This week at Eurobike, Power2Max has introduced their new Type S lineup of power meters, which expands compatibility across a wide number of crank sets, as well as reduces weight in the unit. As a refresher, I reviewed the 2nd generation Power2Max models earlier this year, and they did quite well with the inclusion of temperature compensation added to devices in that generation.
The introduction of the Type S lineup makes a few core design changes, starting with a slide-in battery compartment and external LED status. Below you can see the new arrangement of the battery compartment, which allows for increased compatibility by removing it from the edge of the unit and further reduces weight. Also, it helps improve waterproofing by minimizing the complications of the previous design with the multiple screws and dueling o-rings.
While there is a micro-USB port, it’s not available for end-user use, but rather for distributor/diagnostic use.
Below those little magnet looking items are actually just screw hole covers. They cover the two screws that go up into the battery compartment. The left one I’m holding is the backside of the right one.
You can see the differences in the two battery compartments below. The old-school design is to the left, and the new design to the right. The battery light is illuminated in the photo to the right. This triggers anytime the unit switches on, as well as for low battery warning.
This allows them to also further reduce weight – a total of 60-80 grams on most models. The starting weight on the new models is 169g (110 BCD), and 188g (130 BCD).
They’ve added a ton of new models, specifically:
– Cannondale SI, SISL, and SISL2
– Specialized S-Works
– SRAM S900 and Force 2014
– Shimano 4-bolt 110mm BCD for third party cranks
Below, the Specialized S-Works:
Next we have the 4-bolt Shimano 110 BCD, compatible with 3rd party cranks.
The above new models are in addition to the existing models supporting:
– Rotor 3D+
– FSA K-Force Light
In the case of the non-new models, they’ll continue to be offered for €740 in Europe and $990 in the US. The new units will be priced at €940 in Europe and $1160 in the US.
The one exception to that is a FSA crank with the 2nd generation P2M (the one I tested), for $899US – and $999US with the chain rings (basically everything). This is only within North America.
Finally, they’ve also made changes to better support non-round rings with the older design by making a cutout in the battery compartment You can see this below where I’m holding up a unit showing the battery compartment on the left, which has a slight ‘rise’ to the underside of the compartment. Previously users were pretty much just hacking away at the battery compartment to make it fit.
Note that all Power2Max power meters produced these days include estimated left/right power balance, use ANT+, and report cadence via an internal accelerometer. All also include temperature compensation and factory calibration done across a number of temperature ranges (similar to Vector). Stated accuracy is +/- 2%.
With that, if you’ve got any questions – feel free to drop them below! Thanks for reading!
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Welcome to Eurobike week! This week during Eurobike I’ll be tweeting from the exhibition show floor quite a bit, as well as posting frequently. Here’s a quick and handy link to all Eurobike-related posts.
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