Quarq Elsa = set it and forget it. It just works.

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AV8 | Team Wattie Ink Elite 2019

Quarq S-Works on my TT bike. I would like to buy another from my next road bike. As others have said plug and play.

I still think SRM is the gold standard...

Yes... I do own one :)

I have 2 Power2Max meters for Rotor 3D+ (or the cheaper Rotor 3D30). They could fit any bike I currently own (4 different bottom bracket "standards"), but mostly just stay on the same 2 bikes. Never had an issue that required contacting customer service.

Just an old wired Powertap 'cause I'm cheap.

2 road bikes, tri bike, and gravel bike all with Powertaps. The gravel bike is the new addition...with a Zipp 303 disc with Powertap (custom from wheelbuilder). Perfect for intervals on the levee road with no cars, stop signs or lights...and few other riders. I've convinced myself (and the wife) that all rear wheels need a powertap hub :-).

Quarq Riken* AL x2. One on roadie, one on 'cross bike. Cheap. Works.

Cross: Gen II stages (good enough for cross)
Road Bike: Quarq Riken
TT bike: Quarq Cinco (still going strong)

Stages warrantied my gen1 to a gen2.
Quarq warrantied my road-cinco to a Riken.

Had a powertap (it was cool but went crazy after much riding in wet conditions), had a SRM gold standard all you want, wasn't very practical. I'd stay away from pedals, P2M are looking promising, gen2 stages are becoming good enough but used quarqs are getting really cheap thesedays

Exactly. My two units have been working well too.

I sold both of my Quarqs because I was tired of dealing with their great customer service. I purchased (2) units, an Elsa and a Red, but ended up with 5 (or was it 6?) different spiders over the years. At one point, both were broken, I'd had enough.

pretty much my experience as well...

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

I was leaning toward pedals, why do you suggest to stay away?

Same here, except I'm past leaning. Purchased and waiting for delivery. I've heard a few negative reviews of the Powertap P1's, but they were few compared to the good reviews. LBS had nothing but good things to say when I mentioned I would probably need some adjustments to my fit since I had them coming in next week.

Only drawback I see is the weight, and that only matters on my road bike. And in reality, the weight of that bike is only important because I randomly decided I wanted it to be light. Not because of any performance reasons.

They are so easy to swap too! I have had good luck picking up basically new take off's of Rotor 3D+ or 3D30's so most of my bikes have decent cranks and I can throw a power meter on to whatever I want easily.

I sure wish I could find some shorter 3D+ cranks though. 170 is easy to find. It seems anything 165 or lower isn't going for under $300 and I haven't paid over $200 for a new crank (with rings).

I have been staying away from pedals because they take more time to swap than my GXP quarq. One bolt to loosen and tighten as compared to two. Also didn't like the fact that pedals are one of the few contact points on a bike when you crash while also being a lot more expensive with a lot less battery life compared to say a P2M or replacing my Quarq through their loyalty program.

Pedals would be ideal if I travelled a lot and rented bikes...but I don't do that much at all.

I have a Quarq Riken on a Transition. That bike is ridden for about 3 or 4 hours on Saturday during the summer, and then sits in the family room on a dumb trainer all winter.

During the week I ride a 10 year old Allez that is my first love. No power meter, I just ride the bike like a roadie and hammer all the time, when I'm not stopped at a light, avoiding traffic, or zipping down a hill at 40 mph. That bike has the original 5600 system on it, first year Shimano made a 10 speed version of 105, and it has never failed me. I started out as a crit racer and bike club roadie and I enjoy pretending that I can still keep up with the kids in the Open Ride.

The wife is just the opposite. She has a Powertap C1 on her bike and that is the only bike she ever rides.

Both units are reporting to 910/920's, and both units are transparent to the user. That is very important for my wife, and I like it as well. One less thing to fuss with.

Why the difference? Cost. I've been using the Riken for years, when the wife wanted/needed one the C1 was much cheaper.

Why not pedals? We both use Speedplay.

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"...the street finds its own uses for things"

4iiii

It was cheap and functions perfectly for a one sided power option.
It's light weight
Easy to change battery and update software

Ditto.

I bought a PowerTap C1, and then coincidentally 3 weeks later won a set of PowerTap P1 pedals from Sportstats. (front door brag).

I settled on the C1 originally because it checked all the boxes - it needed to be able to be moved across 4 bikes (my 2 bikes, plus my wife's bikes) - that's asking a lot.

My wife rides 650c wheels with 165 cranks (both ultegra) and mtb pedals; whereas I ride 700c wheels with 172.5 cranks (both Gossamer) and look pedals. That restriction eliminated: pedals, single crank arm, and hub power. We both happen to run a 50/34 compact crank so that worked out - although the C1 is 50/36.

I had also considered re-sale options and future-proofing, and was worried about limiting myself with the chain rings because you're restricted to a 5-bolt 110 bcd pattern.

But now that I won the P1 pedals, I can use those on my bikes, and leave the C1 on my wife's bike. (and we don't have to fight for dibs on using the pm).

Agree, they really are great power meters - I use them too. But we are at the point where there are several other quality offerings that work great. All depends on budget, bike compatibility, etc.

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Power Meter City
Your Power Meter Specialists

Hello Calvinbal6 and All,

I have an SRM V (wired ... no ANT + compatible) on my old bike and I liked it but I wanted to go ANT + with the new gear and it seemed to make sense to go all SRAM.

My new bike has a Quark Red eTap Quark ..... and I use a Garmin 520 (against my skin inside the top of my bike shorts) relaying to a Garmin Varia on my sunglasses.

The setup works great so far ... no power meter or other data display gear mounted on the bike .... bike is clean .....

I had some dropouts with the Varia when the 520 was in my back jersey pocket .... putting the 520 in the upper front of my bike shorts fixed the problem .... looks like the Varia likes the 520 closer and my body may have been blocking the signal when it was in the back pocket.

I should note the Varia thickness doesn't play well with some tight fitting aero helmets (the ear flaps) and I am working on this problem.

So far ....... as Ray Rainmaker says ..... the Quark just works .......

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Cheers, Neal

+1 mph Faster

On my collection of bikes I have 1 Quarq, 1 Stages and 2 old Powertap hub-based powermeters. If I were looking to buy a PM today, I'd go with a Quarq.

Power2max and vectors. Had the vector since it was launched, struggled to get consistent performance from it after some firmware updates. To be far Garmin support worked well, they swapped the pedals twice but I never got to the point where the thing was consistent. It now sits on my winter base bike. Power2max just works, every time.

Stages. Their was a compatible one on Closeout for $349. It's hard to beat that.

Quarq on my tri bike and PT wheel on my road bike

I have one too, it is starting to malfunction a bit, but it has served me well. I think I'll get P1 pedals just because of brand loyalty and they seem to be a pretty good power meter too, can't afford SRM.