I can’t remember who it was on the forum who pointed this company out. But I think it’s a really interesting piece of equipment for anyone trying to work out their VO2 max. Hard to say how accurate it is, but this seems like something worth taking a look at.
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Yes, def look interesting. And cost while not cheap, it’s not crazy.
Do you know anyone who has tried it? Looks like they actually are offering a 30 day trial right now.
Would be great to know the VO2max accuracy - didn’t see any publications?
Also saw this:
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I had seen this one, but think it was much more expensive when I looked.
Hi, please see the following validation study:
Accuracy of respiratory gas variables, substrate, and energy use from 15 CPET systems during simulated and human exercise
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/sms.14490
This is a 3rd party, peer reviewed study showcasing accuracy validation across many of the well known systems and devices in the space including Calibre.
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Neo, I supplied a link to the study Calibre was fortunate enough to take part in. Regarding the price. Please review the study and you will see Calibre is by far the least expensive and shown to be one of the most accurate.
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Hi Sean welcome to the forum, is it yours?
Will there come measurement for fat oxidation in later version? That will give people a direct measurement of Zone 2 and intensity without measuring lactate.
Thank you. Can you and/or other forum members (perhaps @Joseph_Lavelle @RapAdmin @Paul_2.0 @John_Hemming @AnUser ) who have some thoughts about VO2max etc comment on
Another portable device, Calibre, showed overall a very low (absolute) percentage error (~ −0.63%; Table 2, Figure 2). To the best of our knowledge, this is the only CPET device to employ machine learning to predict gas exchange variables from the measured values, which allowed it to achieve high accuracy, at a substantially lower cost than other (wearable) devices (Table 1). Moreover, in contrast to most other wearable devices, Calibre does not require the user to wear a data collection unit, which is beneficial for activities such as running, cycling, or and daily life activities where extra mass or restraints may influence performance and limit the ability to obtain valid measures.
Above does seems promising, forum members what is your view?
Nevertheless, when solely considering accuracy, the devices that perform relatively well (i.e., <5% average absolute percentage error over both gas exchange and substrate/energy outcomes; Table S8) include Oxycon Pro, Vyntus CPX, Calibre and Ergocard Pro. Devices with slightly lower accuracy (5%–6% average overall absolute percentage error) include Omnical V6 and K5. In contrast, devices that show low relative accuracy (absolute percentage errors >20%) and/or reliability include VO2masterPro, PNOĒ, and PowerCube Ergo.
forum members what is your view?
Although some mixing chamber systems might thus be more accurate, they have a lower temporal resolution and need a longer time to achieve a steady state in gas exchange variables. This longer time required to reach a steady state may reduce the appearance of a plateau in V̇O2max.55 We quantified the time to achieve steady state for the mixing chamber devices assessed in our study, with this being up to 3 min for Calibre, up to 90 s for Oxycon Pro mixing chamber and 140 s for Omnical V6. As some individuals may need a shorter time to achieve metabolic steady state (e.g., 60–90 s56), these findings suggests longer measurements may be required before this steady-state is also accurately reflected in the mixing chamber systems.
@Calibre snd others can you comment on how much that impacts VO2 max testing?
Other context for forum members:
Note that not all systems measured or provided all this additional data. The mixing chamber methodology applied in Omnical V6 and Oxycon Pro does not measure continuously FiO2 and FiCO2 (but rather at the start of a measurement), Calibre does not provide these parameters in the time and breath table output, and VO2masterPro determines only mixed FeO2 values.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
No funding was received. The authors would like to thank Manon Broekhuijsen from Maastricht University Medical Center+ for allowing us to borrow the metabolic simulator. Additionally, we would like to thank Aimee Boersen, Remy Queisen, and Skip Veugen for their assistance during the experiments and/or data analysis. Finally, we would like to thank all manufacturers that provided equipment and send staff for their cooperation.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST STATEMENT
The authors do not report any conflicts of interest or relationships with any of the companies. The results of the study are presented clearly, honestly, and without fabrication, falsification, or inappropriate data manipulation.
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Its an interesting thought. I don’t know what the cost of getting @Calibre to the UK would be. In the end it would be potentially a useful thing to be able to measure. Looking at their website it is not clear precisely what it reports (I have tried looking through the user guide).
I don’t know if there is an option to try it for 30 days in the UK.
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It does seem to be great option in terms of cost and accuracy compared to some of the other devices in the study, but that’s only comparing similar devices. Personally, and this is just my opinion, adding something like this to a fitness protocol makes sense. Currently, the only way to get an accurate VO2 max reading is at a university, which is just impractical. It’s on my must have list at some point.
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Yeah it def worth considering.
Btw this chain seems to be popping up around the country. You can do V02max as well as Dexa and other stuff during one visit all together. I was thinking of perhaps doing that early next year (one covid rates that are spiking have dropped back down).
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Hi again Sean, one question, can you provide some more color on VO2max testing with this, does the app suggest any protocol that e.g. can be done on a home treadmill or indoor home bicycle?
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I sent the info to a Doctor, Cyclist friend of mine who is a gadget hound. He bought one and sent it to his coach for assessment. I’ll report back when I hear anything. My opinion at this time is it looks very good for the price.
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Saw it earlier when @Paul_2.0 posted the link, was checking it online. Great that the study is available I will have a look. If it is integrated in apple health that would be awesome. I Really like my apple watch but really don’t like how inaccurate is the VO2max estimation algorithm. When I consistently run every other day is more accurate, but estimation from my dog walks is just ridiculous. My VO2 max dropped 10 points since I rarely run in winter and relay on my elevated heart rate during strength training that I do it in zone 2 and I add some indoor bike or rowing or HIIT for intensive training at max HR but apple algorithm just ignores that.
I had my VO2max measured professionally in May and I always wanted it to be more accessible. Seems like a great concept and hope id does preform well enough. I don’t imagine wearing it all the time since it kind of looks ridiculous, but when doing sports why not. It is not as expensive as I thought before checking it. If there will be good feedback form @Joseph_Lavelle 's friend I will certainily put on my list. Seems that the price is same as two professional VO2max tests.
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We have a unique perspecitve on VO2max testing and have specific protocol suggestions. Will try to attach here, if not will soon make it available on our website. Is there a way in this forum to post a pdf?
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Hi Neo, I wish I could find a way to upload pdfs in thi forum. I have answers to all the questions popping up here. I also would be happy to do a webinar for the members in this forum if it could be coordinated. For now if you could send an email to info@calibrebio.com and in subject line put (Sean - Rapamycin + *your user name) in this forum for reference I will be able to get you more complete answers. That goes for anyone in this thread. Thanks.
Just post, up load the icon on lower right of the dialogue box you write in.
Hi. I am a founding member of the calibre team. You can see me personally on Instagram @smcevolve. I have been a Respiratory Performance Coach for years and have a wide and deep background. We are in early stage, just going to market. Our goal initially was to become as accurate as we can, with the main focus on simplicity, lighweight, no tethers, techstacks, hoses or calibration tanks. We accomplished this task. We do have a working VO2max protocol (keep in mind that is how we view VO2max, as a protocol and therefore as of today we don’t have the guidance built in to the app, but we do have a written protocol. *as I mentioned in a separate reply in this forum please email me, send to info@calibrebio.com (in subject put (*Sean-Rapamycin and your user name) more flexibility to discuss and easier to share details, pdfs and such… On roadmap I am working towards a FatMax as well as VT1 and VT2 (we have the sensor and reading capability to get there, but we are. The metabolic side we cover already via breath calorimetry readings to show RER as we all Fat% and Carb% (even for all those that truly know metabolism there are a lot of moving physiological variables that affect the data) so to that point our data is good, but what we have found is that in the general market most don’t have their minds wrapped around how metabolism truly works. On the Zone side. We don’t yet integrate with any HR monitors and I personally believe the VT1 and VT2 are stronger zone indicators, that being said we do have users that track their HR zones with an existing device and correlate to our readings…Fingers crossed we will get to integrations in the near future. We are a small team…Hope this gets the conversation. Thrilled to see and hear such knowledgeable interest in this area…I have been at it for a long time and it’s awesome that tech and interest is catching up with everyone.
This Forum layout is getting me confused 
send email to info@calibrebio.com insubject line put (Sean - Rapamycin and your user name from this forum for reference. What I will work to accomplish is collecting all the questions I receive from this group and either schedule a live webinar that I can record to answer all the great questions .