Ibike Newton powerstroke User manual

iBike®NewtonTM PowerStrokeTM

Operating Instructions

Newton OS 3.0 and higher

Isaac SW 2.0 and higher

June 2013

PROTECTED BY ONE OR MORE OF THE FOLLOWING US PATENTS

7,387,029; 7,377,180; D528,451

NOTE: THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE TO BE USED IN CONJUNCTION

WITH THE “NEWTON PM INSTRUCTIONS”, AND “ISAAC SOFTWARE

INSTRUCTIONS”, AVAILABLE SEPARATELY. FOR DETAILED

INFORMATION ON HOW TO OPERATE YOUR NEWTON, AND ISAAC

SOFTWARE, PLEASE REFER TO THEIR RESPECTIVE INSTRUCTIONS.

Other iBike resources:

Take advantage of the large community of iBike owners

participating in the iBike Forum:

www.ibikeforum.com

OR, please email us at

technicalsupport@velocomp.com

Also, check out our blog:

www.ibikeblog.com

Make sure to visit our website frequently to get the very

latest in iBike product, software, and information

updates:

www.ibikesports.com

Introduction

PowerStroke is iBike’s exclusive measurement suite of front-to-back and

side-to-side wobble motion of the bicycle, and the analysis of the Wasted

Watts, Wasted Motion, and Wasted Time caused by wobbling.

PowerStroke works by adding new technology both to the iBike Newton, and

iBike Isaac software.

In PowerStroke mode the Newton records its data at high speed (16 times

per second), vs. the typical once per second.

Then, iBike Isaac software analyzes the high-speed data, determining the

front-to-back and side-to-side wobbling motion of the bike each 10 degrees

of a pedal stroke. Wobble measurements and associated Wasted Watts,

Wasted Motion, and Wasted Time stats are shown in Isaac’s PowerStroke

Window.

NOTE: THESE INSTRUCTIONS ARE TO BE USED IN CONJUNCTION

WITH THE “NEWTON INSTRUCTIONS”, AND “ISAAC

INSTRUCTIONS”, AVAILABLE SEPARATELY IN THE “HELP/HELP

DOCUMENTS…” MENU OF ISAAC SOFTWARE. FOR DETAILED

INFORMATION ON HOW TO OPERATE YOUR NEWTON, AND ISAAC

SOFTWARE, PLEASE REFER TO THEIR RESPECTIVE INSTRUCTIONS.

SETTING UP THE NEWTON POWERSTROKE

NOTE: IF YOUR NEWTON POWERSTROKE IS “BRAND NEW” AND HAS

NEVER BEEN USED BEFORE, CONSULT THE “NEWTON

INSTRUCTIONS”, LOCATED IN THE HELP MENU OF ISAAC, TO

PERFORM BASIC SETUP, TILT CALIBRATION, AND CALIBRATION

RIDE OF YOUR NEWTON. PERFORM THE BASIC SETUP STEPS AND

CALIBRATIONS BEFORE PROCEEDING WITH THESE INSTRUCTIONS.

To use the Newton PowerStroke, these four, one-time setup steps are

required:

1) Download and install the latest version of Newton firmware, and Isaac

software

2) Purchase and install the PowerStroke upgrade key (not required if

your Newton came pre-installed with the PowerStroke key)

3) Set PowerStroke recording mode to “Yes” (on)

4) After your first PowerStroke ride, set the position of your cadence

sensor

The above four steps need to be done only once.

NOTICE: IF YOU’VE PREVIOUSLY SET UP AND CALIBRATED YOUR

NEWTON, AFTER INSTALLING POWERSTROKE YOU DO NOT HAVE TO

RECALIBRATE YOUR NEWTON

STEP ONE: INSTALL THE LATEST VERSIONS OF

NEWTON FIRMWARE AND ISAAC SOFTWARE

PowerStroke requires that your Newton have firmware version 3.0 (or

higher) installed, and that your Isaac software is version 2.0 (or higher).

You can obtain the most current (and free) firmware and software upgrades

using your Isaac software:

Firmware

1. Attach your Newton to your Mac/PC.

2. Turn on your Newton (click any button; screen lights-up)

3. Launch the Isaac software

4. Go to “Device/Check Online for Firmware updates…”

5. Follow the prompts to download and install the latest version of

Newton firmware.

6. At the end of the update, you will receive a message showing the

version of firmware installed. This version will be a number, and must

be 3.0 or higher

Software

1. Launch your Isaac software

2. Go to “Help/Check Online for Software Update…”

3. Follow the prompts to download and install the latest version of Isaac

software.

4. At the end of the update, re-launch Isaac. The startup screen will

show the version of Isaac software installed, which must be 2.0 or

higher.

STEP TWO: PURCHASE/INSTALL POWERSTROKE

KEY

NOTE: IF YOU HAVE PURCHASED AN IBIKE NEWTON POWER METER

WITH THE POWERSTROKE KEY PRE-INSTALLED, SKIP THIS STEP

AND PROCEED TO STEP 3!

1. Purchase a PowerStroke Key from the iBike Store.

2. You will receive an email from Velocomp, instructing you to email the

serial number of your Newton.

3. To obtain the serial number of your Newton, do the following:

1. Attach your Newton to your Mac/PC.

2. Turn on your Newton (click any button; screen lights-up)

3. Launch the Isaac software

4. Go to “Device/SN and FW Version…”

5. In a few seconds, the serial number of your Newton will appear in a

window.

6. Copy and paste your serial number into your reply email

4. Velocomp will send you a return email, with the PowerStroke key

included as an attachment.

5. To install the PowerStoke key into your Newton, do the following:

1. Transfer the PowerStroke key from the email to your computer’s

Desktop

2. Attach your Newton to your Mac/PC.

3. Turn on your Newton (click any button; screen lights-up)

4. Launch the Isaac software

5. Go to “Device/Unlock Feature…”

6. Follow the prompts to navigate to your PowerStroke key

7. Click the “Upload” button

8. It takes just a few seconds for the key to be installed. At the end of

the installation, you’ll see a message saying that the PowerStroke

feature has been installed.

9. Download any ride files stored on your Newton.

10. Erase your ride data from your Newton.

Once installed, your PowerStroke key will be stored permanently in

your Newton. You will not ever need to install the key again.

STEP THREE: SET POWERSTROKE RECORDING TO

“ON”

TIP: After installing your PowerStroke key, your Newton is automatically

set to record your ride files in PowerStroke mode (“ON FAST REC”).

You can check if your Newton is in PowerStroke record mode, in either of

these two ways:

WHEN WAKING YOUR NEWTON FROM SLEEP

Whenever your Newton is awakened from sleep, AND your Newton is set to

record in PowerStroke mode, this screen will appear:

To continue with your Newton set to record ride data in PowerStroke mode,

simply click the center button to dismiss the reminder message

TIP: When awakening from sleep, if your Newton is NOT set to PowerStroke

mode, you won’t see the “On Fast Rec” reminder message

FROM THE SETUP SEQUENCE

Alternatively, at any time you can enter Setup (Press-hold the up arrow),

and click the up arrow a few times. When in PowerStroke mode is “on”

you’ll see this screen:

To return to the main screen, press-hold the up arrow to exit Setup.

TURNING POWERSTROKE RECORDING OFF

For long rides, or when doing starting a ride where your Newton’s memory

is nearly full, you will want to turn PowerStroke recording “Off”, so that you

don’t run out of ride memory during your ride.

When PowerStroke recording is “on” (you see the “On Fast Rec” screen), to

turn PowerStroke “off”, do the following:

Turning off when waking from Sleep

1) When waking the Newton from sleep, if the “On Fast Rec” screen is

seen, press-hold the center button for a few seconds. The word “On”

flashes. Click any arrow; the word “Off” will flash.

2) To accept, click the center button. The word “Done” will flash

momentarily, then the main screen will appear. PowerStroke

recording has been turned off.

Turning off from Setup screens:

1) From any main screen, press-hold the up arrow to enter Setup. Click

the up arrow a few times, until you see the “On Fast Rec” screen.

Press-hold the center button. The word “On” flashes. Click any

arrow; the word “Off” flashes. Click to accept. The word “Done”

flashes for a few seconds, the unit then returns to the main screen,

and PowerStroke recording has been turned off.

TURNING POWERSTROKE RECORDING ON

When PowerStroke recording is off (“Off Fast Rec”), you must enter Setup

to turn PowerStroke recording on. Do the following:

1) Enter Setup.

2) Click the up arrow a few times. The screen “Off Fast Rec” will appear

3) Click the center button. The word “Off” will flash

4) Click any arrow; the word “On” flashes.

5) To accept your choice, click the center button. The word “Done”

flashes for a few seconds, the unit returns automatically to the main

screen, and PowerStroke recording has been turned on.

STEP 4: SET CADENCE SENSOR POSITION

PowerStroke ride files include information regarding the mounting position

of your cadence sensor on your left chain stay.

After downloading your first PowerStroke ride, Isaac will prompt you to

state where your cadence sensor is positioned on your bike (“Above” or

“Below” the left chain stay). Your response will be stored in the profile for

your bike, and also be transmitted to your Newton.

USING POWERSTROKE ON THE ROAD

Hi-speed PowerStroke recording works “behind the scenes”.

When in PowerStroke mode you won’t see ANY differences in the on-the-

road operation of your Newton, EXCEPT that your ride memory will fill much

more quickly.

Why does memory fill quickly? In PowerStroke mode, your Newton records

sensor data at high speed, 16 times per second, instead of the usual “one

time per second”, or “one time per five seconds” recording rate (depending

on the setting you have selected previously).

NOTICE: POWERSTROKE RECORDING MODE USES A LOT OF

MEMORY! IN POWERSTROKE MODE, MAXIMUM RIDE RECORDING

TIME IS 6.5-26.0 HOURS (WITH MEMORY FULLY ERASED PRIOR TO

STARTING THE RIDE), DEPENDING ON NEWTON MODEL.

TIP: IN POWERSTROKE MODE WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND THAT YOU

DOWNLOAD YOUR RIDE DATA AFTER EACH RIDE, THEN ERASE YOUR

NEWTON RIDE MEMORY IMMEDIATELY THEREAFTER.

ANALYZING POWERSTROKE FILES WITH ISAAC

SOFTWARE

NOTICE: PowerStroke files can be read only with Isaac software, version

2.0 or higher

IMPORTANT: WE STRONGLY RECOMMEND YOU READ THE APPENDIX,

WHICH PROVIDES DESCRIPTIONS OF THE CONCEPTS AND MEASUREMENTS

THAT ARE DISCUSSED IN THIS SECTION

In these instructions we will concentrate on features unique to PowerStroke;

for all other instructions regarding Isaac software, please consult the Isaac

Instructions, located in the “Help/Help Documents/Isaac Instructions” menu

item of your Isaac software.

DOWNLOADING RIDE FILES

There is no difference in downloading PowerStroke ride files, EXCEPT that

they take much longer to download. This is because the files are very large,

due high speed data rate used in PowerStroke.

If you’ve done a very long ride, it can take several minutes to download a

PowerStroke file; be patient!

Launch Isaac. Use the Device/Download Data… command to download ride

files from your Newton.

When a PowerStroke ride file is opened, your PowerStroke data is processed

behind the scenes. This can take a few seconds; please be patient:

Displaying PowerStroke Wasted Watts in Main Window

PowerStroke Wasted Watts can be displayed in the main window, as

follows:

1) In the main window, touch the “Show” button in the top right of the

main window. This window will appear:

2) In the bottom left corner, select the “Wasted Watts” radio button in the

lower left corner. Then, select Accept.

In the main window, in the lowest portion of the graph, you’ll see your

Wasted Watts displayed, divided into one minute increments. By looking at

your power/elevation/wind data above, you can associate your Wasted

Watts with changes in your riding conditions, such as drafting, climbing

hills, or speed.

The PowerStroke Window

In these instructions we will use the “Sample Ride” file (located in the Help

menu of Isaac) to illustrate PowerStroke functionality.

To see PowerStroke stats for the entire ride file, click the PowerStroke icon:

To analyze PowerStroke information for a selected portion of the ride, while

in the main window, highlight the portion of the ride you want to analyze,

then click the PowerStroke icon

NOTE: FOR BEST QUALITY OF POWERSTROKE ANALYSIS, SELECT AT LEAST

A ONE MINUTE PORTION OF YOUR RIDE

If your ride WAS recorded in PowerStroke mode, after a few seconds the

PowerStroke window for your ride file will appear.

Here is the PowerStroke window for the entire ride:

NOTE: IN THE “WASTED MOTION” PLOT AND “RIGHT CRANK” PLOT, RIGHT

STROKE INFORMATION IS COLORED IN PINK. LEFT STROKE INFORMATION

IS COLORED IN LIGHT BLUE.

NOTE: CLICKING THE PLAY (>) BUTTON IN THE LOWER LEFT CORNER

CAUSES THE WASTED MOTION AND CRANK VIEW PLOTS TO ANIMATE. THE

YELLOW CURSOR (+) SHOWS THE COMPARABLE DATA AS THE CRANK

TURNS

NOTE: THE GREEN/YELLOW/RED RECTANGLES IN THE WASTED MOTION

PLOT CORRESPOND TO THE GREEN/YELLOW/RED COLORS IN THE WASTED

WATTS GAUGE

There are four sections to the PowerStroke Window. Each will be described

individually.

WASTED MOTION PLOT

The Wasted Motion Plot shows the motion of the bike, relative to the center

of mass of the rider, both side to side, and front to back, as the cyclist

pedals through a complete turn of the crank.

The amount of bike motion underneath the rider (in inches or cm,

depending on units selection) is shown on the vertical and horizontal axes.

Horizontal is side-to-side; vertical is front-to-back. To help with the

visualization of this movement, handlebars are shown in the view.

The cyclist’s actual motion for the pedal stroke is traced out by the

blue/pink curve. Where the curve is blue, the cyclist is pushing down with

his left leg; pink is right leg.

The more the cyclist pulsates left/right, or front/back, the larger the curve

expands, and the more the handlebars move around. Less wasted motion

will keep most of the curve within the green box (2 watts) of wasted

motion; larger amounts of wasted motion will push the curve into the

yellow, or even red boxes.

If the bike did not move AT ALL underneath the cyclist the curve would

shrink to a pinpoint at the center of the green box, and the handlebars

would be stationary. But zero motion IMPOSSIBLE, because the cyclist can

never be absolutely motionless with respect to the bike. So, the training

goal is to reduce the size of the curve, getting it consistently within

the green box.

Crank Stroke Plot

All cyclists know that their bike is propelled down the road by the power

(Propulsion Power) they apply to the pedals. And many cyclists know that

the bulk of their propulsion power comes unevenly during each crank

stroke—only a small portion of their propulsion power is applied at the top

and bottom of the crank stroke, and most propulsion power is applied

between.

What’s much less obvious is that the cyclist must ALSO supply power to

wobble the bike side-to-side, and front-to-back. Because this power does

NOT move the bike down the road, it is wasted effort: Wasted Watts.

The Crank Stroke plot focuses on the bike’s forward-and-back wasted

motion of the bike, during a crank turn. Indeed, this forward/back motion

captures the pulsating motion of the cyclist’s body. The cyclist weighs much

more than the bike, so small motions of the cyclist's body results in larger

motions of the bike. There is a spring-like push-pull pulsation between

cyclist and bike that creates the unique pattern shown in the Crank Stroke

Plot. If the bike and rider had no spring-like motion, the bike and rider

would move with the small and gentle pulsation pattern as shown in by the

green line in the Crank Stroke Plot, as the legs exert torque and accelerate

the bike and rider down the road.

Aided by the Crank Plot, the training goal is to minimize excessive forward-

and-back pulsations caused by the cyclist’s spring-like body motion, and to

make the overall motion of the bike close to the ideal of smooth, even

acceleration and deceleration caused by application of power to the pedals.

Reading the Crank Plot

Here is a snapshot of the crank plot

Here’s how to get the most out of the Crank Stroke plot:

1) The Crank Plot shows the pedaling motion of the cyclist as the crank

turns, as viewed from the right (gear side) crank

2) Clicking the green Play (>) button at the bottom left animates the

Crank Plot, and also the Wasted Motion plot

3) The cyclist’s actual front-to-back movement is represented by pink

and blue colored dots. Each dot represents the actual motion of the

cyclist, for the time period selected, as the bike crank turns. The dots

are provided at 10 degree increments.

4) Pink dots show the movement of the bike while the right crank stroke

is applied. Blue dots show the movement of the bike while the left

crank stroke is applied

5) The yellow “+” cursor appears both in the Crank Plot and the Wasted

Motion plot, allowing the two plots to be lined-up with each other

6) The Green Oval shows the Ideal motion of the bike. This idealized

motion was determined from published papers that measured top

cyclists’ power stroke, in a laboratory environment

7) The actual motion of the cyclist is shown relative to the ideal motion.

Where the dots are “outside” of the circle the motion is relatively

higher than ideal; where the dots are inside the motion is not as

much as ideal

8) The shaded grey area shows where Wasted Motion occurs. The

smaller the shaded area, the less the wasted motion

9) Deviations from the ideal are caused by any (or all) of these factors:

poor bike fit, improper frame size, excessively flexible frame material,

improper pedaling style.

PowerStroke Ride Stats Box

This box provides numerical summaries of the PowerStroke data analyzed,

for the portion (part or all) of the ride file selected in the main window:

1) “Selection Distance” is the down-the-road distance that has been

selected for analysis

2) “Ride Time” is the total time of the distance analyzed

3) “Propulsion Power” is the average power produced by the cyclist for

the period analyzed

4) “Wasted Watts” is the total watts wasted, due to side-to-side and

front-to-back motion. Beneath the Wasted Watts are the percentage

watts split between front-to-back and side-to-side

5) “Total Wasted Joules” is the energy wasted for the distance analyzed,

due to Wasted Motion

6) “Total Wasted Motion” is the total distance wobbled during the down-

the-road distance

7) “Wasted Time” is an indicator of how much time was wasted due to

Wasted Motion. This indicator assumes that 100% of wasted watts is

converted into Propulsion Watts

PowerStroke Wasted Watts Gauge

This gauge shows the Wasted Watts for the data analyzed. The colors in

the gauge correspond to the box colors in the Wasted Motion plot.

APPENDIX: POWERSTROKE CONCEPTS AND

MEASUREMENTS: “WOBBLING”; “WASTED

MOTION”TM, “WASTED TIME”TM, “WASTED

WATTS”TM; “IDEAL MOTION”; PROPULSION

POWER

PowerStroke includes iBike’s exclusive measurement suite of front-to-back

and side-to-side wobble motion of the bike, and the Wasted Watts, Motion,

and Time caused by wobbling.

This appendix discusses concepts and measurements that are central to

PowerStroke.

Wobbling

Riders are connected to their bikes through the pedals, seat, and

handlebars. On average the rider and bicycle must move down the road at

exactly the same speed (except, of course, in a crash!).

However, during the short time period of a crank revolution the rider isn’t

“glued” to the bike. In fact, the bike wobbles underneath the cyclist, both

side-to-side and front to back. More technically, the bike moves (wobbles),

relative to the center of mass of the bike + rider system.

The PowerStroke precisely measures the side-to-side and front-to back

wobbling of the bike, not in a laboratory environment, but in real-life bike

rides.

Wobbling is measured by the Newton’s accelerometer, and is defined as the

average distance the bike deviates side-to-side, and front-to-back, from the

rider’s center of mass during the period of time selected by the user.

Wobbling motion is reported in two graphs in the PowerStroke window: 1)

side-to-side vs. front-to-back, and 2) Front-to-back vs. crank angle.

Wobbling and Wasted Motion

Wobbling is extraneous movement of the bike—that’s Wasted Motion.

“Wasted Motion” is reported in three ways: the Wasted Motion graph, which

plots the side-to-side vs. front-to-back movement of the bike relative to the

rider; the Ideal Motion crank plot, which shows actual front-to-back motion

vs. crank angle; and the Wasted Motion measurement, which shows the

total amount of side-to-side and front-to-back movement of the bike, in feet

or meters, for the period of time selected by the user. Wasted Motion is

reported in the PowerStroke Stats Box.

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