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TECH NEWS
2025 BikeOn Cycleclick - 1 (credit: BikeOn)A 70g power meter with tool-free installation for £115? What’s the catch?
BikeOn says its CycleClick power meter will attach to your bike chain in seconds without tools and provide accuracy comparable to a high-end device at a pre-launch price of just US$149 (which converts to £115 using today’s exchange rate).
Well, this is all very odd, isn’t it? What the hell is going on here?
In short, BikeOn’s CycleClick power meter is a device that fits onto your bike chain, held in place just by a ball and socket system that mounts in most cases to your front derailleur. BikeOn reckons that CycleClick can detect your cadence and measure power up to 2000W. It’s unlike anything else currently on the market and, we have to say, first impressions make us hugely sceptical that this is going to rival power meters from the major players, but let’s see what’s going on here.
Most power meters rely on strain gauges in the pedal axle, cranks, spider or hub, depending on the type of system. Power is the product of torque and speed (or, more accurately, angular velocity).
BikeOn co-founder Aram Novikov says, “We wanted to avoid the limitation of building the strain gauges into a load-bearing part, which means that the strain gauge has to measure very tiny displacement. Here we got rid of that limitation.”
Instead BikeOn’s CycleClick system relies on a device that fits over the chain. The chain runs through a channel that features a hump.
“That hump actually makes the rollers press the bottom portion of the sensor,” says Novikov. Inside we have the strain gages which measure the deflection of the bottom portion and that gives us the torque, the tension of the chain.”
2025 BikeOn Cycleclick - 3 (credit: BikeOn)And what about the speed of the chain? This is taken by a little roller contained in the CycleClick device.
As for installation, you zip tie a small plastic part to your front derailleur (a separate housing will be available for 1x setups without a front derailleur) and the device itself clips to a retention arm with a simple ball connection.
You’re dubious, aren’t you? As you can imagine, plenty of people on social media have been vocal about their doubts that the CycleClick could deliver accurate results, but BikeOn has come out fighting.
It says that the device is free to move laterally with the chain when you shift chainrings and that it will not come off easily. BikeOn also says that having a wet or dirty chain makes no difference to the results and that it doesn't matter whether the spring of your derailleur is heavy or light.
Will a bouncing chain affect things? BikeOn says that the CycleClick “becomes part of the chain” and will bounce itself.
“It can bounce, but because it’s so lightweight, the bouncing does not affect the measurements,” says Novikov. “It does not introduce any significant noise. If the device bounces on the chain, it indicates there is no tension and no power to measure.”
The CycleClick automatically zeroes itself periodically.
“Some people say there are too many variables on a moving chain for these [measurements] to be accurate,” says Novikov. “It depends on how you design it. The device becomes part of the chain. It's very lightweight, and forces acting on the device are very small. So no, there are not too many variables. We measure the tension, we measure the speed of the chain, all the movement… It's all accounted for.”
A microcontroller within the device is said to deduce cadence, for example, by measuring the peaks of force, and this allows analysis of left/right power distribution and pedalling smoothness.
BikeOn also argues that the CycleClick doesn’t add a significant amount of resistance – only about 0.1% – and that the device is accurate to +/-1%.
“The device does introduce some disturbance, but it's very, very small and does not affect the precision, and does not affect your feel as you pedal,” says Novikov.
BikeOn has compared power measurements from its CycleClick with those from a Favero Assioma Uno pedal-based system and claims the data correlates closely. CycleClick syncs with your smartphone and you can get detailed statistics via BikeOn’s app, or link up with popular training apps like Strava, Zwift, TrainingPeaks, TrainerRoad, and so on.
2025 BikeOn Cycleclick - 2 (credit: BikeOn)CycleClick is said to be waterproof and dustproof (with an IP67 rating) and is designed to operate in temperatures from -10°C to 60°C. BikeOn says it weighs about 70g, measures 125mm x 40mm x 17mm, and is rechargeable via USB-C
BikeOn says it will launch a crowdfunding campaign for CycleClick but you can get early access via prelaunch.com where you can leave a small refundable deposit to reserve “the lowest price ever” of $149.
It’s very interesting and all, but could the BikeOn CycleClick really offer decent power measurement? It reminds us a little of Polar’s CS600 with Power which used chain tension and chain speed to derive power – although we didn’t find it particularly accurate (and it’s no longer made). We’re naturally approaching this with caution but we're not going to dismiss the BikeOn CycleClick before we've used it – that’s not our style. Let's just say that we’ll be very interested to see how this one performs in the real world.
Mat has been in cycling media since 1996, on titles including BikeRadar, Total Bike, Total Mountain Bike, What Mountain Bike and Mountain Biking UK, and he has been editor of 220 Triathlon and Cycling Plus. Mat has been road.cc technical editor for over a decade, testing bikes, fettling the latest kit, and trying out the most up-to-the-minute clothing. He has won his category in Ironman UK 70.3 and finished on the podium in both marathons he has run. Mat is a Cambridge graduate who did a post-grad in magazine journalism, and he is a winner of the Cycling Media Award for Specialist Online Writer. Now over 50, he's riding road and gravel bikes most days for fun and fitness rather than training for competitions.
Latest Comments
- BikingBud 0 sec ago
I refer to being an engineer only to emphasise my consideration of the logical approach that should be applied in the justice system, rather than...
- chrisonabike 1 hour 28 min ago
But is it compatible with elliptical chainrings?
- David9694 1 hour 30 min ago
Parking fail as car left teetering on top of stone wall Oh dear https://www.devonlive.com/news/local-news/parking-fail-car-left-teeterin...
- mctrials23 2 hours 1 min ago
"As a cyclist myself..."...
- chrisonabike 2 hours 4 min ago
Well, you could get a rusty omafiets (would you be happy for it to weight slightly more than double, assuming you've a fairly heavy road bike)? Or...
- jaymack 2 hours 48 min ago
We must be related!
- The_Ewan 4 hours 18 min ago
But why worry if a few people do? It's just not a big deal....
- Tom_77 5 hours 22 min ago
Tempted to get him a sweary birthday cake like in The Thick Of It....
- Bigtwin 5 hours 51 min ago
Didn't happen did it? They came into my shop a couple of years back and said it was "on the way", but never heard anything more.
- Steve K 6 hours 23 min ago
Very parochially, I've still not forgiven Pearson's for abandoning their roots by leaving Sutton.
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36 comments
As I recall the power transmitted by a pulley or chain drive depends on the difference in tension between the two sides of the chain or belt. Presumably the tension at the bottom is low enough to be considered zero.
Looks like a good approach to me.
Rocky Mountain has been using this method to measure rider torque successfully for while on their Dyname ebike motors. Scroll down here to see a cut through showing how it works:
https://bikes.com/en-intl/pages/dyname-4
Most others use a strain gauge on the cranks, which tends to fail eventually due to water ingress and/or crank strikes.
At last! - a power meter that will work with my L-shaped cranks
But is it compatible with elliptical chainrings?
I'm certainly not going to rush to put in a pre-order, but there have definitely been much crazier inventions, and some outright scams, reported on by this web site in the past.
Could be good for power reference levels on a basic turbo trainer bike set up. Interested.
I guess it could, but you can buy a used smart trainer for half the price of this or less which will give you power numbers as well as resistance and connection to training apps.
One positive is that it reminded me of Polar's first power meter that measured chain bounce to estimate chain tension to estimate power. I guess this effectively eliminates the first step in that estimation process.
This seems to use a much more reliable means of estimating power than the Polar CS600 with Power: the force normal to a hump in the chain which will be more or less proportional to the longitudinal force in the chain. Analogous to an ammeter that adds a small resistance into a circuit across which it reads the voltage. The device will create a small amount of extra noise and has a short battery life (10 hours on a single charge) but aside from that, as a low cost power meter the main question would seem to be around longevity. What are the wearing components made of? Are they replaceable? How many miles will this device last?
Ten hours on a charge doesn't seem enough, I would have to carry a spare battery on longer rides. How about if they added a mini generator to the speed measuring roller then it would be self charging and it should be minimal extra drag for the power required to run the device.
Maybe a piezo generator which would also have the benefit of being very light.
"Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic,"
attributed to science fiction writer and futurist Arthur C. Clarke.
His demo unit looks pretty scuffed up, which makes me wonder if it's flapping out and contacting the foot as it passes, which would seem to be... suboptimal.
It probably flops that way by design. If it flopped the other way it would end up in the spokes which is even more suboptimal. So, good design there!
*checks date*.
That was my first thought too, has Road.cc published this article a week early by accident?
Yep - said the same on the YT comments...
I can think of many catches.
increased drive friction
Power Loss
Faster chain wear
Power device wear though chain
How is accuracy compensated for temperature and oil or wax librication.
Seems a rubbish idea....
Extra noise
The increased drive friction causes power loss, so are effectively only one negative. I struggle to see how it would cause higher chain wear, as it seem only the top/bottom of the plates are contacted, and wear to those wouldn't cause chain elongation. (Unless you mean that the articulation this device causes would result in increased wear, which although technically is the case it doesn't seem to be more than a few mm so would me negligible.) I hope the 'hump' is properly hardened, and also replaceable for when it eventually wears out. I also can't see how lubricant type would affect tension in the chain, which seems to be what they are measuring. On the 'rubbish idea' bit, i can see it being usefull for someone who wants a cheap, hopefully accurate power meter for training (as power losses matter less than racing / trying to get somewhere quickly), maybe a student? The noise is definitely true though. On the 'rubbish idea', if it doesn't work, definitely. If it does, there are definitely people (such as me) who would be interested. The Polar power meter (according to an episode of the Marginal Gains podcast) worked ok uphill with enough tinkering/precise inputs e.g. mass of chain, presumeably due to higher tension and less high frequency vibration due to lower speed? So this could work, and probably/possibly/hopefully has a market.
Seems an okay design to me, but I get the point where you are coming from, because it indeed seems weird.
Power loss; yes, but the parts that contact the chain could be made to rotate with the chain.
Faster Chain wear; same as above; rotating parts reduce chain wear.
Accuraccy with dirty vs waxed chain; well, it shouldn't matter and here's why: the chian goes over a bump. If it is in tension, that bump will get pressed down, which is how the power is measured. The more force you put through the pedals the more the chain will "stretch" and push down the bump. Kt is directly in line behind the top of the chainring which is directly where the chain pulls on the cassette and the chain is the most in tension, so that's a good design.
Chain lube should not affect this, yes it might affect cadence a bit because the device has friction, but so does a waxed chain change power measurement in a wheel hub power measurement, because the chain is more effective, smoother and what not.
The only way you avoid loosing accuracy through the chain is by measuring at the crank, pedal or shoe. Measuring in the hub is the watts actually delivered to the wheel, while measuring in the shoe is the watts applied, they will always be different, even with 100% accuracy.
On the "faster chain wear" objection: chains are very hard-wearing and are designed to survive in pretty mucky conditions under high loads for a good period of time. My guess is that the components in this device are mostly plastic and are not as tough as the average chain. To say that this is going to wear your chain out is like saying that, of all the things in your drivetrain, it's your derailleur's plastic jockey wheels that are the things that keep wearing your chain out
Which in turn would raise questions about the likely durability of the product, and what happens if/when the chain starts wearing/cutting in to those parts.
Next up - a system for measuring your speed without needing expensive and battery intensive GPS or fallible electronics using a cleverly calibrated roller which runs on the side of your wheel!
Ah yes. I used to have a Cateye speedometer. Back in 1960s, a little metal thing that showed mileage. Cheap stopwatch in pocket gave time to calculate speed but had to protect from sweat.
Today: my phone talks to Polar HR10 heart monitor strap (bought following massive ha) and gives speed via GPS
Imagine riding with your chain cleaner attached.
I assume it's so loud you won't need a bell anymore. People will hear you from miles away.
Seriously, if it's halfway good I'd get one.
Spot on
If it is a halfway decent power meter and a halfway decent chain cleaner and a halfway decent alternative to a bell, i'll get 1.5.
That'll only get you to 3/4 of each though.
I'll still be doing better than Meatloaf.
You mean like Scottoiler?
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