Sagan debuts Specialized power meter at Tour Down Under

Sagan debuts Specialized power meter at Tour Down Under

New dual-side meters paired with Bora-Hansgrohe's Specialized Tarmacs

Josh Evans/Immediate Media

Published: January 10, 2018 at 12:02 am

This article was originally published on Cyclingnews

Three-time World Champion Peter Sagan and his Bora-Hansgrohe teammates are to race on a new and as yet unseen power meter from Specialized for the WorldTour season opener in Australia.

The dual-side power meter features a small unit on the spider of a Shimano Dura-Ace R9100 crankset and is adorned with the iconic ‘S’ of Specialized.

On the non-drive side, a strain gauge sits on the inside of the crank in a similar style to other leading power meters.

The meters are dual-sided with a sensor mounted on the spider and one on the left crank arm - Colin Levitch / Immediate Media

Interestingly, Sagan's bike had a 4iiii power meter on his non-drive side crank, while his teammates are equipped with both sides of the power meter from Specialized. Although the Bora-Hansgrohe mechanic assured us that this was due to time constraints ahead of a training ride. 4iiii provided the Bora-Hansgrohe team’s power meters during the 2017 season.

Specialized have long been rumoured to be producing a power meter and join component giants Shimano in introducing its meter to the WorldTour for the 2018 season.

The 4iiii power meter on Sagan's non-drive side crank has had the label blacked out with a marker pen - Josh Evans/Immediate Media

Shimano claim that six WorldTour teams will be using their power meter this season, eclipsing the formerly prominent SRM and replacing Stages and Pioneer for Team Sky and Sunweb respectively.

Bora-Hansgrohe have opted to pair the new Specialized power meters with Wahoo Elemnt Bolt head units, and use K-Edge out-front mounts.

Last weekend, new S-Works shoes and an updated aero helmet were seen at the Australian national road race championships in Ballarat.

The majority of the Bora-Hansgrohe team were equipped with the new shoes from Specialized in an eye-catching fluoro orange to yellow fade, and some riders also opted for the new aero helmet in Bora-Hansgrohe colours.

Bora-Hansgrohe pair the Specialized power meters with a Wahoo Elemnt Bolt computer and K-Edge mount - Josh Evans/Immediate Media

BikeRadar has contacted Specialized for a comment regarding their new power meter and will update this story with their response.

Flip through the gallery at the top for a closer look a the Specialized powermeter.