Accuracy in the Measurement of Power Balance in Bicycle Power Meters

TL;DR

This paper examines the accuracy of power balance measurements in bicycle power meters, highlighting that methods based on average angular velocity can be inaccurate during phase imbalances, leading to potential errors up to 10%.

Contribution

It clarifies the differences between AAV and IAV methods for measuring power balance and demonstrates the potential inaccuracies of AAV-based measurements in realistic riding scenarios.

Findings

AAV-based power balance can be inaccurate during phase imbalance.

Errors up to 10% in power balance measurement are possible.

Simulations show differences between measurement methods in real-world scenarios.

Abstract

Bicycle Power Meters have become ubiquitous as training aids in recent years. Many power meters purport to measure Left-Right Pedal Balance, which is a measure of the extent to which power generated by the application of torque to the left and right pedal differ. This metric has both practical and clinical significance. Most Bicycle Power Meters measure only the Average Angular Velocity (AAV) of the pedal throughout a given pedal stroke -- only a small number of power meters compute power using Instantaneous Angular Velocity (IAV). The paper highlights that power balance figures reported by devices employing these two methods have different physical meanings, and that AAV-based power balance figures will tend to be inaccurate when phase imbalance exists within a pedal stroke. Simulations were performed on a number of realistic indoor and outdoor riding scenarios. This results of this paper indicate that errors in Power Balance of up to 10% could occur under certain conditions.