Now you can measure power output from the sole of your shoe

There are several different ways to measure power output on a bicycle, but Spanish shoe manufacturer Luck has come up with the novel idea of housing the necessary strain gauges and electronics in the sole of a shoe. 

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Power meters are extremely useful if you want to add accuracy and consistency to your riding and training but they are expensive and one of the drawbacks is that most systems can’t be easily swapped from one bike to another. Pedal-based power meters provide easier bike swapping but a power meter integrated into the sole of the shoe, as Luck has developed, could be the ultimate solution if you’re regularly switching bikes. 

It’s called the Potentiometer and can be fitted to the sole of one of Luck’s own shoes, road or mountain bike - it’s not compatible with other shoes we hasten to add. It uses Bluetooth and ANT+ to sync with any compatible computer like a Garmin Edge or the company’s own smartphone app. It’s claimed to offer +/- 2% accuracy, adds just 35g to the shoe and the battery lasts 10-hours. 

Depending on how much data you want or how much money you want to spend, you can either buy one in-sole power meter for single sided power measurement or fit both shoes for left and right leg power measuring.

“Connected through several chips in the shoe, the onboard computer which includes potentiometer with millimetric accuracy dictates records cadence, speed, heart rate ... and measures the watts generated by each pedal stroke of each rider, from 0 to 4,200. All information is on the screen and allows you to adjust efforts route,’ says the company.

The Luck Potentiometer has been in development for the past couple of years but is now ready for production, and priced at €200 per shoe - we’ve contacted them for a UK price. You’ll also need to factor in the cost of new shoes, as it’s only compatible with Luck’s own shoes. We're definitely keen to test this power meter and see how it compares to the other options on the market.

More at http://luck-bike.es/en/content/25-luck-potentiometer