Played it safe and got a new battery on my way to the park this morning. BikeSmith on Vandebilt opens at 8am. 2 bucks for the battery and they let me borrow some pliers. Nice guys. I just hope this battery lasts longer.

konrad said:

Played it safe and got a new battery on my way to the park this morning. BikeSmith on Vandebilt opens at 8am. 2 bucks for the battery and they let me borrow some pliers. Nice guys. I just hope this battery lasts longer.

Konrad, With the CinQuo and Elsa, I typically got 3-4 months without a problem, I typically replaced it before it died, so perhaps I could have gone longer (and I ride lots).  This past winter, the cold seemed to drain the battery faster.  That written, the latest firmware upgrade is supposed to increase battery life. 

Konrad I think the simplest answer is that those 1032 batteries come with variable lifespans - but they're quite cheap and easy to replace. @Wump how do you upgrade the f/w?

Temperature is a big variable.  Hours riding is the other.

Apparently, the latest firmware for quarq eliminates tempature drift because it wasn't temperature drift to begin with. Something about the electronics stabilizing from the shock of turning on. Different parts of the electronics differ in their electrical stabilization thus until they all stabilizes, it appeared to be temperature drift. The newest firmware uses some analog technique to account for the stabilization and the temperature drift has disappeared.

That's the gist from a Quarq employee on the wattage board.

Can that be done at a bike shop? Seems kind of ridiculous to need a $60 dongle and old iPhone to get that done.

It is ridiculous.

Ask at a shop you like.

as an aside...the Stages meter has been a champ.   

I'm wondering if I could build a cyclocross bike with a classic 2002 litespeed Arenberg road frame?

Clearance for rear wheel looks tight and would probably limit tire size selection. Also, you wouldn't be able to use cantilever brakes. But I raced my 1st 'cross year on a converted Merlin frame with ~27mm tires.

Can't do much about the brakes. but I can easily run 25mm tires, will have to see if 27mm will fit (?). 

Joel, I tried converting an old steel road frame for CX use last year and found out that all but the skinniest, slickest cross tires will rub, especially the front brake.

Any opinions on the Easton EC70 SL wheels? They're on sale at Nashbar this weekend for $540 from a MSRP of $1,500.

I bet these are the conventional narrow rims (20-21mm) as opposed to the new exciting wide format (23 mm).

The Ritchey zeta wcs are a steal at ride through our sponsor ship.

I wouldn't get the Easton's = heavy.  The Ritchey's are much better wheels...they are the wide rims too which are sublime

If you go the WCS Zeta II route be sure you get the new Zeta II's through our sponsorship; don't buy the old WCS Zeta on nashbar.  Not the same wheel.  Zeta II is completely different, newer, and superior.  We should do a group order...

Is it possible to get a single set of the Zeta 2's, or do they have to be purchased through a group order?

Ask in the sponsorship thread.  I think Ritchey does now require us to do group orders.  The discount is steep enough (when I checked some time ago it was about 50% on some items, including the $800 Zeta II's) that I can understand the requirement.

You can also order them through ride Brooklyn and receive Kissena discount. Call them and ask the  discounted price. But I would love to get in on a Ritchey bulk order (which are typically logistically difficult to organize with this bunch of Wahoos)

So I just took one of my mavic carbones out of its wheel bag for the first time in a long time and noticed some possible corrosion on the spokes - 

^rapha does that^

When I was at ACME Jonathon had a bunch of Quarq boxes sitting on the floor and I asked what was up with all the power meters...He told me that Quarc realized that roughly ALL of their meters were failing and that any units  under warranty that failed were being replaced with improved units for free and those out of warranty would have to pay a couple hundy.  

Wes, hard to tell from the photo, but that just looks like some crud.  Where were they stored?

@Wes Tillman‌ I think those are anodized steel spokes aka don't sweat it.

jesselash said:

Is it possible to get a single set of the Zeta 2's, or do they have to be purchased through a group order?

I'm not sure your question. You can buy 1 set through the group Ritchey order, whenever that goes in. There is no minimum.

Heart Rate monitor question for you guys: