Upgrade my Quarq?

MattAaronson

Ok, so the SRAM folks are offering a deal whereby you can upgrade an old Cinquo Saturn or S975 to a new model for $899. The new models usually cost $1999 and I could probably get about $900 for my old one on ebay, so it seems like a "good deal". Of course, it also entails spending $900 to repalce a perfectly good powermeter.

The newer ones have a few usless features, plus a few marginally useful features like a "normal" CR2032 battery and R/L power measurement. Plus the new one would be new and I assume have a new warrantly, etc. Oh, and it would be new, did I mention that...

Thoughts from the group???

robin sarner

wondering myself.

i have my third warranty replacement and probably works ok.             The official SRAM label seemed to be the charm.

but i occassionally have doubts about it.

if it was more like $500 i would have done it. 

would have been nice if the thing was rock solid on initial purchase.

novaavant

Have you looked at the need for the left right power? Is this something you need? More crank length options and some weight savings are the only differences between the elsa and the riken. The riken would only set you back $699. That's the deal I'd opt for as I'm not really seeing a real world benefit to left/right power and if I want to save a little weight I should just stop eating ; )



I've never had an issue with my GXP S975 but I got a second one for a steal in BB30 for my other bike and it lasted a month before quarq swapped it out for a riken because of moisture/battery problems. So maybe look at how much you have left on warranty to weigh your decision as well. If you have a failure on a S975 right now they are just sending out new Riken models but I bet that won't last forever and they will just stop supporting the S975 at some point.

tim cronk

I was interested in this upgrade as well.
Like Robin I am on my 3rd Quarq but this one works great.

Pro's
New PM with warranty.
Chance to change crank length.... I would go from 165 to 162.5
Chance to change back to round rings.... currently have Q-rings which are nice but round shift better.

Con's
Cost money
Have to spend the time changing it out and shipping back and forth.
The one I have works fine. Why bother..... It cost money and time.

If I had no PM and was buying a new one (knowing what I know now) I would not hesitate to go with Stages and would strongly consider Power2max. But if I was starting from scratch the Quarq would not be considered.
I maybe in the market for a road bike soon and the money it would cost to upgrade could be spent on a Stages.

I decided NO to the upgrade.

Also consider this in your decision.... Say the upgrade window lapses and you decide not too.... Then your out of warranty Quarq fails.... MY bet is they will offer the same deal at that time or risk losing you as a customer forever.....

MattAaronson

I'm really on the fence. You guys hit on all the main issues. I don't really ascribe much value to R/L power and I'm going to stick with 170 crank length anyways. My main concern is that "if it ain't broke, don't fit it"...I have dodged all the horror stories of people on their third unit or whatever, and I feel like sending in a perfectly good unit is tempting fate if I get a lemon in return. I also think along the lines of Tim's logic that it is likely an out-of-warranty unit would be replaced or upgraded at a similar cost.

All that said, a totally reset warranty and the fact that they will eventually stop supporting the S975 as Attila points out, is compelling.

Regarding stages, I know your GF has one Tim, but I have heard massive horror stories including from our own EN teammates.

drjohnson08

If you have the money get it. You wouldn't have posted the question in here if you really didn't want to buy it If you don't make the trade 2, 3, or 6 months from now you'll kick yourself.

I believe one of the features of the new Quarq's that I think is really cool is the ability to change rings without re-calibrating. How often do you really change rings? Probably not much but if you found a deal or wanted to try something different you wouldn't have to think twice.

Dino Sarti

Curse you Aaronson! I didn't even know this was out there! Now as a S975 owner who's unit has been bullet proof out of the box what am I to do?!?

MattAaronson

Posted By Dino Sarti on 15 Feb 2014 11:32 PM


as a S975 owner who's unit has been bullet proof out of the box

That's the issue for me. If I had the slightest problems I'd be signed up. But I feel like with a PM that works perfectly well I'm tempting fate. That said, I think I'm going to pull the trigger on the upgrade. I emailed Quarq and the 2-day turnaround time sealed the deal...I think...

Dino Sarti

I bought mine through local dealer originally, I am gonna walk in there Tuesday and see if they facilitate for me. If so, it could be a done deal....

robin sarner

Decided to do it.     Riken.       Never fully trusted the old one.       Hopefully will be solid now. 

Dino Sarti

I did it a few weeks ago and the Elsa has been perfect straight out the box. I just needed to torque one bolt, add the pedals and I was in business....