Innovation
Jesse Bartholomew is the PowerTap Product Manager of the Saris Cycling Group, an American company that produces Saris bike racks, CycleOps trainers and the PowerTap line of products.

"Power measurement was the holy grail of bicycle innovations," noted Bartholomew as he flipped through a book thick with patents.

"These are all the patents issued in the US for power measurement on a bicycle," he said. "When we started with PowerTap the product design was good but the performance didn't quite live up to the design.

"When CycleOps acquired the design for PowerTap we immediately set out to improve it to make sure we had the best product on the market. Customer feedback drove the innovation, including the most recent re-design that produced the 2.4 wireless PowerTap."

Just as CycleOps was challenging its engineers to improve the PowerTap, it engaged the services of an expert in the field of training with power, Dr Allen Lim. The result was the engineering team delivered the lightest, most accurate power meter on the market and Dr Lim kicked off his enthusiastic brand of teaching about training with power.

Lim on Power
Dr Lim received his PhD in Integrative Physiology at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Dr Lim, in conjunction with his peers in the Applied Exercise Science Laboratory, completed much of the groundbreaking research in the use of power and heart rate monitoring in optimizing cycling performance. In his role as the Director of Education for Saris Cycling Group, Dr Lim is a passionate and philosophical speaker on the topic of sports training. His eloquent delivery demystifies the science of power measurement and makes the information immediately useful to the curious or driven cyclist alike.

"We found that training with heart rate monitors told only one half of the story," explained Dr Lim. "By measuring power output we could tell exactly what the athlete was doing, like a weight lifter knows how many pounds s/he is lifting in addition to knowing how the body was responding to an effort and we could duplicate the effort. Putting the heart rate and power together meant we could quantitatively measure improvements. We were able to package what we learned and share that knowledge with both elite and amateur athletes alike."

Dr Lim has successfully coached athletes at the national and world level and is currently the power coach of the Team Slipstream powered by Chipotle Professional Continental cycling team. Saris Cycling Group supplied the 2007 Slipstream team with 100 wireless PowerTaps and under the experienced eye of Dr Lim, the team is quickly gaining results at the top level.

Product Evolution
Not content with the lightest, most accurate power meter on the market, the company set its sights on a wireless version.
"With the wireless PowerTap we had to rethink how the PowerTap worked and among other things, figure out how to put the attenae on the inside of the hub body," said Bartholomew. CycleOps succeeded in developing a new hub body that was lighter, with waterproof casing and an incredibly easy two step installation; insert wheel and snap the computer onto the handlebars. "Each PowerTap is calibrated in the lab and built by hand," commented Bartholomew. "Each PowerTap is tested in house by engineering staff for accuracy before it leaves Saris."

Dr Lim said, "as more people catch on to how the instant and daily feedback that PowerTap provides helps them train better I think we'll continue to see a broader consumer base for PowerTap. Now that the pro peloton has gotten over the novelty, PowerTap is another tool that is part of the daily regimen."

Case in point; the M2 Revolution center in San Francisco, California is equipped with 35 CycleOps Pro300PT Indoor Cycles. Gym members can compare their watt output during a spin class to the riders in the Tour de France.

From PowerTap to Indoor Cycles
CycleOps features a line of trainers known for their road-like feel and because of that can be found world wide in the training regimens of amateur and elite riders. According to Saris Director of Marketing, David Cathcart, it was a short leap to decide that since the company excelled at building trainers and power meters it seemed only natural to build a PowerTap into an indoor cycle. The CycleOps Indoor Cycle with its distinctive design quickly became a must have in home and commercial gyms. "Now someone who wants to train with power can ride a solid machine at home and get the same feedback they would on the road using PowerTap," noted Cathcart.
As with other Saris products, every Indoor Cycle and Fluid2 trainer is inspected and/or ride tested in the factory before it is shipped.

"The quality we strive for in all our products is
part of our culture," said Cathcart.




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