BrakeAce's Power Meter Is Designed to Help Riders Improve Their Braking

Jun 30, 2020 at 14:19
by brakeace  
Jeff Lenosky s BrakeAce analysis
Our BrakeAce brake power meter and analysis app automatically crunch your ride data and tell you where to improve your braking.


PRESS RELEASE: BrakeAce

At BrakeAce, we want to help you get faster.

We surveyed riders at races and online, and 96% of them said that changing their braking habits would help them ride faster and have more fun. To date, it has been impossible to measure or record your braking with any meaningful data. Without any data or useful ways to understand it, everything related to braking has been left to guesswork.

We are here to change that.

Photo c o Robbie Dalziel
Our custom analytics are based on years of research from real MTB rides around the world

Using our patented brake power meter, BrakeAce automatically scores your braking based on numerous factors, turning incredibly complex raw data into simple, custom metrics. You can use these metrics to compare with your friends and as a starting point to measure your improvement. Say goodbye to guesswork!

Modulation Score? Yup.

Brake Effectiveness? Mmhmm.

How many times did you Brake Check? BrakeAce shows you.

Advanced corner analysis and Event Type characterizations
Our unique scores let you understand what you did and identify weaknesses no matter what level you are at. The advanced cornering analysis is a deep-dive for top riders.

And there's more: BrakeAce filters through every single brake event to show you what to do next.

You could be braking over 100 times on a single descent. This is a lot to digest when you want to get faster. BrakeAce cuts through the noise and helps you improve in bite-size chunks called your Key Opportunities—these are the places on the trail you can improve the most. As you head back to these Key Opportunities and improve with new lines and brake technique, BrakeAce ticks them off and shows you the next section to tackle.

bigquotesWe tested with BrakeAce for 2 days and I couldn’t believe how much I was brake checking or how little I used the front brake. We tidied up a few braking events, tried new lines on my Key Opportunities and that’s about it. I got a new fastest time.
-Caleb Bottcher, NZ National XC Team

Photo c o Ezra Newick

XC riders and roadies know that power meters have changed the game and helped them reach new heights in their fitness over the last 20 years. But while training tech for fitness riders is on every one of their bikes, there has never been any usable data for the mountain biker who wants to ride faster and have more fun.

bigquotesWe know that you can go faster just by changing your braking, but even if riders could collect braking data, raw numbers don’t really say much. Everyone has been blown away by their braking scores, and we both have huge smiles when we re-test with BrakeAce after a few runs. The data makes us ride more and think about riding more.”
-Matt Miller, BrakeAce Inventor & Founder

Photo c o Ezra Newick
EWS Pro, Sam Shaw, testing BrakeAce in Rotorua

BrakeAce started as a University project, but we soon realized that this didn't exist anywhere else. Dr Matt Miller, a New Zealand-based professional MTB coach who invented the brake power meter, founded BrakeAce after leaving his university job. SENSITIVUS Gauge from Denmark are working in collaboration with BrakeAce on sensing duties.

BrakeAce is available for this season to riders who want to get fast now.

For more information click here.

Photo c o Robbie Dalziel


Author Info:
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Member since Jun 14, 2020
6 articles
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74 Comments
  • 96 10
 I'm so happy I learned to mountain bike before all this stuff.
  • 14 3
 Truly it’s packaged very nicely, totally unobtrusive, and the interface looks amazing. But just the fact it exists is a little soul-sucking.
  • 2 6
flag madmon (Jul 1, 2020 at 17:55) (Below Threshold)
 what a friggin relief. Like the number of people clipping in this season at Whistler....what took so long some are still using grip shit
  • 5 0
 @madmon: Grip shift is cool, I kinda miss mine.
  • 4 1
 When you, if you, ever try to un-learn those bad habits you developed then you will wish you started with all the knowledge possible.
  • 8 0
 Jeff Lenosky did a Trail Boss episode where he sessioned a trail learning from the brake meter data, and it was really eye-opening. Wouldn't surprise me a bit if bad braking is the easiest low-hanging fruit for many readers to improve. Link: www.youtube.com/watch?v=io5m32G1ATE
  • 1 0
 @Jacquers: I loved them and was shamed by the clicking sound in 2002 and swapped to Shimano, never been happier with hardly a lost gear in so long and on so many bikes. I did like the bar room so I started using dual XTR's and even got more bar space for my big hands
  • 70 1
 I don't need a fancy graph to tell me I drag my back brake all the way down. My blue rotor tells me that for free.
  • 31 0
 You never have to worry about wandering bite point if you just drag a little brake the whole way down the mountain.
  • 40 2
 A lot of hate and "just ride your bike" comments. Maybe go do that and stop shitting on people who work on this stuff or find it interesting. Sure, this might not be needed by us commoners, but for pros I bet this is really valuable information.

I'd argue this is probably more useful than a power meter for a lot of XC guys on race day. This really gives you more of an understanding of how smoothly you rode a course than your power outputs. High power output events are generally remembered, but constant inefficient braking less so. When used together, what would be interesting is to see power spikes coming out of turns following inefficient braking or braking through turns. One of my biggest kryptonites racing is generally sucking at tech bits or finding myself exiting things more slowly than I want and being forced to power back up to race pace.

I'm curious to see where this will be adopted, if at all.
  • 5 0
 Cheers @cmuell89 fortunately the positive feedback has outweighed the few people here voicing their disinterest. We appreciate the support!
  • 44 4
 My Bike got Suspension and Brakes and wheels. I can ride it up a mountain. I can ride it down a mountain. I am a happy man.
  • 12 0
 I think this is brilliant. Shockwiz for brakes.

I can see this being a great rental application, to go along with a coaching session.

‘Just ride your bike’ blah blah blah. It all depends on what your goal is, and your goal isn’t ‘right’ for anyone but you.
  • 1 0
 @onterribleftw cheers!
  • 11 0
 Pretty sweet. Might need to get a setup for the downhill tandem teams in the area.
  • 10 1
 I need a brake from technology!
  • 8 1
 From the first pic it looks the height alignment could use use some work. Leaving a good portion of the braking surface untouched.
  • 1 1
 It's not even close
  • 4 1
 Shimano pads have a chamfer taken out of the bottom edge to check for pad wear. If the pads are reasonably new they’ll leave that line on the rotor. When the untouched part of the rotor has wear marks then you know it’s time to change pads.
  • 5 0
 Kudos for the creativity, I think market may be limited to pro circuit riders chasing those extra tenths though. Potentially this may work better as a rental rather than an outright purchase model for the rest of us.
  • 5 0
 My old Elixirs used to let me know I brake too much with realtime audible announcements. They were a hit with turkey hunters, too.
  • 3 0
 Matt showed me the prototype years ad years ago. It was amazing stuff then, glad to see it in finished form. Huge for downhiller's, but for xc guys it will help them not do needless braking and make the most of their braking they do do. You will be surprised how much you do front and rear and how much power each totals.. There is so much to braking.
  • 3 0
 This is the most suitable application of all the power meter jack-off-ery. I'd like to know if the raw/data derives actual watts scrubbed? Which brakes deliver "mo-par", etc., - that would be a brake shoot-out killer...
  • 1 0
 it does all that and more, lol. You will be surprised to see total power front and rear (measured in watts). When I saw the proto years ago I think that most people's braking was about 50-50 front to rear, and that matches with pad wear considering the rear pads do get more contaminated with sludge than the front. You constantly drag the back brakes, but cannot use great forces or the wheel will skid, but the front, which is used less, is used with greater force when it is used, so total wattage over time is similar. Dragging the rear brake is so useless, it is more of a psychological thing. Over come some bad habits and riding will improve.
  • 1 0
 @koalaplow keen as on the brake shoot-out!
  • 5 0
 Over-braking wasn't a thing when I started riding in the cantilever days.... usually just full send otb or into a tree.
  • 5 3
 The product I want is a really durable frame that rides well enough and has cheap replacement parts that are easy to source and install. I want hydraulic components that work well, are easily rebuildable, and built to last. I want them to never be completely replaced in the product line: at most, upgraded with new pieces, but only rarely. I want the bike to work, last, not require replacement, not require upgrading, and just work. I do not want more shitty crap.
  • 7 0
 So...a steel hardtail with Shimano kit?
  • 1 1
 @caltife: you won the internet today
  • 3 1
 @caltife: Not with the "easily rebuildable part". Shimano doesn't even sell spare parts for their brake levers, just the entire thing. Also considerably harder to source individual drivetrain pieces.
  • 1 0
 @tsheep: Steel hardtail with Hope and Box kit then?
  • 2 0
 I would be interested in giving something like this a try. I'm typically interested in the analytics of just about anything. Seems like it's probably going to be overly pricey though. Also, how would the front brake adapter fit in place when my caliper is directly on my fork?
  • 1 0
 This thing might be useful in finally ending (or at least adding more context to) the Shimano V.S. Sram V.S. (enter other competitor here) debates. New tech article idea eh?
Is Sram's modulation really just marketing speak for poor performance?
Are Shimano's actually too grabby or is that the rider?
Do Galfer pads and Rotors actually improve brake performance? (I think they do btw)
  • 3 0
 This is going to change the game. Watch out Sam Hill I’m coming for you. ????
  • 5 1
 PB review when? Sounds very interesting.
  • 2 2
 No app cannot tell me if i hit the sketchy corner too slow or too fast - you find upper limit when you go out of the corner. You don't need fancy app for this, there are already other well known "apps" - physics will tell you without doubt when you go too fast and fear will slow you down no matter what app on phone yells... Big Grin
  • 3 0
 most riders hit the corner too fast, then try to slow down in the corner. They will be faster to hit the corner at the right speed and take the corner with no brakes (or way less braking) and exit at a fast speed. Braking affects the suspension and the trail of the bike and the direction of forces. There is a HUGE amount to be learned from analyzing the braking data. This is not just some fancy phone app, it is the equivalent of power meters for pedaling.
  • 1 3
 @ajriding: its common knowledge (i presume) that you shouldn't brake in the corner. No need for app for that.
Driving without braking through corner have 2 scenarios:
- If you go too fast before corner - physics will tell you "no go", you will exit corner before end
- If you go too slow before corner, physics is telling you "pass". You try a little faster. Repeat until hit statement above
Thats all, i canno't see how fancy app could be better than this analogue technique Big Grin
  • 1 0
 @onyxss: Prepare you puny human mind to be blow…. Between the two of us one of us has actually seen this. Also, this is not some phone app that uses the phone to do the work, it is actually hardware, like a crank power meter, and all a phone would do is interface with the real hardware to make it easy for people to use.
People thought pedaling power meters were stupid too, they have revolutionized training. I don't think the brake meter will be as big of a leap, but there is lots to be learned from this. This is actual useable data that is far far more useful than "go, no-go" reasoning.
  • 1 0
 I know this seems a bit much, but I also know that I brake badly. If I had something that quantified this visually and enabled me to see improvements, I think it could be a real help.
  • 3 2
 Ha, it’s hard enough to find time to ride, who has time for checking braking data?!
  • 3 1
 People who care about improving.
  • 3 1
 Brakes just slow you down.
  • 2 0
 the more you know, the slower you go.
  • 2 0
 Those galfer rotors are awesome I've got those exact ones on my dh bike.
  • 1 0
 "Let my BrakeAce do the job" coming to high speed Friday Fails crashes soon!
  • 2 0
 This would help me so much.
  • 2 2
 Classic technology dilemma: Just because you can doesn't mean you should...
  • 2 1
 ".....You know that spot where you went too slow.....dont do that" P@$sy
  • 1 0
 I agree, that's what I yell at myself the whole time I ride "did you really need to brake there?! Why are you dragging!? Look up you limp necked fool!" Does the app have a plugin for telling me to keep my eyes up too?
  • 1 0
 I already know I drag the brakes
  • 1 0
 Galfer rotors look sic. Gotta be better than my Sram Centerlines!
  • 1 0
 Ive started getting faster. Just use a four finger grip on the handlebar.
  • 1 0
 Amaury Pierron is like "brakes? What do you need those for?"
  • 1 0
 Brake pad manufacturers hate this device. Get one before they squash it.
  • 2 5
 This sounds a lot like false promises to me. It might be able detect massive mistakes like braking to late and to long in a corner. But especially for more technical riding there are a lot more factors at work than what is measured by this system, especially regarding line choice and having different amounts of grip at each line. And then promising to do usefull data processing with that is just a lie. But hey, you get a braking score you can compare with your buddies! A whole lot of marketing bullshit and no useful product.
  • 5 0
 He's got a Ph.D., you've got a keyboard.
  • 1 0
 looks like this thing can open beer
  • 1 0
 Brakes are for mistakes
  • 2 0
 like me
  • 1 1
 The adapter looks like a PITA to set up.
  • 2 4
 If you can not stop get 203 rotors and Saint Brakes and then just ride your bike.
  • 2 3
 Just ride your fucking bike
  • 2 3
 can we just ride our fucking bikes already. god dammit
  • 1 4
 Could be useful to teach the sram boys some brake control. Shimanos are not grabby you are!
  • 2 0
 This comment makes no sense at all
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