Anyone using Garmin with Quarq?
I am ordering a set of Quarq Cinco with SRAM S975 compact cranks and am wondering how it will work to use my Garmin 310XT as my display unity? Anyone have experience with this? Don't really want to spend (even) more money to buy a separate monitor but I also don't want to have to scroll through lots of screens to see important data (power, HR, speed, cadence, time, etc.).
I am totally new to the whole power thing so any advice you experienced guys and gals can give me is much appreciated!
Dan
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Have you already ordered your Quarq? If not, I'd hold out until the SRAM Red version comes out. Lots of cool upgrades.
By quantity, you of course limited to the standard max of 4 display fields on the 310xt and will not currently have access to the new power metric fields that Garmin added in anticipation of the Vector, which includes Normalized Power, Training Stress Score and Intensity Factor. Garmin has switched position on whether these would eventually be added to the 310xt in the form of a firmware update but last I read they are no longer planning to add these to the 310 at all. However, you still will have access to various power related fields including power, average power, lap power, etc, as well as some filtered power fields such as 3 and 30 second average powers.
Ultimately, the 310 won't give you the ability to display every possible field nor would it give you the screen real estate to do so even if it did. However it is entirely sufficient to get the job done, especially if you are new to training with power. After you've had some time to familiarize yourself with power and the significance of the numbers that you are seeing you can eventually purchase a larger display device and saturate yourself with concurrent data til your hearts content.
Bob, what exactly do you mean by "lots of cool upgrades" with the SRAM Red? I am totally new to the whole power thing but I know I want a crank based system (not Power Tap) also I want something that will last me a long time.
I have not ordered yet...thinking early next week. I appreciate any insights you might have!
Trevor, thanks for the info. So are you saying that I will not be able to see my TSS and IF while riding if I use the 310? Again I am new to power training but in light of the emphasis EN places on these, I would think this would be a pretty big drawback as I prepare for IM Louisville???
I gues like you said I can try out using the 310 for a few weeks and them see what my options are for a "upgrade" display unity. Thanks again.
For the 310, you already own it so definitely no harm in using it at first, it will definitely pair up with your Quarq but you will not be able to access TSS, NP and IF while riding. I personally would argue that is not all that important, it is more important that you understand the significance of what these metrics mean and how they relate to your riding. If you do reading / listen to some power training webinars and analyze your data post-ride in software like WKO you can still view your NP/TSS/IF and come to understand what it is telling you. As with all power related metrics, monitoring them in real time really doesn't provide you any value until you can successfully interpret and react to what they're telling you.
To put it more simply, no it's not a deal breaker, a ton of us have trained for IMs and done just fine without having all that data all the time, but the old 'I'd rather have it and not need it than need it and not have it' adage still applies, having access to those metrics isn't a bad thing and given how much Edge 500's have come down in price that is not a bad option once Garmin finally releases the firmware update for it. I've been a little out of the loop, but I believe the only Garmin devices to currently provide you NP/TSS/IF are the Edge 800 and the 910xt.
As for the SRAM Red Quarq, it's more tightly integrated package which results in it being lighter, a little more accurate, cleaner looking and all that good stuff. Functionally, the only tangible difference that I am aware of is that the new SRAM Red Quarq will take advantage of the newly added Left and Right specific power channels added to the ANT+ protocol. So yet again, if you have a newer Garmin device like an 800, a 910xt and hopefully the Edge 500, you would get a few more data fields to display, I'm guessing your Left leg power, Right leg power, and maybe a balance. I'm a huge tech / data junkie so it's all swell for me, but I certainly wouldn't consider L/R power to be critical info that you have to have.
Anyone have any info on when the new SRAM red will come out and how the cost will compare to the S975?
My advice is use your 310 to view power (3" smoothing will make it less "jumpy"), cadence, heart rate zone and time (current interval or total ride). You would be totally styled out. Then LEARN power principles and what the terms mean and their impact on your riding. You also can get comfortable with WKO+ or Training Peaks. Those guys own the trademarks to NP/IF/TSS. Then spring for the fancier head unit. Garmin 500 go for about $250 and Coach R can score you a deal on top I bet. By then, hopefully, Garmin will have better power data fields via the long awaited firmware update... Just my humble opinion from a guy who just started with Power 2 months ago. Others here will know more....
The Garmin Edge 800 does show the real time power metrics (TSS, IF, VI, etc). My personal favorite is the real time %FTP, but there is no way to. Smooth this that I'm aware of.
Kind of like an instataneous IF, I know of no way to smooth it.
FWIW - the lastest firmware of the 310xt does this as well.