Found this Sram LLC patent showing what might be in the works regarding a brake rotor based power meter. The data coming from this thing is going to be pretty awesome for mountain biking and crit racing, among other use cases. Can’t wait to see it, although I’m not going to be the first to drop a couple grand on a set of 2 
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Interesting. I wasn’t sure how a brake rotor would be a useful strain measurement point for power output, so I gave the patent doc a quick scan. It sounds like this is more for measuring braking force (dissipation of power). So, basically it could tell you how hard you are braking front and back. I’m not sure I really care to know that, but someone will pay for that data and it could certainly be a data point for racing. These bikes will eventually be like F1 cars with force metrics being captured everywhere. I’ve got to hand to to SRAM, they are certainly thinking about sensors beyond the basic power meter. A good example is their ShockWiz sensor that measures suspension pressures along with all the forces at play.
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It’s for measuring braking power and probably a great way for SRAM to develop brakes.
The DH guys and girls often practice with a lot of tech attached to their bikes and I’m sure this will be added to sponsored riders bikes so they can tailer their setups.
Yes, obviously for braking power. The idea isn’t new, I’ve seen a few grad students do some work on the topic, but this is the first I’ve heard from a manufacturer. Of course it’s just a patent so it doesn’t mean the product is going to be available soon or ever, but I’d be willing to bet it won’t be too long before you’ll be able to buy something like this.
Here’s an article from Pinkbike. A google search yields a number of studies.
If they can develop a sensor to measure braking power, is the natural progression then to determine whether there is enough power to be worth developing a regenerative system to return some of that power to the battery in an e-bike?
Or is just for them to develop better brakes?
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Think some DH people already use something like this, to work out when and where to brake and when not.
This is discussed at the 42 minute mark of the video by Jim Meyer, founder of Quarq and DCRainMaker