The major change to the Wattbike Software is the addition of the angle of peak force being displayed in the Polar Graph and the rotation shown on the software starting with the left leg at the top and going anti-clockwise. The new polar view looks like this in the software:

Changes to the Polar View

 Two new parameters have also been added to the software taking the grand total to 29, these are efficiency and average efficiency. The efficiency is based on the percentage of a perfect circle the powerplot is. The interesting thing about this is that we have started with a circle as being 100% efficient, but we know that is not the ultimate shape, but no one in cycling can tell us what the perfect power plot should look like. We are  hoping that a PhD student or other research organisation will be able to do a study into what the most efficient shape is and how it depends on body shape, and we will then implement that shape as the 100% marker.  The efficiency values can be displayed on the software as follows:

Efficiency and Average Efficiency

The Performance Computer firmware has seen some major changes; speed is now available to one decimal place, average heart rate is now displayed below the heart rate:

Average Heart Rate is displayed in the bottom right hand corner

There is also a major change to the Polar View which now includes percentage left leg and right leg, as well as bringing the firmware and software together in displaying the left leg starting at the top of the pedal cycle and moving anti-clockwise. This display now looks like this:

New Polar View on the Performance Computer

In the custom workout and reride displays there is now a pace bike that shows your progress against a desired pace. The pace bike is displayed on the bottom with a P denoting which the pace bike is and it also displays how far both you and the pace bike have travelled and how far ahead or behind the page bike you are.

Performance Computer showing the new pace bike

The custom workout screen has a new view that allows you to view your pace, and when setting a custom workout it is now possible to select a pace for the pace bike for both timed sessions and distance sessions.

Setting Pace in a timed session

Setting Pace in a Distance Session

 One change that I have been pushing for is the display of the recall of data immediately after the end of a session, so when you are in Just ride, Standard, ReRide or Custom workout the Recall of the workout is displayed automatically and three new lines have been added, Peak Power for the session, Peak cadence for the session and percentage power from left and right leg. If the session is one interval within an interval set then the time remaining in the rest is displayed in the top left of the monitor screen. 

The New Recall view, displayed automatically at the end of each workout

The new Recall view as displayed in an interval with the time left in the rest period counting down in the top left corner

The new software is now available on the Wattbike.com downloads page and the performance computer firmware update will be available there soon (with instructions about how to install). Happy Wattbiking!