Support road.cc

Like this site? Help us to make it better.

Favero Assioma Duo power meter pedals

9
£735.00

VERDICT:

9
10
A big step forward in pedal-based power and very easy to use, at a currently unbeatable price point
Weight: 
300g

At road.cc every product is thoroughly tested for as long as it takes to get a proper insight into how well it works. Our reviewers are experienced cyclists that we trust to be objective. While we strive to ensure that opinions expressed are backed up by facts, reviews are by their nature an informed opinion, not a definitive verdict. We don't intentionally try to break anything (except locks) but we do try to look for weak points in any design. The overall score is not just an average of the other scores: it reflects both a product's function and value – with value determined by how a product compares with items of similar spec, quality, and price.

What the road.cc scores mean

Good scores are more common than bad, because fortunately good products are more common than bad.

  • Exceptional
  • Excellent
  • Very Good
  • Good
  • Quite good
  • Average
  • Not so good
  • Poor
  • Bad
  • Appalling

The Assioma Duo pedals represent a massive evolution of Favero's foray into cycling power meters, being vastly superior to its previous BePro pedals. They're better value than Garmin's new Vector 3s with no real compromises, so well worth the spend if you want power measurement that's easily transferred from one bike to another.

  • Pros: Very light, easy to set up, transferable in seconds, easy to charge and maintain
  • Cons: No SPD-SL versions, still an expensive purchase (as all currently available power pedals are)

The Assiomas are offered as one-sided versions for less than £500, but the Duo versions I have on test here claim to offer more accuracy, within +/-2%, which is similar to many other smart trainers and power meters.

> Buy these online here

In the box you get the pedals, an 8mm pedal hex key for fitting and the charging cables, which magnetically clip to the pedals (similar to Garmin watches) so you can charge them via USB. This is very handy and for me much better than cell battery operation, particularly as you can check the charge percentage if you connect the pedals to the Assioma app via Bluetooth. They also last about 50 hours on a full charge, so it hardly needs thinking about that often, and they automatically switch themselves off to save power when not in use (to wake them up you touch the pods or turn your cranks).

You use the app to set up your crank length, check your charge and download firmware updates, the latter being the only thing you really need to keep on top of to have the pedals running accurately every time (unless you swap to a bike with different sized cranks, then obviously that has to change). Also included are some Keo-compatible cleats courtesy of Xpedo, which are a bit flimsier than the Look versions but perfectly usable. Unfortunately there are no Shimano SPD-SL versions of the pedals for those who prefer this system.

Plug and go

The BePro pedals required the use of a special tool to fit them and an exact torque according to their manual, whereas the Assiomas can just be fitted with any 8mm wrench and are just plug and go. The recommended torque is 35-40Nm, standard for most pedal/crank combinations. If you just make them pinch-tight they don't pick up as accurately.

Another thing to be aware of is the supplied washers: you get four included in the box, which in most cases you won't need unless your cranks have a 'recessed seat'. In plain speak, just check that the sensors aren't too close to your cranks, and if they are, stick a washer in between them.

The Assiomas pair using Bluetooth or ANT+, so can be used in conjunction with pretty much any head unit or phone. I chopped and changed between using them with a Garmin 1030, Polar M460 and Wahoo Elemnt Bolt during my test period, and found the pedals were picked up consistently fast every time.

Your computer will pick up the two pedals individually (most will prompt you by asking if there is another pedal to pair after setting up the first one) and then it's recommended to do a zero offset calibration before each ride to ensure the best level of accuracy. Check the instructions on your head unit to find out how to do this.

Power away

To ride, the Assiomas are perfectly stable underfoot and comparable to any other lightweight road pedal. The Q-factor (the distance between the pedals) is 54mm, 1mm more than Garmin's new Vector 3s, so the pods don't really make any practical difference to the ride whatsoever in my experience. Each pedal weighs just under 150g, the lightest power pedals you can currently buy. They're also completely waterproof, and after using them in all conditions including bucketing rain for a couple of months, I can report they're still in perfect working order.

I used the pedals alongside a Powertap hub outdoors and a Wattbike Atom indoors to compare the results. On the graphs you can see here, against the Wattbike with three short interval bursts, you can see that the Assiomas are very consistent but run slightly low during the peaks in power and for the average power overall.

Cadence is nearly identical too, and on my rides against the Powertap hub I got very similar results, with the Powertap just recording the wattage slightly more generously each time.

> 6 reasons you should use a power meter

Favero says the accuracy is unaffected in temperatures ranging from -10°C to 60°C (good to know just in case you want to use them in a freezer or a sauna), and I found they were consistent whatever the weather. One thing I did notice was that they can take a while to react when there are big differences in temperature between rides, such as when I went from using them indoors to heading outside in the cold for the next ride. I found it was best to wake them up and leave the bike in the ambient temperature I'd be riding in before doing the calibration about five minutes later.

The Assiomas aren't designed to be used with Rotor Q-Rings, whereas Powertap's P1 pedals are optimised to support the use of non-conventional chainrings.

You can also go cheaper – if you don't mind a bit of DIY and are happy to swap your cranks, there's the double-sided Watteam Powerbeat power meter for £375.

Overall, though, I was very impressed with the Assiomas and at the moment, factoring in value, accuracy and usability, I'd say they're the best power pedals you can buy. Perhaps those black pods could shrink a bit in the future, and accuracy can improve, but the style and function are top notch.

Verdict

A big step forward in pedal-based power and very easy to use, at a currently unbeatable price point

road.cc test report

Make and model: Favero Assioma Duo power meter pedals

Size tested: n/a

Tell us what the product is for

"Unleash your power. Ride hard facts", says Favero. "Install and move your Assioma power meter from one bike to another just like a normal pedal, easily and without special tools. Pair it with your smartphone or bike computer instantly, using Bluetooth and ANT+ communication. You can count on the most accurate and consistent real-time power data thanks to proprietary technologies, innovative software solutions and the advanced electronics of Assioma. Ride without fear in the snow, rain, mud, or sweltering heat: the automatic temperature compensation (ATC) ensures exact and reliable watt measurements in any weather conditions at temperatures between -10°C and 60°C. The lithium-ion technology provides a long battery life: up to 50 hrs with a single charge. You can recharge your cycling power meters simultaneously thanks to the battery charger with double USB cable and magnetic connectors."

Tell us some more about the technical aspects of the product?

From the Favero website:

Weight: 150g per pedal

Charger magnetically clips to the pedal spindles with USB to connect to power source

50 hours of operation off a single charge

Start&Stop technology, automatically switching pedals off when not in use to save power

54mm Q factor

Set up via the Assioma app

Dual-sided power

ANT+ and bluetooth

Completely waterproof

Rate the product for quality of construction:
 
9/10

The housing for the rechargeable bit does increase Q factor slightly, but I didn't find it noticeable when riding. Otherwise they're sturdy enough and impressively light.

Rate the product for performance:
 
8/10

Reliable, accurate (compared to our reference power meters) and easy to set up.

Rate the product for durability:
 
9/10

Pedals working fine after three months of use with no aesthetic damage – the Keo-style cleats won't last long, though.

Rate the product for weight (if applicable)
 
9/10

The lightest power pedals you can get and lighter than most standard pedals – hugely impressive.

Rate the product for comfort (if applicable)
 
8/10

Wider than a Look Keo pedal but narrower than Shimano's SPD-SL, they feel fine underfoot.

Rate the product for value:
 
7/10

Still too big a spend for the casual weekender, but that's not who these are for: they're currently the best value dual-sided power pedals you can get.

Tell us how the product performed overall when used for its designed purpose

Great. They're a huge improvement on Favero's previous power pedals and were shown to be pretty accurate in comparison tests.

Tell us what you particularly liked about the product

How easy it is to switch between bikes and devices, the app, the low weight, the charging method... most things, basically!

Tell us what you particularly disliked about the product

Temperature changes affected calibration, and the pedals took time to catch up; no SPD-SL versions; and the pods don't look quite as clean as a normal axle, and very, very marginally increase Q-factor.

Did you enjoy using the product? Yes

Would you consider buying the product? Yes

Would you recommend the product to a friend? Yes

Use this box to explain your overall score

At the moment, factoring in value and performance, I'd say these are the best power pedals you can buy. Maybe if the pods shrunk a bit to make them more aesthetically pleasing that would be the icing on the cake, but the style and function are excellent.

Overall rating: 9/10

About the tester

Age: 27  Height: 179cm  Weight: 75kg

I usually ride: Road bike (currently Specialized Tarmac)  My best bike is: Ridley Chronus TT bike

I've been riding for: Under 5 years  I ride: Every day  I would class myself as: Experienced

I regularly do the following types of riding: road racing, time trialling, commuting, club rides, sportives, general fitness riding, triathlon races

Jack has been writing about cycling and multisport for over a decade, arriving at road.cc via 220 Triathlon Magazine in 2017. He worked across all areas of the website including tech, news and video, and also contributed to eBikeTips before being named Editor of road.cc in 2021 (much to his surprise). Jack has been hooked on cycling since his student days, and currently has a Trek 1.2 for winter riding, a beloved Bickerton folding bike for getting around town and an extra beloved custom Ridley Helium SLX for fantasising about going fast in his stable. Jack has never won a bike race, but does have a master's degree in print journalism and two Guinness World Records for pogo sticking (it's a long story). 

Add new comment

20 comments

Avatar
robike | 6 years ago
0 likes

Do they tell you the difference between left and right leg?

I'm right handed/footed so I often try to "mindfully" use a bit more oomf on my left leg because I reckon my right will just naturally "follow through" with similar or more power – with these it could be possible to tell.

 

Avatar
SilverMerlin | 7 years ago
0 likes

I have some of these  (delivered last week) which I bought from Clever Training Europe with the DCR discount.  I've used them quite a bit on the trainer and been really impressed. Very easy to set up and don't require any formal calibration other than a zero offset every now and again. Saves me having to spindown my Kickr snap.

Stock level are an issue as it took them about a month to arrive. I would however say they are well worth the wait and reletive to other strain gauge power meters no too expensive.

Avatar
earth | 7 years ago
0 likes

If they can put the power meter on the pedal axel I fail to see why that Limits power meter did not work.  I Want to be able to use a pedal based meter with my Speedplay pedals and have the ability to move it to a new bike.

Avatar
HLaB replied to earth | 7 years ago
0 likes
earth wrote:

If they can put the power meter on the pedal axel I fail to see why that Limits power meter did not work.  I Want to be able to use a pedal based meter with my Speedplay pedals and have the ability to move it to a new bike.

I could be wrong but I think I saw somewher LIMITS has 4 strain guages whereas most PM's have 8.  It would explain I think why when I used Limits it'd drop out out down hills  7  Got myself a Be Pro S now and I'm very happy with it apart from being restricted to Keo's  7

Avatar
fukawitribe replied to earth | 7 years ago
0 likes
earth wrote:

If they can put the power meter on the pedal axel I fail to see why that Limits power meter did not work.  I Want to be able to use a pedal based meter with my Speedplay pedals and have the ability to move it to a new bike.

Partly because there's a big difference between theory and practice.

Avatar
SteeveB | 7 years ago
0 likes

Have had the single sided version since the summer.  had no problems at all. they have worked flawlessly so far.

i wasnt sure about the swtich to keo style cleats as i had used SPD-SL's before that. TBH i couldnt tell the difference.

battery seems to last for ages too.

Avatar
fukawitribe | 7 years ago
1 like

Current Garmin Vectors no longer require a particular torque setting.

Avatar
Jack Sexty replied to fukawitribe | 7 years ago
0 likes

fukawitribe wrote:

Current Garmin Vectors no longer require a particular torque setting.

Thanks we're aware of this, check back for a review of Vector 3's in the coming weeks! 

Avatar
fukawitribe replied to Jack Sexty | 7 years ago
0 likes
Jack Sexty wrote:
fukawitribe wrote:

Current Garmin Vectors no longer require a particular torque setting.

Thanks we're aware of this, check back for a review of Vector 3's in the coming weeks! 

Not aimed at you Jack, twas for bgw's benefit ...

"Their Be Pros do not require the accurate torque setup.  That is a true pain of the Garmin  vector pedals"

Avatar
bgw | 7 years ago
0 likes

In correct!  Their Be Pros do not require the accurate torque setup.  That is a true pain of the Garmin  vector pedals.  They do however require a special spanner ( supplied).

Love my BePro pedals.  Can swap between bikes in a few minutes.  And much lighter than the bulky Powertaps!  And don’t have the tricky setup of the vectors!

One thing that is an issue with them is that the axle body ( electronics in it) gets easily marked, but it is purely superficial.  

To keep mine looking good I just put a small bit of an old tube over it.

not sure if the new ones suffer from this minor scuff problem?

Avatar
Jack Sexty replied to bgw | 7 years ago
0 likes

bgw wrote:

In correct!  Their Be Pros do not require the accurate torque setup.  That is a true pain of the Garmin  vector pedals.  They do however require a special spanner ( supplied).

Love my BePro pedals.  Can swap between bikes in a few minutes.  And much lighter than the bulky Powertaps!  And don’t have the tricky setup of the vectors!

One thing that is an issue with them is that the axle body ( electronics in it) gets easily marked, but it is purely superficial.  

To keep mine looking good I just put a small bit of an old tube over it.

not sure if the new ones suffer from this minor scuff problem?

Thanks for clarifying this, edited! I'll be totally honest I didn't use the original BePros but have spoken to someone who did, and from what I gathered the instructions recommend a particular torque. 

Here's a closer photo of my Assioma - as you can see there's a very minor scuff on the electronics housing, but being a bit of a loose cannon I have ridden them to a couple of race starts in trainers so it could have happened during these short journeys. Otherwise they're looking pretty good after three months of use. 

Avatar
rjfrussell | 7 years ago
0 likes

Do they over any advantages over power tab or vector 3 other than price?

Avatar
HLaB replied to rjfrussell | 7 years ago
0 likes
rjfrussell wrote:

Do they over any advantages over power tab or vector 3 other than price?

Their magnetic charging compared to diposable battery is a plus but all down to opinion, soe might consider it otherwise.

Avatar
PRSboy replied to rjfrussell | 7 years ago
0 likes
rjfrussell wrote:

Do they over any advantages over power tab or vector 3 other than price?

Yes, they aren't Garmin.  Which based on my experience of Garmin reliability would be enough.

Avatar
Fluffed | 7 years ago
0 likes

The distribution is the only flaw with these, they have theoretically been out for months but are impossible to buy anywhere. 

Avatar
Ciarán Carroll replied to Fluffed | 7 years ago
0 likes
fluffed wrote:

The distribution is the only flaw with these, they have theoretically been out for months but are impossible to buy anywhere. 

Check out powermeter24

Avatar
Fluffed replied to Ciarán Carroll | 7 years ago
0 likes
Ciarán Carroll wrote:

Check out powermeter24

2 to 4 week delivery at the mo.
Favero has no stock on its own site
Clevertraining.uk seems to permnantly 'due in stock 2 weeks from now'

It was the same with the bepro's AFAIK, good product, but cant make enough of them and/or get them to suppliers.

The Vector 3s are due mid December, I'm tempted to hang on for them now, lighter, less sticky out bits and has the cycling dynamics stuff.

Avatar
sammutd88 | 7 years ago
0 likes

I love my SPD-SL pedals and cleats. It baffles me that power meter manufacturers continue to favour Look Keo style cleats. I’m sure I could use Keos but have heard of the dreaded squeaky issues and have been hesitant to ever try them. Anyway, looks like a good option otherwise. Really the easiest way to transfer between bikes these days. 

Avatar
cdamian replied to sammutd88 | 7 years ago
1 like
sammutd88 wrote:

I love my SPD-SL pedals and cleats. It baffles me that power meter manufacturers continue to favour Look Keo style cleats. I’m sure I could use Keos but have heard of the dreaded squeaky issues and have been hesitant to ever try them. Anyway, looks like a good option otherwise. Really the easiest way to transfer between bikes these days. 

I have the Powertap P1 and they are indeed very easy to setup and get on and off the bike.

I heard that they all provide Keo compatibility because of licensing/patents issues with SPD-SL.

Favero recently posted a photo on Facebook which shows that all the electronics is in the axle. In theory they could provide different bodies, even for mountain bike SPD.

Avatar
Jack Sexty replied to sammutd88 | 7 years ago
1 like

sammutd88 wrote:

I love my SPD-SL pedals and cleats. It baffles me that power meter manufacturers continue to favour Look Keo style cleats. I’m sure I could use Keos but have heard of the dreaded squeaky issues and have been hesitant to ever try them. Anyway, looks like a good option otherwise. Really the easiest way to transfer between bikes these days. 

I do find it a little irritating, as I tend to prefer SPD-SL too - although from using both for testing purposes so often I know enough to understand it doesn't affect my performance switching between the two, but still for convenience I'd prefer not having to constantly switch. There are less Shimano copyat cleats out there compared to Keo style (these use Xpedo while the new Vector 3's come with Exustar Arc's) and perhaps they're more readily available to brands, but choice is everything so it does continually surprise me that most of the power pedals currently out there don't offer various cleat options.

Latest Comments