shape of the pedal stroke you are going to be putting different amounts of power to the crank.
-Mathematically, this is a 175W output. Notice that there is less torque applied during the downstroke.
-Tempo will measure 175W. Tempo measures at every point that is on the graph and calculates power at each of those moments in time with cadence at that moment in time. You may shift to a lower gear and try to get a smoother stroke and put out max power. You may discover your crank arms are too long. This could be due to fatigue but you know your FTP is higher so you will adjust your riding cadence accordingly.
-Other meters will measure 215W. Oh oh. This is because the peaks are the same and the time between the peaks are the same. Other meters have no idea whats going on in the middle! You begin to believe you are putting out too much power, and you begin to back off your effort. If you pedal like this normally, the FTP data from other meters are invalid. Everything will be off. Training intervals, racing cadence. Your performance will suffer both because you will not be training at the correct intensities and your race performance will suffer because you will not be riding at your optimal power.
Case 3 - You begin to mash big gears.
-Mathematically, this is a 110W output.
-Tempo will measure 110W. Tempo measures at every point that is on the graph and calculates power at each of those moments in time with cadence at that moment in time. You will be able to tell that you are mashing right away. You may even be going at a good clip, but this is your power. This may be OK in a peloton to conserve energy or with a decent tailwind.
-Other meters will also measure 215W. Oh oh again. This is because the peaks are the same as a perfect stroke and the time between the peaks are the same. Again, other meters have no idea whats going on in the middle! They have no information that you stopped applying force for a long time. They simply just look at the peaks and time between the peaks. You begin to believe you are putting out too much power, and you begin to back off. This is even worse because you are really not working at your full potential unless you are trying to recover. If this was a workout, you'll think you are hitting your interval powers , but you are not.
If you truly want to maximize your potential on the bike to truly measure what your legs are putting on that crank, go with Tempo and you will begin to truly be able to structure precise workouts that will increase fitness quickly and allow you to perform and race at your best, regardless of how you pedal!