Bicycle Pedal Monitoring

 Q: Who would buy this? A: People who purchase cadence sensors. Amazon lists more than 20 companies selling bicycle cadence sensors. If you are interested in your cadence, you may also be interested in these other measurements.  Q: Would a bike fitter use this? A: No. Bike fitting is concerned with the entire bike and rider. Professional bike fitters invest in sophisticated equipment, process and procedures that evaluate much more than just pedal angles.  Q: Why would someone buy this? A: Pedal data can be an indicator of bicycle changes you might want to consider. If your foot consistently points downward at steep angles, the program could suggest you consider adjusting your seat position.  Q: My seat position is fine…what else can this thing do? A: The device is a tool that collects data. There may be many uses of this data. Example – I don’t lift my legs properly on the pedal backstroke. The constant pressure leads to foot pain later during long ri...

     I’m a retired engineer who likes to ride bike.   Over the past 22 years of recreational biking I have several questions:   -           Why are my pedal angles so different from other riders? -           Is there a way to get more useful data with lower cost monitoring devices? -           Could a new kind of monitoring device better help individuals and professional bike fitters? -           Can a device signal bad riding habits during a ride (possibly helping me avoid foot pain)?     To try answering these questions I built monitoring devices. To keep the cost low, and make it easy to use, I looked at a simple motion sensor (3 accelerometer and 3 gyros). My latest device looks, and can operate very similar to the Garmin Cadence Sense 2. This device can mou...