As we discovered in our 2023 SA Mountain Biking Survey, there are several power meter brands being used by South African mountain bikers. We have spent a few months training and racing with the AXO Sigeyi, which is a relatively new Chinese brand that’s gaining a good international reputation as well as South African traction. Here’s what we think…
AXO’s Sigeyi power meter is a crank-based meter. It comes in a range of variants to suit most mountain bike cranksets, including SRAM, RaceFace, Rotor, Cane Creek, Cannondale and Shimano. You bolt the power meter to your chainring and sync it to your cycling head unit via ANT+ or Bluetooth. It syncs with all the major cycling brands, including Garmin and Wahoo. We tested it on SRAM cranks with a Garmin Edge 530 device.
As it bolts onto your chainring, it’s possible to easily move the AXO Sigeyi power meter to different bikes (assuming they have the same style crankset). It’s also relatively out of the way from potential impacts, which pedal- and crank-based meters can be vulnerable to.
The AXO Sigeyi is easy to install and set up. It’s light (from 85g-110g, depending on which model you require) and it carries charge for longer than you’d expect (up to 300 riding hours), which may require charging just 2-4 times a year, depending on how much riding you do. You can keep tabs on the remaining charge via the app. It’s charged with a magnetic port USB cable that comes with the kit.
Here are selected features:
- Claimed to have +/- 1% accuracy
- Measures power up to 2000W
- Measures cadence up to 220rpm
- Auto Zero (via a back pedal)
- It’s water proof
- Comes with a 2-year warranty
RIDING WITH IT
A very simple power meter to ride with. It calibrates automatically and is very consistent. We haven’t ever detected any drops in connection in more than six months of use. It tells you what you need to know – current power, cadence and, via the app, left/right balance.
Although the left/right balance is an estimate as it comes from a single point of measurement, it’s useful rider feedback.
We’re not power geeks, so we didn’t verify the reading accuracy against any other power meters, but you can adjust it up or down in 0.5% increments if you feel you need to. The app updates and firmware updates are seamless.
A nice touch is that the AXO Sigeyi unit comes with a set of different colour stickers so that you can customise it to match your bike. Adding to the brand’s credibility is that a number of South Africa’s top mountain bike racers are using the product.
SUMMARY
The AXO Sigeyi power meter is gaining popularity and credibility in South Africa. It’s a lightweight, easy-to-install chainring-mounted system that’s reliable and is supported with an app. At R8250-00, it is very competitively priced and it comes with a two-year warranty.
The AXO Sigeyi power meter is distributed in South Africa by Phil Buys Sports. See the range here.
Note: price mentioned is correct as at April 2024
