BrakeAce - The World's First Brake Power Sensor & App Combo

 To understand what BrakeAce does, it’s helpful to know the background of its founder, Dr. Matt Miller. Originally from the US, where he graduated in exercise physiology, he moved to New Zealand in 2014 for his PhD thesis which focused on mountain bike descending performance. After completing his PhD and working as a lecturer, Matt left the university in 2019 in order to focus on BrakeAce, alongside coaching some rad athletes.

Matt says that it’s difficult to say when he founded the company, as it was a slow evolution. For his PhD thesis and with the help of Massey University in Palmerston North, he built his first brake power meter prototype that laid the foundation for today’s braking sensors. When he and the team started to work on a dedicated software in 2019, they needed a name and that’s when they came up with the name BrakeAce.

So what is BrakeAce? Matt says that it is the world's first brake power sensor and app combo. It measures your braking every time you brake and collects information as you ride the trail. Thanks to hypersensitive strain gauges, BrakeAce senses how your tires interact with the trail, not what you do with your fingers. Basically, it works like a power meter, as it measures brake power. However, the real power of BrakeAce is that it gives you feedback on the way you ride. You don’t only get data (numbers), you get actionable information such as Modulation, Intensity, and Brake Balance. For every trail you ride, BrakeAce will give you three Key Opportunities and show you the sections of trails where you have the best chance for improvement. From there, you can use the 4-step BrakeAce Method for faster times.

The app also helps you to understand when you should be coasting and when it’s worth to pedal hard. Sometimes, coasting can make you faster than pedalling, because it allows you to recover. Pedalling too much or over your limit can lead to fatigue and loss of flow on the trails – so sometimes it’s better to tuck than to pedal. By testing different strategies and comparing BrakeAce’s FlowScore, riders can determine the best way to get down a trail.

“You only don’t profit from BrakeAce if you don’t want to go faster”.—Dr. Matt Miller, founder of BrakeAce

Does that mean that the BrakeAce Sensors are only for DH racers who get to do practice runs before a race? There is no doubt that racers will benefit from BrakeAce, but it can also help you beat your mates in case you really want to get that KOM or a new personal best. “You only don’t profit from it if you don’t want to go faster” says Matt. Also, Hope and Trickstuff use BrakeAce sensors for data acquisition and to design new brakes, thanks to lab-based sensors compatible with the BYB data acquisition kit and the BrakeAce web app.

Today, BrakeAce has three team members besides Matt. Interestingly, they only got to meet each other in late 2022, as they all live and work in different places around the world. Rohan focuses on mobile and embedded software from Perth (he was one of the original guys that helped bring live power meter data from the Tour de France), while Mack is a backend software and web engineer in San Francisco. Rolf - CEO of a bike sensor company - advises from Copenhagen. The company is based in Rotorua – as it’s often the case with startup companies – in a room of Matt’s house. Here, Matt works on different projects, records the Performance Advantage Podcast as well as his Youtube series and it’s also the place where he wrote the book “Free Speed”.

Building power meters is relatively straightforward, but presenting riders with meaningful and actionable scores wasn't.—Dr. Matt Miller, founder of BrakeAce

The biggest challenge was not to create the brake sensor itself, but the app. “Building power meters is relatively straightforward, but presenting riders with meaningful and actionable scores wasn't,” Matt says. As of today, the app is for Android only, but an iOS version should follow in early 2023. BrakeAce uses your smartphone’s GPS and some complex algorithms to make sure the GPS readings are good. The sensors are connected to your phone with Bluetooth and use strain gauges to measure the torque. The strain gauges are tiny, and very sensitive, but sturdy at the same time so they don’t break. The sensors also compensate for temperature and drift.

Once you’ve finished the trail, the app will calculate for 20 – 30 seconds to process everything that it has previously recorded with a 1000 Hz data rate.

BrakeAce is based in Rotorua, so are the sensors made in New Zealand? It’s difficult to say, as the parts for the sensor come from various countries - just like any other electronics. The employees work in different countries as well, so you could probably say that it’s a truly global product, which is designed and assembled in Rotorua, NZ.

In the future, Matt would love to have a BrakeAce factory in Rotorua, which would include 3D printing and CNC machining. At the moment, the focus is on the software, as the team’s next step is to include data from crank power meters to give you even better information.

The sensors are available in two sizes: XC/Trail (for 160 and 180 PM) and Enduro/DH (for 200 PM). One sensor weighs 73 grams. Both versions require you to go up one disc size, as the sensor fits like a 20mm adapter. So if you’ve been running 203 mm discs, you will now have to go for 223 mm now. They come with a fully rechargable battery, not with a coin cell. It lasts more than 200 hours and can be fully charged in 4 hours.

A set of two sensors currently costs 1199 USD (pre-order price). This might seem like a lot, but when you consider that you basically get two power meters with an analytics app that can help you to win a race, the sensors might pay for themselves.

Matt wants to thank the backers from Kickstarter and his team. Without them he couldn’t have done it. “It takes a whole army to get something that complex from the ground. The team works really hard and we’re all fully bootstrapped. They are the key.”

• Details
• - Designed in New Zealand, engineered worldwide, assembled in New Zealand from parts sourced globally
• - BLE wireless communication with your phone
• - Rechargeable with standard micro USB cable
• - 200+ hours battery life
• - Fits on 74mm (standard) post mount frames/forks/calipers
• - BrakeAce PF2 TR supported sizes: 160 PM (use 180mm rotor) & 180 PM (use 200 or 203mm rotor)
• - BrakeAce PF2 DH supported sizes: 200 PM (use 220mm rotor) & 203 PM (use 223mm rotor)
• - Fits with any brake caliper
• - 73 grams - just 49g more than a normal spacer
• - Wet-weather ready
• - e-Bike approved
• - Sampling frequency: 1000 Hz
• - Mobile app: Android shipping now; iOS shipping early 2023
• - Web view: Any device
• - Warranty: 1 year limited
• - Free Speed e-book included for free
• - Shipping is available worldwide
• - Price for a set of two sensors: 1199 USD (pre-order price), later 1599 USD
• - Website: https://www.brakeace.com/