The 8 Leading Cycling Powermeter Brands Today
The cycling powermeter has experienced tremendous growth in the last decade. In 2010, there are probably 3 powermeter brands available to amateur cyclists. And they cost a bomb, something even more than the bike itself.
But things are quite different today. As the market grows, new brands are entering the market, offering very reliable powermeters at competitive pricing. This paves the way for wider powermeter adoption among amateur cyclists like us.
On this page, I’ll share with you the leading powermeter brands available today.
Let’s jump straight in.
SRM
SRM was the first company to deliver a viable powermeter to market. Since then the company has expanded its product lineup, improved its powermeters, and has now included user-serviceable batteries.
SRM manufactures spider-based powermeters, either as full systems or modular. They come as aluminum or carbon and deliver top-quality accuracy.
SRM powermeters are not cheap but if they are reliable enough for pro teams, they should be more than enough for us.
Popular SRM Powermeters
- Spider based : SRM Origin
- Pedal based : SRM Exakt, SRM X-Power
SRAM (Quarq)
Quarq designed their first power meter back in 2006 in Australia. The company name is a deliberate misspelling of quark, referring to a speedy subatomic particle.
The first Quarq power meter was released in 2008 and since then the company has gone from strength to strength and being bought over by SRAM in 2011. In 2019, SRAM acquired PowerTap who is one of the early pioneers in wheel-based powermeters.
Most power meters from Quarq are crankarm based that work with the common bottom bracket systems such as GXP and BB30.
Popular Quarq Powermeters
- Spider based : Quarq D-Zero, Quarq D-Four, SRAM Red AXS
Stages Cycling
Stages is an American company that does things slightly differently than SRM or Quarq. They take pre-manufactured cranks and machine their power meter units into them. It is a novel idea that seems to work.
Stages power meters come as an entire crankset or as separate left-side crankarms. They now have models for Shimano, Campagnolo, SRAM and FSA cranksets.
Popular Stages Powermeters
- Left Crankarm : Stages Gen 3 L-R for Shimano 105, Ultegra R8000 and Dura-ace R9100
- Spider based : Stages Gen 3 for Dura-ace R9100, XTR M9120
Power2Max
Germany’s Power2Max was founded in 2006. Their original aim was to develop an affordable power meter that they themselves would like to ride, and in 2010 they achieved just that with their very first power meter.
Since then, the company has widened its product portfolio and has been ridden by Team Movistar up to 2019.
Power2Max power meters have wide compatibility with many leading crankarms such as Shimano, SRAM, Rotor, Specialized, and Cannondale. They include road, track, and mountain bike units such as the NG Road, NG Eco, and Type S.
Popular Power2Max Powermeters
- Spider based : Power2Max NG Road, NG Eco, and Type S.
4iii Innovations
4iii is a Canadian fitness company that partnered with bicycle manufacturer Schwinn. It launched its first power meter back in 2009 and has launched many others since. It’s partnership with Schwinn offers great insight into bikes and cyclists which has given it something of an edge some other power meter manufacturers don’t have.
4iii manufactures crankset and crank arm power meters for most systems. Products include Precision Pro cranksets, Precision crank arms, and Podiiium crank arms. They also manufacture upgrade kits for Shimano cranks.
Popular 4iiii Powermeters
- Left Crankarm : 4iiii Precision
- Crankset based : 4iiii Precision Pro
Shimano
Shimano should need little introduction. Established in Japan in 1912 as Shimano Iron Works to build bicycle freewheels, the company grew slowly but steadily until after WW2. The demand for bicycles in Japan and improvements in technology since then drove the company to the giant it is today.
Shimano only has one power meter, the Shimano Dura-Ace 9100 which is a crankset. Despite its history, the company has been slow to market with its power meter but as always, the product it delivered is first class!
Popular Shimano Powermeters
- Cranket based : Shimano Dura-ace R9100
Garmin
Garmin manufactures the pedal-based Vector range of power meters. The American company has been around cycling forever and is best known for its cycling computers and navigation. It joined the power meter revolution a few years ago with the original Vector pedal. The current Vector 3 is its latest power meter and has gone down well so far.
Not afraid to go their own way, Garmin has taken a different approach to power meters by shifting from the crank or arm to the pedals. They claim ease of use, ease of installation and removal and natural integration with Garmin cycle computers make them a great choice for cyclists. I wouldn’t disagree with them either.
Popular Garmin Powermeters
- Pedal based : Garmin Vector 3 (Road), Garmin Rally RS200 (MTB)
Rotor
Launched back in 1994, the original goal was to eliminate the dead zone in the pedal stroke. As a result of that work the brand’s unique chainsets, the Q Rings were launched which was followed by other cycling products including power meters.
Rotor has two power meters at the moment, the 2INpower DM Road and the INpower DM Road. Both are crankset power meters, with one being based in the crank arm and the other in the crank itself.
Popular Rotor Powermeters
- Crankset based : Rotor2INpower, Rotor Inpower
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