Tried and Tested

Velometrik Smart Cover

New bike fit products come to the market all the time, but how do you know which ones are worth buying? UK fitter Lee Prescott shares his thoughts on the Velometrik Smart Cover after trying it out in his fit studio.

There’s no doubt that the ability to see exactly how the weight of a rider ’s being supported by their saddle is an invaluable tool for any bike fitter.

Saddle pressure mapping in realtime can really shed light on how an athlete’s pelvis is interacting with the saddle. What’s more, it can really make the selection of an appropriate saddle a more data driven process as opposed to trial and error.

Velometrik is a German company with a new suite of tools aimed at streamlining the saddle selection process. Its Smart cube, for example, allows the pressure mapping of the ischial tuberosity to determine width, while its saddle advice app lists over 1500 saddle models.

Whilst these are largely more conventional retail devices, it’s Velometrik’s smart cover that offers definite value for bike fitting professionals, with its unique features setting it apart from other pressure mapping systems.

The pressure mat itself uses embroidered silver threads so that sensors don’t have to be soldered into the mat. And with 378 sensors, the readings you can take have impressive resolution. This manufacturing method also appears to be very robust whilst remaining flexible.

EASY-TOREAD: Results can be outputted for easy client presentation

One small issue we had was when using this cover with small bikes, or those with the saddle very low, it was difficult to prevent it rubbing on the back wheel without standing and holding it.

The sensor mat is large meaning that you can fit it onto a multitude of saddle types including very wide saddles, such as those seen on Dutch roadster-style bikes and E-bikes. To provide an easy-to-read data screen rather than showing the entire pressure reading you can create masks within the software that correspond to the shape of the saddle being mapped.

The software is quite intuitive and the results can be outputted for easy presentation to the client. This initial version I tested has the software running on a proprietary mini PC that comes with the kit. You simply plug it into a screen connect to the internet and you’re ready to go.

In use the system works well and it’s quick to operate once the initial setup is done. The pressure readings we took were consistent and showed a lot of the type of data you would want to see, such as averages per quadrant, movement patterns and max and min pressures.

This version of the unit is priced at €1700. Velometrik have a new cordless version planned for 2022 which will transfer the data via Bluetooth and sample at 48 Hz. This will feed to web-based analysis software which you can run on your studio PC rather than having to plug the proprietary unit into a second screen. This is planned to retail for €2300.

There is no doubt the Velometrik have got some big ideas and these first products are an impressive statement of intent.

RRP 2023€

www.velometrik.de

Opinions expressed in these reviews are personal and are not endorsements by the IBFI. Products in this article were purchased by the reviewer. If you are a bike fitter and have been using a new product you’d like to review, or if you are a company and you’d like to submit a product for a long-term review by qualified bike fitters, email lee@ibfi-certification.com