Cycling Power Characteristics between Instrumented and Favero Assioma Duo Road Power Meter Pedals

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to evaluate the differences in power output measured by instrumented pedals and a pedal-based power meter during stationary cycling at multiple workloads. Nine healthy participants performed 2-minute trials at 1kg, 2kg, and 3kg workload conditions at 80 revolutions per minute on a cycle ergometer, with a commercial set of power pedals and customized instrumented pedals. A 3x2 (Condition x Pedal Type) ANOVA was used to determine differences in total, right, and left power output. No significant interaction or main effect for pedal type was found, but a significant workload effect was present for all variables. The percentage differences in measurement between the two pedals were approximately 3.6%, 1.3%, and 1.2% for average total power of 1kg, 2kg, and 3kg, respectively. This study provides evidence that the power output measured by Favero power meter adequately matched the total power output and individual limb power output obtained by gold-standard instrumented pedals during stationary cycling. These results indicate that the commercial power pedals can adequately match gold standard instrumented pedals in measuring bilateral power output in short sessions of low to moderate intensity stationary cycling. The power meter may be suitable to measure power output for endurance or clinical applications, but further research is needed to investigate these use cases.