Overview:
Just another day in April 2015 – whereby power meter companies continue to drop the hammer in the battle for your bucks. Today SRAM’s Quarq has announced their lowest cost entrant to date, the $799 Quarq RIKEN AL. This unit contains a virtually identical power meter spider to that of their existing Quarq RIKEN R, with the change being that the crank arms are now offered in aluminum as opposed to the carbon cranks that’s bundled with the RIKEN R.
The Quarq RIKEN lineup is a crank-spider based power meter that captures both legs worth of power (left and right), though it does not capture individual left/right leg metrics. Given it captures your full power, it’s a more appealing…and accurate…option than a left-only power meter (i.e. Stages, Vector S/2S, ROTOR LT/INpower, etc…).
Like other Quarq units it’ll broadcast your full power and cadence over ANT+. It also contains their 10K temperature compensation system that they started rolling out about a year ago. Cadence will come from the accelerometer within the unit, though like all Quarq units you can still use a magnet if you prefer.
The Details:
The new Quarq RIKEN AL contains forged aluminum crank arms at the base price, but you can also purchase it with chain rings added, such as seen below:
Looking at the exterior, they’re very similar. Obviously below you can see see the crank arms are slightly different, but that’s of course because they’re different crank arm models, with one being aluminum versus carbon.
There are some very minor styling differences that you can see on the spider design, but again, it’s basically the same.
And again, no difference in terms of height there, but of course the unit is heavier with the aluminum crank arms: 659g (RIKEN R) versus 818g (RIKEN AL)
Configuration Options:
The RIKEN AL is available in the following configurations:
Arm Lengths: 165mm, 170mm, 172.5mm, 175mm
BCD: 110BCD (immediately), 130BCD (July 2015)
Bottom Bracket Support: GXP, PressFit GXP, BB30, PressFit 30, BBright (Update: BBRight owners should use the GXP version with a separate adapter)
Pricing-wise, the levels are: GXP: $799/€799/£639, BB30: $829/€829/£659
As noted above, the 110BCD’s are available now, whereas the 130BCD’s are coming in July.
This is a pretty substantial drop in price for Quarq as far as their cheapest option goes. They just recently dropped their prices earlier this month from the carbon versions by about 20%. So depending on how you look at it, this drops the price another near-30% from that lower price level (from $1,099 to $799), or basically 50% off of where some of the units were a month ago (from $1,600 to $799).
This now makes for a very competitive market with three major crank-region players in a $200 price range, with the recent Power2Max price cuts and PowerTap C1 announcement:
Power2Max Classic: $599
Power2Max Type S: $899
Quarq RIKEN AL: $799
PowerTap C1 Chainring: $699 (planned shipping early summer)
Obviously there are other units out there in that price range (i.e. Stages, ROTOR INpower, or Vector S), but none of those captured both left/right as the units above do. And then there’s also to-still-ship options like PowerBeat and 4iiii Precision (both sides), at lower price points.
Lots and lots of price churn for sure – and definitely all good for the consumer!
Thanks for reading!
—
Update! As a quick heads up, Clever Training now has the Quarq RIKEN AL available for pre-order. By using the DCR coupon code DCR10BTF, you’ll also save 10% on your order with Clever Training and get free US shipping (and it supports the site here!). You can use the drop-down on the product page to choose the various combinations. Enjoy!
Wow! One can only imagine what price points we’ll see next Spring.
I’m still banking on the Viiii power meter. Hope to have mine a in a few weeks after pre order. 4iiii still looks like the cheapest way to eventually get dual sided power metrics.
A real Power Meterlollapalooza event.
Wonder if we can expect the same next year with another 20% off. Would be nice to not move meters from bike to bike.
And meanwhile, over at SRM headquarters……”chirp, chirp, chirp…”
To Bob: I am also wondering what their reaction and strategy will be longterm. Now that reliability and accuracy are much less of a deciding factor, why would any person paying for a power meter (as in any non pro) go for an SRM that costs up to 8 times more? None of the people I know to be in the market for one are even considering any SRM products anymore because of the price difference.
Been looking for a meter for ages, I have a mid-compact shimano 7900 on an S-Works Tarmac would this suit? Cheers
Do you see any advantage of Quarq RIKEN AL over Power2Max systems? From the incomplete data I have, RIKEN AL is heavier than Power2Max type s, probably very close to P2M Classic. And it’s pricier than P2M Classic. Any thoughts? Thanks!
With the quarq meters you can do a slope calibration at home. Power2.ax you have to pay forns rice and ship it to them. Not a common need, but for those who love high quality data totally worth it.
It states on the Quarq web page that Riken AL isn’t compatible with 11-speed Shimano Chainrings. But is it compatible with 11-speed Shimano (STI + front and rear derailleur) using other chainrings (and maybe cassette and chain)? And if so, which? And will it provide smooth shifting still?
What about Di2?
Will it accept Rotor Qrings? And if not, Osymetric then?
as with all the crank based PMs, except rotor and P2M (allegedly) oval rings will fit but then it will not accurately measure power. As this is the case for current Quarqs then it is extremely unlikely they will introduce this feature at the BOTTOM of their range. (given SRAM use round chainrings its VERY unlikely that they will support non-round chainrings)
The reason that they don’t add support for non-round rings is that adding it will make the power-meters less accurate (more noise) with round rings (especially in a high vibration situation). And they prefer to have more accurate results with round rings (which they sell)at the expense of a bias (over- or under-reporting) in the case of non-round (which they don’t sell).
Also as 11-speed shimano rings are 4-bolt, then it should have been clear from the picture that they will not fit.
Quarq power meters do work with oval chainrings, and without any intervention to do the recalibration…….
link to blog.quarq.com
Bit unfair to compare P2M at 899 when that price only gets you a spider, not a full crank
P2M type s with FSA al cranks is now $899.
Missed that. Weight wise that looks a bit (100g?) lighter than Riken AL for $100 more
Am I missing something or is the Rotor InPower 3D+ almost 300 grams lighter? If so, it seems that the weight is the biggest difference between single and dual sided powermeters these days.
I could really use some input to decide between Quarq Rikel AL and Rotor InPower 3D+. I ride a Cannodale with BB30 FSA Gossamer – guess a new crankset would make for a nice upgrade anyway 🙂
Ray – you mentioned minor styling differences between Riken R and Riken AL spider, but isn’t the picture showing a 110 bcd Riken AL and a 130 bcd Riken R. The 110 Riken R looks just like the Riken AL spider.
Does anyone know if you can replace the aluminum cranks with other “22” cranks from SRAM? I’d like to use my existing Force 22 crank arms (which, like the Rival 22s, have a removable ALU spider).
RNH : answer from there : link to beginnertriathlete.com
It’s not recommended to change the cranks, because it needs a new calibration after.
Actually – not any more. Woot!
Chainrings used to require re-calibration on Quarq, but that stopped about 2014ish. Crankarms didn’t require re-calibration, though would usually require a settling period of a ride or two, and re-tightening.
Thanks for your answer !
It seems that the Riken AL spider is not compatible with SRAM Force 22 cranks because the number of bolts linking the spider to the is 3 on the sram force, and 8 on the Quarq Riken spider.
This is the image of the RIKEN R spider with 8 bolts (from link to quarq.com):
link to gillesfoucault.pagesperso-orange.fr
The SRAM Force 22 crank with 3 bolts :
link to gillesfoucault.pagesperso-orange.fr
Hi Giles,
I have both BB30 and GXP Riken R’s and the picture you have shown is a GXP set up. BB30 have the 3 bolts. So you should be able to change cranks as long as you have the correct bb axle for your quarq. in your case you need a quarq AL BB30.
Chris