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Incus Nova Run – triathlon’s new performance tool launches its run version in beta

Incus Nova RunIncus Nova Run

The Incus sensor has been doing the rounds in media circles in the UK for the best part of a year. Today the Core Run version is officially launched and that follows the swim launch in Feb 2020.

What Is Incus Nova Run?

Eventually intended for training in all the triathlon sports, Incus Nova is a high-precision motion sensor that you wear at the top of your spine inside custom clothing. It currently has 2 retail versions, this one for Core Running and another for Swim+Run, each retailing at £199 which includes clothing.

From what I can see Incus gathers motion data as you workout and then uploads that to the cloud where various learning algorithms decipher insights that you can then view, post-workout, on the proprietary app.

I have some concerns about gait tools in general; the non-live nature of the data; and the requirement of a proprietary app. That said, the Incus marketing materials point to a tech expansion of the platform later this year where iOS is supported as well as ANT+ – rather than just BLE on Android as at present. The compatibility with ANT+ implies to me that there will be live integration with the Garmin environment and FIT files. Other than the Apple environment I would very much doubt Incus would support the likes of Polar.

These are two lists of the currently supported metrics

Running Metrics (available at launch):

  • Total distance
  • Pace
  • Running power
  • Average pace (min/km) (session and splits)
  • Session duration
  • Cadence (session and splits)
  • Take off acceleration
  • Landing deceleration
  • Elevation profile
  • Total elevation
  • Run/Walk/Rest breakdown
  • Digital logbook
  • Pain monitoring (qualitative)
  • GPS syncing (phone only)

Swimming Metrics:

  • Swim stroke recognition
  • Automatic set/rep/length detection and structuring
  • Overall session duration
  • Total distance
  • Swim time
  • Split times (reps/lengths)
  • Stroke rate
  • Pace
  • Body roll
  • Body pitch angles
  • Velocity gain (left/right)
  • Digital logbook
  • Pain monitoring (qualitative)
  • Navigation by sets average
  • Navigation by reps average
  • Navigation length-by-length
  • Automatic swim/non-swim detection

Take Out

There seems to be a novel new gait sensor every year. Normally this year’s novel sensor is quite similar to last year’s novel sensor. Yet, Incus DOES seem more ambitious in scope, so much so that Alistair Brownlee is an investor.

These products seem to fall by the wayside if they just focus on technique. Kinematix Tune and, to a degree, Runscribe illustrate that. Stryd was a little bit different in that it delivered accuracy improvements for PACE and DISTANCE alongside a novel way of training ie RUN POWER. The fact that Stryd also offered some interesting gait metrics was just icing on the cake rather than the core of the product offering.

Questions

  • How tempted would YOU be by novel insights into your technique for the triathlon disciplines? Or even insights just for running?
  • How important would integration to the Garmin environment be to you?
  • To what degree do you think the need for custom clothing will hold this product back?

 

More: Incus Performance

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6 thoughts on “Incus Nova Run – triathlon’s new performance tool launches its run version in beta”

  1. Does this means there will be a new updated app for Android?
    Haven´t seen any yet in Google Play.

  2. From the description here I don’t see that much of interest here that would make it consider this instead of Stryd. There are some interesting (and novel) metrics, but without a very good platform for analysis you can have all the numbers in the world and just get confused. Thats what happened for me with RunScribe, I have the pods, and loads of data, but to turn the data into actions that actually improve your running / decrease the risk for injury would be the key for me, and that seems to be a rare thing. The only service I can think of that actually succeeds to some degree is the RaceFox app, which uses the accelerometers in your Polar H10 chest strap to analyse your gait and suggest exercices for improvement, during the run with voice guidance through headphones. Tested it long ago and It was still under development, might be a fun winter thing to play wi5th now when I think about it.

    If it give you power and pace it will at least have to partially compatible with Garmin (Polar, Coros, Suntoo etc). Having power (or pace depending on your plan) after the run only would be kind of useless unless it was 100% in tune with the Power you see on the watch – and we know how different the power calculations of the current choices on the market are.

    Personally, I do not like the idea of customised clothing, fit, models available, feel of the fabric – even colors are variables that would affect my desicion – essentially IO need to buy two products where both have to work for me, not to mention if they have suitable clothing for around the year, in different climates.

    Then again, if the data is unique enough, and presented in an truly actionable way I think it has potential.

    Note that Im exclusively a runner though.

    1. ty Stefan
      Yes! : ” to turn the data into actions that actually improve your running”
      Incus ARE looking at delivering true insights and I hope they can do that rather than it all boiling down to things I’ve seen before like “increase your cadence” (no kidding Sherlock!) and “land more lightly” (how do I do that?) and “increase your core strength and hip mobility”

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