PEOPLE
HISTORY
Sensitivus builds on a 6+ man-year effort to develop a low-cost high-quality bike power meter based on patented optical sensor technology from Danish Technical University.
Unfortunately, this laser sensor technology turned out to be not quite mature yet, so the industry side of the project turned to proven strain gauge sensors instead and transformed all the science and patents into a very robust low-cost power meter. Sensitivus Gauge is the result of this shift in focus from new sensor technology to known and proven strain gauges – and from university to industry.
Bike power (watts) is the best indicator of training load or performance – independent of shape, terrain, wind, etc. This is the next big thing in bike training after heart rate sensors.
To democratize the access to power for training, everything at Sensitivus is designed for low costs: technology, manufacturing process, etc. This is also why we don’t try to build a brand and sell to cyclists directly. It is simply much more efficient to leverage brands that are already in the market. The product is the technology required to integrate the power sensor into new and exciting products.
We are located in the number one bike country: Denmark. Here we grow up with bikes as an integral part of daily life. Some turn more serious about it, and all have very intimate first-hand experiences with the tough life of bike components: salt, snow, rain, etc. We bring this experience into the design along with the simple, yet advanced technology.
Sensitivus means “sensitive” in Latin, just in case you were curious.
MILESTONES
2015 – BORN
2016 – CROWDFUNDING
Ran successful crowdfunding campaigns on both Kickstarter and Indiegogo (top 1% of all Kickstarter campaigns worldwide). Introducing rechargeable batteries and a novel magnetic charger for two power meter products: Zimanox (arm-based) and Zpider (spider-based).
2017 – BRAND VALIDATION
2018 – CARBON
2019 – MTB CARBON
2020 – B2B REFOCUS
Selected for world’s lightest power meter crankset – the 325g THM Carbones Clavicula all carbon crankset.
2021 – TORQUE SENSOR
FOUNDER
Sensitivus was founded in 2015 by serial entrepreneur Rolf Ostergaard (M.Sc.EE). Here are a few fun facts about Rolf and his career as an electronic engineer and entrepreneur.
Ever seen the movie Everest?
This is based on a true story from events in 1996. A satellite phone plays a key role in one very touching scene where Rob talks to his pregnant wife while dying on the mountain.
Fun fact: Rolf designed about half of the electronics in the real satellite phone used in 1996.
Do you play golf?
Golf pros know the Trackman radar tracker. This incredible device tracks a standard golf ball with amazing accuracy and displays the complete 3D path of the ball. It even measures the starting spin of the ball.
Fun fact: Rolf designed the electronics for generation 1 and part of generation 2 for Trackman.
Are you a space nerd?
If you like space stuff, you may have heard about the LISA project by ESA. With their own words, LISA will be the first observatory in space to explore the Gravitational Universe. It will gather revolutionary information about the dark universe.
Fun fact: Rolf designed part of the electronics for a prototype tested on earth. Believed to be the most accurate instrument designed ever.
Besides power meters, Rolf has designed all kinds of products in companies such as Thrane & Thrane in Denmark and 3COM in Silicon Valley, California as well as a number of different startups. Rolf also runs EE-Training to teach expert level signal integrity for engineers designing the fastest electronics for tomorrow across the globe. Rolf is listed on a few patents and acts as a board member and advisor for local companies doing hardware related products.
SENSITIVUS GAUGE