A visit to power2max

In the past few years, power2max has become one of the most successful manufacturers of bicycle power meters on the international market. The name stands for durability, a high level of precision, a truly fair price-performance ratio and, since September of this year, an overall Vuelta win. Our factory visit granted us deep insights into the complex subject of power meters for bicycles.

The story of power2max (development, marketing and distribution) and Saxonar (development, production and logistics) began in 2006. Marco Rockstroh and his friend and business partner Andreas Görnitz then worked in the automotive industry: they produced high-quality wireless products for a well-known car manufacturer. It was precisely this know-how that proved to be so enormously valuable for the inventors of the power2max sensor. At this stage, they had already been intensely devoting themselves to the subject of measuring cyclists’ power output. Many ideas were developed and then rejected. But soon, a certain concept attained a realistic form that both were equally convinced by: they wanted to develop a power meter that would be perfectly suited for both hobby riders and professional athletes. The objectives were clear:

The sensor must deliver reliable and reproducible data – under all weather conditions. The construction should include no moving parts in order to have a product with almost no wear. Its handling and operation needs to be simple; you should concentrate on the essentials in training and competition – not on bells, whistles and sales gimmicks. And all of this at an affordable price.

These experienced technicians' extremely high expectations created a few problems that had to be solved; the path to a finished product was not a simple one. To reach the objectives, development was divided into the main areas of mechanics, electronics and software. So four years passed until finally the "Classic Sensor” could be presented at Eurobike in 2010. The first product of this fledgling company was already completely developed, systematically tested and certified. From then on in, everything went extremely fast: the sales numbers increased regularly from the beginning, and after Middle Europe new areas of distribution such as Australia, New Zealand and Asia were added; North America and South Africa followed. The spectrum of application was expanded and the sensors were then made compatible for mountain bikes. A remarkable narrative of success thus began...

We directly intrude on a meeting of the responsible managers and then the coffee break of the employees. In the common kitchen, we are immediately made to feel at home, and we get a hot coffee to strengthen our spirits and the meeting is interrupted for us.
Andreas, who always has a good mood and immediately takes over the task of showing us around, proudly tells us that this newly renovated building equipped with modern technology used to be a dairy. The hill that the Saxonar/power2max company property occupies to be called “Käseberg” [cheese hill]. A huge red-brick smokestack next to the factory is a witness to past eras.

The mood is relaxed throughout the entire building. No one is hectic, but they are constantly developing and producing. Almost all of the employees live nearby. Andreas also set up his family home only a few kilometers away from his workplace; in contrast, Marco drives to work from Chemnitz. Most of the time, he explains, he develops and works at home in front of his computer.

Both the municipalities and the families who have a secure and well-paid workplace profit from the company’s location. Marco and Andreas don’t just place their bets on coolly calculated profits and certainly not on an artificially overblown business model – they bet on the tried and true. And it is precisely this philosophy that is reflected in the products they produce, whose individual parts are almost exclusively produced in Germany. Simple but still attractive to the eye, durable, exact and “reduced” to maximally precise measurements, compatibility and ease of use.

The tour is completed at calibration – before being packaged for sale, each sensor is brought up to a state of highest precision at a self-built station and then tested for accuracy by a “guard”. If there is an error in calibration or testing, the sensor is rejected. As a rule, a power2max sensor never needs to be calibrated again; in contrast to the 2% tolerance of the previous power meter, the NG measures generated watts with a precision of 1%.

We were not allowed to take photos of the static calibration bench, since it is an absolutely unique high-tech measuring station and thus a company secret. At power2max, all sensors are calibrated on a “stand-alone” basis; i.e. without cranks, chainrings, bolts or a chain. In this way, the given high precision can be guaranteed regardless of chainring size, material stiffness, crankarm length, etc. Customers can thus change their configurations as often as they want without the power meter having to be newly calibrated.

The day that will certainly remain in our memories ended with a bike ride during which we could get a first impression of the NG. Finally, the only thing there is left to say is that even though the company is run in an extremely professional and modern way, no corners are cut in terms of compassion or humanity.