Velochallenge

So here’s a little update on the Quarq’s power meter I spoke of a few months ago. It apparently will be available to fit a number of crank sets such as FSA, Specialized, Truvativ, Cannondale and Sibex Sports. Quarq plans on developing a kit to allow you to put the component on your cranks if you have a removable spider. The accuracy of its strain gauge-based instrument is similar to other power meters on the market (e.g. SRM, Power Tap, Polar) The difference is in the adoption of the Dynastream Innovations Ant+Sport Bike Power interface, a wireless standard that allows the component to be used with any compatible handlebar unit.

And, of course, GPS manufacturer Garmin owns Dynastream Innovations, so it’s no surprise that the CinQo will work with Garmin’s recently-announced Edge 705 GPS computer.

For the geek in me the system is running a micro version of the Debian Linux operating system. Quarq’s computer attachment “Qranium” will have roughly 512MB of RAM with the ability to communicate with four ANT+Sport devices at once, a barometric altimeter, 20-channel GPS and a USB interface for charging and communication. It will run Quarq’s own open-source software, so the source code for the software will be available for anyone to read and modify.

So maybe in future races we’ll see live relay data to a website, or an auto- script, that at the end of each ride takes the ride log and sends it straight to your coach.The Quarq is not for those with some depth to their pockets, because the units are sold separately with the crank set attachment CinQo retailing for US$1,195 and the Qranium (on board computer) for US$995.