The 4iiii Powermeter That Finds Your Bike
Monterey, California, U.S.A (April 2, 2019) – 4iiii Innovations Inc., together with Chipolo d.o.o., announce their next cutting-edge innovation, a free bike tracking feature to be integrated onto a bike which can be experienced at the 2019 Sea Otter Classic. Chipolo tracking is now offered as a standard feature in the 4iiii PRECISION Powermeter family.
“At 4iiii, we continue with our commitment to add value to our products long after they have been purchased and we strive to protect the investment of our Triiiibe” says Eric Gerstenbuher, 4iiii Managing Director. Effective April 10th, all models in the 4iiii PRECISION family of powermeters, including PRECISION and Podiiiium models, will be empowered to find your bike, fight theft, and grow the tracking network.
“…I think the concept is fascinating. No, this won’t stop a thief from stealing your bike (likely out of your home or perhaps while you have a coffee at a café post-ride), but it will give you one more tool in your arsenal for getting back your bike. And I could see if you were looking at similar power meters options…this could push you over the edge towards 4iiii.” – DC Rainmaker, CES, 2019.
The tracking functionality will show the last known location of your bike within the refreshed 4iiii app. To activate the tracking for a lost bike, riders will mark the powermeter as ‘lost’, then, any 4iiii or Chipolo apps on a smartphone in Bluetooth® range, will unobtrusively ‘ping’ the powermeter on the bike. When a phone successfully communicates with the lost bike it will send this location to the owner.
“Our mission is to give every product the power to be found. And with integrating Chipolo technology into the 4iiii Powermeter we are going one step forward. Chipolo is now available to integrators through the obvıous. app store to integrate into many diverse products.” said Chipolo CTO, Jure Zdovc.
The refreshed 4iiii app leverages the obvıous. platform allowing 4iiii to release future-proofed products that accept new features and functionality by enabling riders to simply upgrade their current product. In addition to the tracking capability, the 4iiii app will continue to offer powermeter pairing and unpairing, work-out metrics, Viiiiva passthrough and filesave, over the air updates, customization of devices and more. The refreshed app is currently available as iOS only, but will be released via Android in the near future. The new Chipolo tracking feature will work on all previously purchased 4iiii Powermeters.
The Chipolo tracking feature on 4iiii Powermeters is enabled via the refreshed 4iiii app which will be available April 2nd through the iOS App Store with the tracking feature available on April 10th to all 4iiii customers, present and future, at no cost.
Download the Press Release
Podiiiium PRECISION Powermeter Now Available in Ride Ready Options
FOR RELEASE Sept 18, 2018
Reno, NV., U.S.A (Sept. 18, 2018)- 4iiii Innovations Inc. announces the much anticipated Ride Ready offering of Podiiiium PRECISION powermeters at Interbike 2018, the largest annual industry bike show in North America.
Podiiiium, the rechargeable, low profile offering in the PRECISION product family is now available and shipping on Shimano Dura-Ace, Ultegra and 105 non-drive side crank arms. Previously only available as a Factory Install option on user supplied cranks,
Podiiiium now joins the PRECISION Ride Ready lineup online and in stores worldwide.
At just 7.5 grams, Podiiiium shares the same lightweight, accurate, waterproof and extremely durable features that cyclists have come to expect from 4iiii, and is compatible with other PRECISION Powermeters to complete dual configurations. Podiiiium Ride Ready is available starting at $399.99 for the 105, $499.99 for Ultegra and $599.99 for Dura-Ace in US dollars.
“The Podiiiium platform shows our commitment to building innovative products with our customers’ needs in mind. Being rechargeable, Podiiiium removes the need to change batteries and the low profile fits discreetly and protected behind the chainring. ” says Product Manager, Scott Cooper, Ph.D.
For those looking for the best powermeter to be installed on their own crank, 4iiii offers its custom Factory Install program with compatibility options including SRAM, Campagnolo, FSA and many more. 4iiii supports powermeter installation on alloy and carbon cranks maintaining an accuracy of +/-1% on the products delivered. Podiiiium is designed to support a full suite of dual compatibility which gives the customer more flexibility to choose single or dual to support their training needs. A full list of Factory Install compatible cranks can be found at 4iiii.com/
Ride Ready Podiiiium PRECISION Powermeters will be launched at Interbike 2018 in Reno, Nevada and will be available for customer purchase immediately.
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To download our full media release click here.
Core Health & Fitness Announces New Partnership Between Schwinn & 4iiii
Vancouver, WA, March 12, 2018 – Core Health & Fitness® is excited to announce a new partnership between Schwinn® indoor cycling and 4iiii®. With this partnership comes the release of an optional 4iiii power crank upgrade available on the Schwinn AC™ and SC bikes.
“4iiii is a Canadian based tech company with a rich history in sport technology development and we have found a great partner in Schwinn” commented Bailey McKnight, Channel Development Leader for 4iiii Innovations. Founded in 2010, 4iiii Innovations has grown to be an industry leader in power meter development in a growing number of cycling disciplines. Founders Kip Fyfe and Victoria Brilz have deep roots in innovative sports monitoring that date back to 2000 when they started Dynastream Innovations Inc. Dynastream brought the world’s first speed and distance monitors and the widely adopted ANT+ communication protocol to the wearable market. The Company was sold to Garmin in 2006.
A vision of enabling athletes to be ‘smarter, faster, safer’ led Kip and Victoria to create the world’s lightest, most accurate and durable powermeter. 4iiii powermeter technology is relied upon by teams on the World Tour and has become standard equipment through a leading bicycle manufacturer.
The 4iiii story is one that resonates with Schwinn, the brand behind the first production bike designed specifically for indoor cycling. Schwinn is positioned to be on the cutting edge of the indoor cycling industry through new innovations and partnerships that help bring the best technologies in both indoor and outdoor cycling to Schwinn bikes.
“Measurement has been game changing in the indoor cycling category, so being able to partner with the visionaries behind ANT+ technology is a logical and exciting step for the Schwinn brand,” added Jeff Dilts, Vice President of Product Management & Innovation for Core Health & Fitness.
“While powermeters have seen increased acceptance in the past 10 years, we’re just beginning to see them reach the mainstream,” added Eric Gerstenbuhler, Managing Director of 4iiii Sport. “What sets 4iiii apart is the patented 3D strain gauge technology we use to measure the bending, elongation, and twisting deformation. This allows for measurement of every force being applied to the crank arm by a rider and provides the most accurate data possible.”
Schwinn offers power education and certification for cycling instructors. In addressing a growing industry, Schwinn’s commitment to quality and authenticity demanded nothing less than a partnership with the company behind the most accurate power meter on the market.
“Measurement has been a big story for Schwinn since we introduced it to the indoor cycling space in 2009,” concluded Dilts. “This new partnership with a company like 4iiii providing power measurement for the most elite cyclists in the world is very exciting!”
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4iiii Innovations 2018 Pro Team Partnerships
4iiii Innovations 2018 Pro Team Partnerships include World and National Champions and Olympians in all cycling disciplines.
For the 2018 racing season, 4iiii will supply power measurement for Pro Cycling Teams from several continents. Included are three of the world’s top women’s professional road cycling teams, all of Canada’s Olympic and Paralympic cyclists, several National champions and two-reigning World Champions in Annemiek van Vleuten and Alban Lakata.
This is the third year for 4iiii as a World Tour team technology provider.
“Pro Team sponsorships play a key role in our product design,” says 4iiii CEO Kip Fyfe. “4iiii leadership is the result of putting our technology, reliability and durability to the test with the best riders, under the most demanding conditions in the world.”
An exclusive sponsor and supplier relationship with Cycling Canada will provide powermeters and heart rate monitors to athletes in all Olympic and Paralympic cycling categories through the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.
The five professional cycling teams sponsored by 4iiii in 2018 are Mitchelton-Scott, Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank, Ale-Cipollini, Elevate KHS, and new to us this year is our first mountain bike team, the endurance mountain bike squad Canyon Topeak.
Mitchelton-Scott (formerly Orica Scott) of Australia has 10 women riders. The team includes World TT Champion Annemiek van Vleuten, who already has a victory in 2018 wearing her rainbow stripes, winning stage two of the Women’s Herald Sun Tour in Melbourne in 2018.
Founded in 2011, ALE-Cipollini is an Italian-based team and one of the top five women’s teams in the world. Australian star Chloe Hosking has already added two wins to her record in 2018. “4iiii is a synonym of top quality in sport technology, and a very competitive team needs the best,” says Team President Alessia Piccolo.
Team Tibco-Silicon Valley Bank, based in the United States, is the longest-running professional women’s cycling team in North America, on a mission to help aspiring female cyclists rise to the top.
US-based Men’s road team Elevate KHS is our longest-running sponsorship. They have two Canadian riders, James Piccoli and Jordan Cheyne.
Canyon Topeak Racing Team is an endurance mountain bike team of men and women that stars three national champions and three-time and current UCI Mountain Bike Marathon World Champion Alban Lakata.
The teams will be riding a variety of 4iiii products including PRECISION PRO dual and PRECISION single-side powermeters. Coaching staff and riders will have the tools and metrics required to optimize their training and race performance. Dual ANT+ and Bluetooth options provide broad device compatibility.
4iiii is also releasing a new product this year with PRECISION Podiiiium. “We’re taking 3D powermeter technology to a another level and introducing it to other cycling disciplines including mountain biking,” says Mike Mercer, Director of Engineering. “Our new PRECISION-based Podiiiium is rechargeable and compatible with all of the most popular cranks.”
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Cycling Canada Partnership
4iiii Innovations announces official partnership with Cycling Canada
4iiii Innovations and Cycling Canada have formed an exclusive sponsor and supplier relationship that will provide 4iiii PRECISION Powermeters and Viiiiva Heart Rate Monitors to national team athletes in all Olympic and Paralympic cycling categories.
The partnership, which extends through the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan, brings together two proudly Canadian organizations dedicated to helping home-grown cyclists top the podium at major events around the world.
“We welcome the opportunity to display our leadership in powermeter technology with the home team,” said 4iiii Innovations CEO Kip Fyfe. “Our involvement will include supplying PRECISION Powermeters and Viiiiva Heart Rate Monitors together with the same high-level technical support we provide to the World Tour and other professional teams we sponsor.”
The 4iiii partnership with Cycling Canada will benefit athletes at both the elite and grassroots levels by providing affordable, world-class technology to a wide variety of disciplines and training programs.
“Power and heart rate are the foundations of our training and racing,” said Cycling Canada Mountain Bike Head Coach Dan Proulx. “To deliver podium results, it is essential to gather and analyze this data to help optimize strengths and counter weaknesses.”
“My 4iiii PRECISION Powermeter provides accurate and consistent data, giving me confidence day in and day out,” said recently crowned individual pursuit national champion Kinley Gibson.
“We are thrilled to welcome another best-in-class Canadian brand into our growing family of performance and marketing partners,” said Matthew Jeffries, Director of Marketing for Cycling Canada. “Our world-leading athletes are Canadian-made and we are proud to say the same thing about the organizations, products and technologies that support them.”
4iiii will also collaborate with other Cycling Canada performance partners including Lexus, Argon 18, Louis Garneau and Barista to support and elevate major cycling events across the country.
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4iiii Innovations is a leading Canadian sports technology company based in Cochrane, Alberta. 4iiii is a sponsor and product supplier to WordTour teams Quick-Step Floors and Bora-hansgrohe, Canadian Women’s Team Cyclery-4iiii as well as yachting’s America’s Cup Team Oracle USA.
Cycling Canada is the governing body for competitive cycling in Canada. Founded in 1882, Cycling Canada aims to create and sustain an effective system that develops talented Canadian cyclists to achieve Olympic, Paralympic, and World Championship medal performances. With the vision of being a leading competitive cycling nation by 2020 celebrating enhanced international success, increased national participation and world class event hosting, Cycling Canada manages high performance programs, hosts national and international events and administers programs to promote and grow cycling across the country. Cycling Canada programs are made possible through the support of its valued corporate partners – Global Relay, Lexus Canada, Mattamy Homes, Louis Garneau and Bear Mountain Resort – along with the Government of Canada, Own The Podium, the Canadian Olympic Committee and the Canadian Paralympic Committee.
Reach for the Podiiiium
4iiii Innovations is again shaking up the increasingly competitive powermeter market with the launch of PRECISION Podiiiium; a rechargeable, low profile crank-based powermeter designed to be compatible with a wide range of cranksets.PRECISION Podiiiium is a major step forward based on the same patent pending PRECISION 3-D strain gauge technology that powers pro cycling teams Quick-Step Floors and BORA-hansgrohe to dominance on the UCI World Tour.
PRECISION Podiiiium is designed to support a full suite of dual compatibility not presently available from any other manufacturer. The PRECISION dual configuration is unique in it’s ability to switch to a single-side powermeter on the fly, providing an inherent backup system.
Cyclists will be able to enjoy PRECISION Podiiiium Ride Ready dual options starting with Shimano FC-R9100 and FC-R8000. Extensive Factory Install crank compatibility offers the choice of single or dual-side for these models and FC-R6800. Additional models are scheduled to be released in the new year. PRECISION Podiiiium carries forward the well-known PRECISION quality for durable, lightweight and waterproof design that delivers extreme accuracy in all temperatures.
An attractive price point puts PRECISION Podiiiium well within reach of those with dual-side aspirations and a single-side budget.
• Factory Install options for Non-Drive Side start at $399, and Dual Factory Installs are priced starting at $749.
• Ride Ready Dual Options start at $999 including crankset.
• For a limited time, eligible FC-R6800 4iiii customers have the option to upgrade their current single-side PRECISION to PRECISION Podiiiium Dual for only $349.
PRECISION Podiiiium will be officially launched on September 20-22 at Interbike 2017 in Las Vegas with market availability to be announced Q1 2018.
Putting data in the saddle: How analytics drive innovation in pro cycling
SAS teams with sport performance power measurement provider 4iiii Innovations and high end bike manufacturer Argon 18 to raise the game for a UCI women’s cycling team.
By: Sylvie Tache, Marketing Manager SAS Canada
There are few spectacles in sport as riveting as a sprint finish in a road cycling race. Dozens or hundreds of kilometers come down to a 200-metre dash reaching speeds of up to 70 km/h, as many as eight or 10 riders pushing the boundaries of physical exertion. It’s not a matter of inches, but fractions of seconds—a perfectly timed half-crank of a pedal, a literal “throw” of the chassis—that make the difference between a stage win and a “same time.”
But road cycling is also a team sport, a sport of specialists playing their roles with split-second timing in support of an overall strategy for a stage, a tour, even a season. Climbers force the issue on hilly stages, exhausting competitors who try to keep touch; domestiques, junior riders, create a draft to minimize the effort of the star finishers (or you can use leader), dropping back to fetch water bottles and even giving up their bikes to senior riders with a flat or mechanical issue; all-rounders (“rouleurs”, in French, the language of cycling) chase down opponents’ breakaways, set up sprinters for the final mad dash, and serve as on-course captains when quick tactical decisions have to be made. Each specialty rewards different riding styles, different performance metrics, even different physiques. Collecting and analyzing this data can help a team fit together the pieces of the strategic puzzle in a way that optimizes the use of team resources for a competitive edge.
That’s exactly the approach taken by SAS-MAGOCEP-ACQUISIO (SMA), the only professional Canadian women’s team with a license to race internationally, on the UCI Women’s World Tour. SMA is using state-of-the-art sensors and analytics software to fuel its rise though international (UCI) cycling ranks, with eyes fixed firmly on the coming 2020 Olympic Games.
Three years ago, the team embarked on a path to performance optimization built around three pillars:
- Ultra-lightweight Gallium-Pro and E-118 Next bicycles from Montreal-based Argon 18, incorporating design innovations that deliver maximum aerodynamic performance, stiffness and precise handling;
- PRECISION powermeters, a Bluetooth and ANT+ wireless sensor that transmits power data to a handlebar-mounted computer by Polar, which incorporates physiological data from wearable technology like heart-rate monitors and GPS geographical to paint a picture of athlete performance while adding only nine grams of weight to the bicycle—a critical consideration given the goal of barely exceeding the Union Cycliste Internationale (UCI) minimum weight of 6.8 kg;
- Sports analytics software from SAS, which collects extensive data on rider performance, physiological and psychological data, and more, allowing coaches, trainers and the athletes themselves to discover patterns and connections to develop training plans and support strategic decisions.
“Most of the decisions by the team management, coaches and athletes were based on feelings and sensations… with all of the sophisticated sensors, technology, and knowledge, today’s analytics is way more sophisticated than it used to be. For a cycling team, this is gold.” Pascal Hervé, Mentor of the team, retired French professional rider.
Getting athletes and coaches to share that sensitive data for analysis by an outside firm like SAS can be difficult, says Martin Lesauteur, who collects, cleans and preps data for analytics for the team.
“If you look at the Tour de France, nobody’s sharing anything,” Lesauteur says. Data can be used as a weapon—collect enough of it and you can reverse-engineer the athlete, probing weaknesses to be exploited. SAS’s relationship with SMA—it’s the team’s biggest sponsor in terms of technology and cash investment—provides a level of comfort for everyone involved.
A self-described “obsessive-compulsive cyclist” — “I’m so scared that when I die, my wife is going to sell my bikes for what I told her I paid for them,” he grimaces—Lesauteur has been collecting and analyzing data about his own cycling performance for years. He brings a wealth of self-taught expertise to the sophisticated tools on offer from SAS and 4iiii (as well as roadside mechanical expertise at some races).
Correlating performance data, physiological data, and profiles of upcoming races can optimize a rider’s training plan. It can also help ward of the insidious threat of overtraining—athletes can drive themselves beyond the point where their muscles and aerobic systems can recover for upcoming races. One SMA rider’s overtraining pattern cost her a month on wheels, and several months until full recovery. The data was pointing to overtraining, but the athlete didn’t feel it physically until it was too late.
“That’s an example of measuring an athlete on an individual basis, but the impact on the team was huge because she was one of our best athletes, and we lost her for three weeks to a month,” says Lesauteur.
And the program is about the team as much as it’s about individual racers. Data can help the team make roster decisions for a given race to give the team the best chance to win. Power output, revolutions per minute, heart rate, GPS data, fatigue, pedaling cadence, watt-to-weight ratio—all this data and more is poured into training profiles and race-day decisions, says rider Emma Bedard.
“If you have a specific type of race, for instance if you know it’s a hilly race versus a flat race, or whether it’s an endurance event versus a shorter punchy race, it helps select the type of athletes that are perhaps better-suited than others for certain courses,” says Bedard, a former triathlete who switched to full-time cycling because of a nagging hip injury.
Data can match the right racer to the right terrain with the right fatigue curve, helping determine the role of each athlete within an overall race strategy, says SMA coach David Duluth. For example, the data can pick out a racer capable of endurance riding, but not at peak speed, and pair her as a “leadout” rider for a sprinter, pulling her teammate to that crucial juncture where she can take over the race. On the other hand, data can identify that top-speed rider to put at the end of the leadout train.
Data can also help guide recruitment efforts, says Lesauteur. It can identify riders to fill specific roles—a sprinter, a climber, a junior rider to be groomed for a starring role while serving as a domestique. The team can then focus on promising additions to add depth or complement other riders and the team as a whole.
It’s a far cry from 20 years ago, says Pascal Hervé, a retired French professional rider who serves as a mentor to the team. Hervé has an impressive European road racing resume, with multiple appearances in the Tour de France, Vuelta a España and Giro d’Italia, along with the 1992 Summer Olympics. In the 1990s and early 2000s, teams relied on hospital tests for maximum oxygen capacity (VO2 max) and lactate buildup. It could take days or weeks for test results to be returned, and they were analyzed by people who “did not have a clue” about cycling, Hervé says.
“Most of the decisions by the team management, coaches and athletes were based on feelings and sensations,” Hervé says. “With all of the sophisticated sensors, technology, and knowledge, today’s analytics is way more sophisticated than it used to be. For a cycling team, this is gold.”
Data touches virtually every element of a cycling team’s corporate strategy. On race day, though, it comes down to the riders. And while technology can provide feedback on a huge range of performance and physiological factors, one element still eludes measurement in real-time: the athlete’s psyche, how she reacts psychologically to fatigue, stress, race conditions, etc. Being able to quantify and monitor such information and overlay it on the data already collected could be a critical differentiator.
“One day, we’ll have a little device we can attach to the helmet,” says Lesauteur. “We’re not there yet.”
Full article found on www.sas.com