Stages Cycling builds all its power meters in Boulder, Colorado(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Sometimes the power meters require a little fine tuning before they are passed to the next step(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
The plastic backing is taped on before gluing(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Stages has robotic glue assembly(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
But human hands are still needed to clean up excess glue(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Some of the unit bodies are still glued by hand(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Each power meter travels around assembly with an ID card containing serial number and ANT+ ID(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Once assembled, each meter is calibrated and its measurements recorded(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
For calibration, each crank is attached to a gig at the recommended torque, then loaded with weight and its deflection under that weight is measured(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Stages has tight tolerances for each type of crank(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Each crank's measurements are recorded and used to calibrate(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Before packaging, each power meter gets a battery with a little tab underneath to prevent it from activating(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
iPads are used at virtually every assembly station to measure and record QC checks(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Connecting the strain gauges' wires to the board is small-scale work(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Once the affixed strain gauges and boards are verified, the two pieces are welded together(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
The Stages office is filled with cycling nuts and, therefore, bikes(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Stages buys left cranks from suppliers like Shimano, then etches off a clear patch on the back with a lazer(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Here, the Stages lazer machine removes the finish from a batch of cranks in the shape of the Stages back plate(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Before the strain gauges are applies, decals go on(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Stages now makes power meters with Shimano, FSA, Cannondale and SRAM cranks(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
A series of strain gauges are applied to each crank. We weren't allowed to photograph this step too closely(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Once strain gauges are affixed, the cranks are left to set up(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Next, each crank's strain gauges are tested(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Stages has specified ranges for every stage of assembly(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Similar to the strain gauges, each electronic board is tested before assembly(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
At just a few grams, the brain of each Stages power meter lies within these boards(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Stages has three, well-used espresso makers. Being a bunch of engineers, Stages has calculated their coffee-drinks-consumed-to-power-meters-producted ratio (but they wouldn’t share this with us)(Image credit: Courtesy Castelli)
Many businesses track individuals' performance in charts, whether with sales growth, revenue trends or other metrics. Stages Cycling has a chart on employees' watts-per-kilo output at their functional threshold power.
While this chart was created for fun by customer service rep Amy Shepard, it does underscore the company culture at Stages, where the lunch rides are fast and furious, and more than a few staffers have national titles and former pro licenses to their names. Power measurement isn't just the product — it's what many of the employees live and breathe, seven days a week.
Senior vice president Pat Warner, by Shepard's rough estimate, ranks near but not at the top of the W/kg chart, a point he disputes in good nature.
"Guess it sucks to be fat!" jokes Warner. "I think [the ranking chart] should be based directly on FTP or a flat time trial. Who really races uphill anyway? Oh wait, I did all weekend."
Stages Cycling launched its left-crank-arm-based power meter in 2012, and has been the power-meter provider to Team Sky for the past two seasons. Stages has 43 employees, with about half of those in production roles in the company's headquarters in Boulder, Colorado. Stages now sells into 36 countries. The company declined to disclose how many meters have been sold thus far.
Bikes aren't just for display at Stages; many employees are avid riders, including the executives
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"The mentality we had while developing the power meter was 'simplify,'" says Andy Lull, Stages Cycling's product development director. "The goal was a simple-to-install, simple-to-use power meter that provided consistent and accurate results that you can train and race to. A byproduct of this approach was a more affordable power meter. I think the Stages Power meter meets our original goals."
When Stages launched, the power-meter choices were basically the high-performance but very high-cost SRM, or the more affordable hub-based PowerTap. Stages came in and undercut PowerTap, and the market has since exploded with meters from many brands, with many pushing downwards on price.
Stages makes all its power meters in Colorado. The gallery above walks you through all the steps — or at least all the steps we were allowed to show you.
After a lazer cleans off the crank's finish, strain gauges are applied to the inside of the arm
Recently, a few dual-sided Stages prototypes have surfaced underneath Team Sky riders. Warner confirmed the ongoing development of Stages meters with Team Sky, but stopped short of saying when or if a dual-sided meter would come to market.
"We would be crazy not to continue to test with Team Sky," Warner said. "What you saw on Team Sky was Stages. We are running different types of tests out there. But most Team Sky riders are on our production left-arm meters. The beauty of Team Sky is that they are the most analytic team out there, and of course they are riding 25 to 30 hours a week, so we get great feedback."
Click through the gallery above for an in-depth look at how Stages makes power meters with Shimano, SRAM, FSA and Cannondale cranks. Oh, and who is on top of that W/kg FTP chart? That would be the new guy, Jim Stemper, who is fresh off retiring as a domestic pro and comes in at 4.99w/kg, by Shepard's educated guesstimate.
Deflection under load is measured and recorded for calibration
