Wahoo Speedplay POWRLINK Zero Dual Sided Power Pedals

The immediate reasoning seems obvious. There is no Speedplay Pedal-based power meter currently available and since Garmin have Shimano and Look Keo locked-up with their Vector / Rally platform, it was a serious coup for Wahoo, their fiercest rival, to acquire Speedplay with the aim of filling that gap.

Lo and behold (and finally!) : Enter POWRLINK ZERO - the first power meter offering from Wahoo Speedplay.

We are big Speedplay fans at 700. I have used them for over 20 years. They are hugely advantageous pedals for any rider but particularly if you have fussy feet or suffer from leg / hip / knee injury - as I do. My left leg might as well be made up of the parts from 3 different people, such are the number of injuries it has suffered.

The benefits of Speedplay (and the reason that their creator patented the designs all those years ago) are numerous. Aside from the obvious fact that they are the only Dual-sided Road clip-in pedal available (because of those patents), they are also the only system that allows riders to control 3 planes of adjustment (fore-aft, lateral and rotational) without any of those single adjustments interfering with the others. The same cannot be said of any of the other road pedals on the market - limited as they are by their 3-bolt cleat design.

On top of that, float is non-self centring - ie not fixed to 50% of the stated float rotation in either direction, from the centre-line of the cleat. This allows riders the freedom to accommodate extremes of toe-in or toe-out foot position as dictated by their physiology or by injury - by effectively deciding where the 0-15o of float available to them, begins.

Awesome right? Yes - but it doesn’t end there either. The form factor of the pedal also adds rider benefit and the migration of the spring mechanism into the cleat, rather than in the body of the pedal, facilitates this form. The recognisable circular body of a Speedplay pedal is extremely low profile, allowing for increased cornering angles before the pedal fouls the tarmac (we’ve all been there). As such, riders can continue to pedal through corners when others can’t - giving a distinct advantage in power delivery, and an edge over their rivals.

The Speedplay pedal system has been around in a relatively unchanged guise for its lifespan of over 30 years - save for minor adjustments to cleats in more recent years. That has just changed with their envelopment into the Wahoo family.

While the fundamentals that make the pedals so good remain, Wahoo have refined not only the pedals but have simplified the range and redesigned the bodies to bring them up to date aesthetically and to deliver the benefits in all the models (not always the case historically). This development makes it easier to understand the range while offering entry points for all consumers - from first time clip-in users to seasoned pro road riders and Triathletes. Adjustable float is now standard - even on the entry pedals - and all offer between 0 and 15^o of micro-adjustable float. Triple sealed bearings make for minimal maintenance and combined with the revised bodies, increase the durability of an already robust platform. All models are now mounted using an allen key too. Further to this, the stack height - already low - has been reduced further.

In addition, Wahoo have created 2 cleat systems, both of which remain ‘walkable' - Standard Tension with aero and Easy Tension - both are compatible with all pedals.

The extremely welcome introduction of the POWRLINK ZERO Platform brings a long awaited product to market. Speedplay users have long been tied to using crank or hub based powermeters - which while fine, are limiting when it comes to travel and an expensive problem for those with large stables of multiple bikes. Not least because most Speedplay users either use them for injury mitigation or, having sampled the benefits, can't bring themselves to revert to traditional 3-bolt cleat systems.

POWRLINK Zero brings everything you could want from a power meter into a low profile, simple to use and intuitive pedal package. Delivering the key metrics of Power, cadence and left/right balance, the POWRLINK Zero retains the benefits of the original platform. Save for a marginal increase in stack height (and therefore reduced cornering angle) that still keeps it in-line with or better than the competition, the POWRLINK Zero are almost identical in form to their power-less Zero brethren.

The Power pedal is not new and that should be viewed as a plus to those adopting the new Speedplay POWRLINK. On that basis, me rabbiting on about the minute detail won't really serve to tell you much if you've read this far and have an idea of what you're after - which is a given I would suspect!

So - below are the key points as delivered by Wahoo themselves:

ACCURATE POWER

POWRLINK ZERO’s internal gyroscope removes cadence variation to measure your precise power output and is accurate to +/- 1%. Combined with Wahoo’s sports-science based algorithms, you get extremely accurate values you can use to achieve next-level performance.

PRECISE CADENCE

Efficient pedal symmetry lets you go long and stay strong throughout your entire ride. POWRLINK ZERO power meter pedals transmit real-time cadence data to your bike computer, which helps you smooth your pedal stroke, identify your sweet spot, and advance your cycling goals.

LEFT/RIGHT BALANCE

No matter how precise, power and cadence are only part of the equation. The dual-sided POWRLINK ZERO pedal system measures the power generated individually by each leg to calculate your true output. By precisely recording left/right balance you can focus your training to correct dominant/non-dominant leg discrepancies, recover from injury and reach your full cycling potential.

TEMPERATURE COMPENSATION Shedding layers as temperatures rise doesn’t really work for components. But with temperature compensation, POWRLINK ZERO accurately tracks power data on rides with large changes in elevation and temperature.
OVAL CHAINRING COMPATIBLE Compatible with both standard and oval chainrings, POWRLINK ZERO will provide reliable power data no matter your component set-up.
EASY INSTALLATION Because POWRLINK ZERO is a pedal-based power meter, it can quickly be installed on any bike in your collection – so you never have to ride without the advantage of power.
RECHARGEABLE BATTERY With a rechargeable battery that lasts up to 75 hours per charge, POWRLINK ZERO gives you the power to go long. Really long.
LED INDICATORS Visible LED lights at the base of POWRLINK ZERO’s spindle display power, connection and low battery charge. Ride confidently knowing your power data is being transmitted and tracked so you can concentrate on your training.
BLUETOOTH® and ANT+ READY POWRLINK ZERO’s support multiple simultaneous Bluetooth®️ connections and unlimited ANT+ connections. This feature lets you connect real-time power data to multiple devices at once for a more complete training experience.

WAHOO have come a long way in a relatively short time and have done so the right way. As a - now serious - rival to the omnipresent Garmin, they continue to do the right things and build the right user friendly, reliable products. On top of a concise, considered range that makes choice simple and safe, their after sales is a level above the competition too; giving customers the confidence to buy great product with solid back-up. The release of the POWRLINK ZERO adds even greater weight to the brand and the confidence as a consumer to enter the ecosystem.

POWRLINK ZERO are available in either Dual Sided or Single sided systems and the single sided are also available as a bundle with the new ROLLR indoor smart trainer.