STRYD: Where Next For Running With Power ?

STRYD Footpod

 

If you were Mr STRYD, “Where would you take the product next?”

As we know, STRYD (the running power/effort meter) started off as a chest strap and, after a redesign, ended up as the current solution which is a single-sided footpod.

Personally I was quite anti- that move at first. It was very convenient for me to have a dual band chest strap that could do the job of a normal chest strap and add also broadcast power at the same time. I always wear a chest strap when running/cycling so it made sense to have a chest-based STRYD for running that, by definition, didn’t require an additional sensor unit of some sort.

STRYD FootpodAlso, the power that was broadcast was ‘symmetric’ or at least NOT asymmetric.

The big downside that I saw for me was that the old chest strap was not sufficiently waterproof nor would it give me cached HR whilst swimming. Both of those factors meant that, in a triathlon race, I would have to change chest straps IF I wanted my beloved data. Even I’m not mad enough to do that!

There were also, perhaps minor, issues of STRYD’s chest strap  being able to provide neither HRV data NOR the full suite of Running Dynamics metrics.

I suspect most people could get by without those despite my own personal love of ‘collecting’ HRV data.

Of course, finally, there is the case for many of you who like your optical wrist-based devices. One of the reasons why some of you moved to heart-rate on the wrist was precisely because you REALLY didn’t like chest straps. So there is no way you would go back to a STRYD chest strap. Optical HR is clearly a growing trend in the industry and so this growing chunk of the market would be immune to the tantalising pleasures of STRYDing from a chest strap-based solution.

 

stryd
Stryd et al, old Skool

 

Moving forwards to the present we have a waterproof-enough, single footpod.

The footpod also produces some cool running metrics, including some unique to STRYD, and also the STRYD website is continually evolving as evidenced by the recent, and rather nice, heatmapped-CP curve.

stryd

So. What’s wrong with the footpod? Well…

  • It’s single-sided;
  • It still lacks native support with Garmin;
  • Pairing with Polar still only works in a cycling mode;
  • Pairing with SPARTANs still needs work to get stride length AND power from one device (April 2017); and
  • Power can’t be displayed on old model watches

I suppose much of that is either: unsolvable (old watches – other than by channel hijacking); or will get fixed at some point in the future (Polar, Garmin, Suunto).

So, being a bit more positive, what’s RIGHT with the footpod?.

Quite a lot! (I use one for each run).

STRYD seems to give robust and accurate information over a non-dropping connection. Some of the new metrics add a novel insight into running technique for those of you with time to look. Instant Pace is made accurate IMO. And of course I can use it at the same time as my Garmin HRM-TRI in a race or my Suunto SPARTAN when training.

That is my summary of where STRYD has come from and where it roughly is now.

stryd footpod power meter review
stryd charging and paired by ANT+ to a Garmin 920XT

Where can it go in the future?

I strongly suspect the running-with-power market is growing. So STRYD certainly will be spreading its appeal to a wider audience if my suspicion is well-founded. There are books on the subject (Google: Jim Vance) and I’ve even heard of Running With Power group training events, as further evidence of growing awareness and acceptance.

The most obvious move would be for a dual-sided solution. That would certainly appeal to some runners and would add insights into our running asymmetry. That would be of ‘the5krunner-interest’ to me from a gadget perspective but I probably wouldn’t go out and buy a dual-sided version as ‘me’ because they are not so cheap and I have already invested time into ‘collecting’ and using single-sided power data.

Perhaps if there was some way to turn off either the POWER or the ACCURATE STRIDE LENGTH data through firmware then that could give a cheaper-priced unit to tempt more people into the market? ie turn one off if someone wants the benefit of the other. I’d imagine that was fairly straightforward to achieve but I’m not sure of the market size either in absolute terms or compared to the current level of sales of STRYD (I just don’t know).

Certainly STRYD seems super-accurate for INSTANT PACE; so a simple old-skool STRYD footpod that just gave accurate running pace would appeal to a fair few people  – ‘me’, for example, I would have bought it for that reason alone and I would have paid a fair amount for the privilege. Perhaps then there would be some additional fee to unlock and upgrade the firmware to unlock the power data and new metrics? At GBP/Eur/$50-90 I reckon that would be a nice little product.

stryd footpod power meter review
stryd on the shoe

It’s clear as well that the online platform and app ware actively being worked on. I can only assume that further will come down the line.

What about new metrics? STRYD appears to have accurate 3D measurement and so, I suppose, new metrics could be added. Could they move their product more towards what RUNSCRIBE PRO is? ie a more detailed gait analysis tool? Maybe. But I would imagine a small company like STRYD would better focus their limited resources on areas that might drive more significant sales growth.

Perhaps more metrics like those from XERT could be useful? XERT have several interesting power concepts including Maximum Power Available (MPA). Let’s say you’ve just done 20 minutes at FTP…what have you got left in the tank now? Clearly not much, but MPA indicates how much. Similarly your MPA could vary from day-to-day.

Connectivity. As previously mentioned there are issues with multi-signal Bluetooth connectivity to SPARTANs (only power or ‘pace’ is possible). I believe that is a SPARTAN issue that is being worked on but I am not sure to what degree STRYD can become Bluetooth compliant with all the full features within Bluetooth 4.2 and 5.0 – and, indeed, if that would make any difference or be of any benefit if none of the destination devices would support such connectivity.

Perhaps another area for improvement is the accuracy of the data. For what it claims to do it appears to be generally accepted as being ‘accurate’. But there are two things that could be worked on here. Firstly STRYD does not seem to account for wind. Some will counter that the effect of wind is minimal but I would say that a ‘regular’ wind might easily knock 10 secs/km off my pace. Maybe the effect is psychological?  Maybe there could be some form of POWERPOD-like sensor solution which DOES take into account the effect of wind on power. Finally I’m tempted to think that running downhill with STRYD on steepish ground seems to give lower power figures than I would expect – based on my scientifically flawed sample size of ‘me’.

SUMMARY

I suspect there will be exciting, STRYDing times ahead.

RESOURCES

Detailed Review of STRD Footpod (here). I update that review from time-to-time.

Price, Availability & Discount Code

I partner directly with STRYD in the USA and their distributor New Running Gear in the EU. The images below takes you through to whatever current deal on STRYD there is at any given time in the USA/Canada. Thank you!

stryd discount code coupon offer special price

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Best REI/Wiggle/PMC price is linked to.

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4 thoughts on “STRYD: Where Next For Running With Power ?

  1. I had originally purchased the Pioneer Chest unit, but it failed after a couple of months. So I got a Foot Pod model. It worked fine with my Garmin 910 but did not show the other running dynamics.
    Then I got an Ambit3 Sport. The STRYD did not work at first so I had to learn how to get
    power measurement by calling Suunto. They walked ( actually tripped ) me thru the process by trial and error.
    You probably already know it. So now I have Average, Max, 20 minute and Normalized Power with the 910XT. I also have Power Training Effort ( PTE ),TSS, IF, and EI. This has allowed me to run an Excel Spread sheet to provide me with CTL, ATL and TSB using the Metrics that the 910 provides in cycling mode.

    Peter UBERTO

    1. Hi Peter,

      I too have a 910xt and am thinking of getting a power pod for running and comments/thoughts for the 910xt?

      EB

      1. I now use the Foot Pod with both Ambit3 Peak or Sport. I also use the foot pod with
        the my 920XT for the additional metrics VO, LSS, GCT,and FP. Since I do a lot of Interval work these metrics do not help me. Only when doing a Time Trial constant
        pace run.
        Also, I want Stryd to be aware of the following problem with the foot pod which can be very detrimental to us runners. If you snap the pod on to its clip too many times or with some force, the plastic on the foot pod puck, not the clip, will wear out and you will lose your foot pod during your run/race. It happened to me. Luckily, I was on a smooth road and fortunately was monitoring my power approximately every 10 seconds. So when my power reading went to zero. I stopped and walked back until I was able to find it.
        When I got home, and examined it, I saw where the pod plastic had wore out. It could not be fixed without using some sort of epoxy an a very small file to reproduce the shape. I now use a couple of rubber bands in a figure eight and the clip to secure it to
        to my shoe laces. Works like a charm. I have to replace the rubber bands when I change shoes to be on the safe side.
        Also, I was able to research a chest strap unit that both uses ANT+ for my Garmin and
        Suunto Bluetooth 4.0 method of communication to measure Heart Rate. Now, I use the two watches with one Chest strap and get all the Garmin and Suunto metrics for my Performance Charting.
        TMI
        Peter UBERTO

      2. i’m still on my original pod and cradle. I thought there was scope for it not clipping in properly right from the start. however i managed to survive and have not lost or damaged anything yet.
        it does come with a spare cradle and you can, apparently, buy pouches that fasten to the laces. The morla of the story is to be careful and gently when putting the STRYD onto the laces.
        if mine broke i guess i would epoxy glue it onto the cradle which would require it staying on one shoe for extended periods (or ask STRYD to be nice to me 🙂 )

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