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Taiwan Cycling Time talks about AROFLY PLUS METER

http://cyclingtime.com/tw/documents/8404.html

AROFLY- Cycling data measures by tire pressure variation A small & light Power meter device,provides quite good and reliable data

The current trend of bicycle training, my point of view, power training has long been the mainstream, down to the club riders, up to professional cyclists, as long as the people who are dedicated to riding strength, more or less have been exposed, or even completely immersed among the areas of power training. Although it is not as high price as when it was introduced that year, the power meter is still a kind of expensive device for the bike. No matter the top power meter is near NT $ 100,000 or even the most popular one-legged type crank for more than 20 thousands of high-level consumption, resulting in many riders want to start with the power meter equipment , inevitably stuck in the price and cannot take it.

AROFLY- By different measuring method entering to Power Meter field However, at the beginning of 2017, the intelligent tire pressure type power meter launched by AROFLY was a complete reversal of the conventional thinking of the power meter, and its low price, small and light volume attracted many cycling enthusiasts attention. However, the early due to incomplete performance of the Smart Phone APP program computing, resulting in AROFLY accuracy and stability questioned. Although the initial start is not smooth, but the development team did not stop there, but for the shortcomings of the algorithm, the introduction of its own brand of bike computer, in order to AROFLY power meter calculation optimization.

The AROFLY power meter operation principle is : the AROFLY sensor installed on the rear tire valve, tire pressure changes through pedaling and tire acceleration, and finally through the AROFLY team established algorithm, you can get the current Power figures. Of course, such data is correct or not depends on the tire pressure, so the original provisions of the proposed tire pressure range between 90-120psi of road bike, while if the data such as the wheel circumference (23c and 25c there will be a gap) and other accurate setting input, then the data will be more accurate.

Because the main measurement is through the tire pressure, so you can see AROFLY bottom there is a small contact to get through tire air for detecting the tire pressure variation. So the installation is very simple, as long as the AROFLY power meter directly locked on the rear tire valve. However, if the road bike or the presta valve tires, you must install a special titanium metal adapter, in order to get the best airtight. At this moment AROFLY and the tire valve will result in a very slight contact with the gas outlet, which is normal. Then just pair AROFLY with A-PLUS meter. And input all the required setting on A-PLUS meter. Now you can enter to the world of Power training.

AROFLY v.s. Chainring Power meter v.s. Wheel hub power meter

Of course, there are still many people who are skeptical about such a combination. After all, the external power meter, such as chainring type, pedal-type or wheel-hub, is a high-priced product with tens of thousands dollars at every turn. A set of AROFLY power meter with its own A-PLUS Bike computer costs around NT$ 6000 something. I am really no idea how to compare AROFLY with other power meters? In order to get the answer closely, I have AROFLY power meter with the original A-PLUS meter, Pioneer chainring plate power meter with the original bike computer (ANT + mode) and PowerTap power hub with Bryton bike computer to do joint testing. Prior to the test, both Pioneer and PowerTap were calibrated and the test route was from Taichung City Hall to Zhongke Water Tower, with three more rounds and around the water tower to collect more data.

The following is the test results, Route 1: from Taichung City Hall to Taichung Water Tower to the entire circle around. The data of Power from 3 sensors are: AROFLY Average Wattage / Max Wattage: 185 / 528 Watt Pioneer Average Wattage / Max Wattage: 176 / 608 Watt PowerTap Average Wattage / Max Wattage: 197 / 685 Watts

Route 2: Taichung Zongke Water Tower The power data output from 3 sensors: AROFLY Average Wattage / Max Wattage: 213 / 475 Watt Pioneer Average Wattage / Max Wattage: 207 / 418 Watts PowerTap Average Wattages / Max Wattage: 224 / 442 Watt

According to the data, the numerical difference between the three sections in this particular road section of Zhongke Water Tower is small. In particular, the calculation of the average wattage is almost without much difference. However, if we see the urban area to the Water Tower with stop-and-go pace, the difference between each other gets obvious. The average wattage and the maximum wattage in highest is PowerTap, and AROFLY average watt is the middle, but the maximum wattage is the lowest; Pioneer has the lowest average wattage, but the maximum wattage is in the middle.

In summary, the average wattage among the three power meters is within 20 watts, shows the stability in level of each power meter. However, there is a certain gap among the three maximum wattages, which is hard to be generalized by the different measuring equipments, or bike computer data capturing and even back-end analysis software.

If by the power graphic analysis, we can see the graphic from Pioneer and PowerTap are closer, and the power curve fluctuations are obvious. And AROFLY response is not so fast, which is seen by writer in the bike meter when in riding. As soon as pedaling stopped, the Pioneer and PowerTap figures are quickly zeroed, whereas AROFLY takes a few seconds to zero. Likewise, AROFLY at the beginning of acceleration also has a slow half-beat, but when the speed in stabilized, there is no difference among the three.

In the past few years, my point of view of power meter using experience, the power meter accuracy and stability are the two most important aspects, followed by the immediacy of data display. For the highly competitive cycling race, the three-oriented is needed by athletes and required high standard. If you take a step back, for the amateur races or challenges, then the three faces may have a range of tolerance, but still need a certain level of performance. If you want to forge yourself, or want to start the power training, may be the data sensitivity, the instant data in the races, and the accuracy of the post-competition analysis may not be the requests by this level of cyclists. What they need is a stable and digital precision power equipment. In addition to road bike, mountain bike and even Ubike, can be easy and quick installed AROFLY to use, showing the product features in quick, convenient and high versatility.

In terms of performance, AROFLY power meter and dedicated bike meter, although some of the features have not yet kept pace with the current power meter, but also shows that its operation has been a considerable level; In stability, the AROFLY power meter is surprisingly acceptable. Then with it on the price of only around NT 6,000, is indeed a considerable incentive for entry-level riders.

So if you are interested in power training, but the goal is to participate in major events or even stand on the podium of the people, it is recommended that you can directly refer to the traditional power meters in the market. However, if you are the rider only to improve physical fitness, or power data to adjust riding speed, then AROFLY power meter and dedicated bike computer is already sufficient to meet the needs.

In addition, AROFLY has its own file format. After the ride, data can be uploaded directly to the AROFLY Cloud for analysis. The Cloud also allows transfer data file to Strava, making it easier to distribute data.

The riders who want to improve physical fitness, or power as the riding speed adjustment, then AROFLY power meter and its dedicated bike computer is already sufficient to meet the needs

Before the power meter was not yet been popular, heart rate training has always been the mainstream of scientific training. Even though power training is already in the right way currently, heart rate figures are still quite meaningful for cycling aerobics, especially for long-distance exercise. Changes in heart rate are more important index for assessing the physical performance.

In addition to the introduction of the AROFLY power meter, it also launched an optical heart rate wristband. By means of optical sensing, athletes can monitor with more information about their current exercise status, and there is no oppression as traditional heartbeat chest belt. It is quite a training tool worthy to start with.

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