New Build: ENVE 1.65 to PowerTap SL+ Track Wheel

Here's an "unusual" build for us, we don't build a ton of legit track racing wheels.  Lots of road wheels, lots of fixed-gear wheels, plenty of mountain wheels.  But, when asked to lace a PowerTap SL+ to an ENVE rim I wasn't about to pass on it.  We were asked to make this wheel really stiff, and stiff it is.

1.65 ENVE rim is light and stiff.  The internal nipples sway some people, but they build very nicely.  And a well-built wheel will last a long time on the track (or road).

PowerTap SL+ makes power relatively affordable for track racers.  Without this option, you'd need an SRM to get power on the track.

Made here in the good ole US of A.  I really appreciate this fact, much like Zipp, that I am supporting a US company when I can.

Brake track is very nice, though on a track bike that won't matter.

Complete rear wheel with bolts came in at 1,020g, very respectable for a 28h rear wheel with a PowerTap.  2x lacing and high spoke tension will make for a killer track wheel.

Re-build: PowerTap SL+ Disc to Stan's NoTubes Crest 29

This is my personal rear wheel.  The original only lasted a couple of weeks, all due to my impatience.  I made it less than 10 minutes into a trail ride when I hit a piece of glass and cut a roughly 9mm slice in the tire.  When it didn't seal I decided to ride it back to the car flat.  That's when I clipped a rock and dented my rim.

It's held up well with a tube, actually.  But I strongly prefer tubeless, especially with a Stan's rim.  So I ordered a new Crest rim, and re-laced it.  About an hour later I was ready to roll with power on my mountain bike.

The PowerTap SL+ is laced 3x/3x to a NoTubes Crest 29 rim with black DT Swiss Revolution spokes and black DT Swiss ProLoc brass nipples.  The wheel is set up tubeless with Stan's Yellow Tape and ZTR valve.  Tire is a Maxxis Aspen 29x2.1.

Quarq Qalvin Calibration Station!

So you have a Quarq.  Awesome.  But let's say you plan to use it on your road and CX bikes.  It's a problem all crank-based powermeters have: the change in chainrings will leave you with bad power data.

SRM advertises their crank is "stable" enough to change chainrings without a recalibration, but that's only if you're changing to something similar.  Straight from SRM USA, if you switch from road to CX rings the crank needs to go back to SRM in Colorado for a recalibration.  That leaves you without a powermeter for 1-2 weeks.

If you're careful about sending the SRM back during a recovery week or break from the bike it's no big deal, but what if there were an easier solution?

Iron Cycles has ponied up for the Wahoo Fitness dongle, a highly-calibrated 25kg weight, and we now have Qalvin.  These three items pair up to create a very practical and easy-to-use calibration system for your Quarq.

This system can come in handy for more than just recalibration of your Quarq, though.  Maybe you've been experiencing some funky readings, or dropping a signal.  The Qalvin App can pair with your Quarq and under our control we can troubleshoot the reed switches, battery level, and even do our own ANT+ Zero.

What does this mean for you?  In the end you can now change your chainrings anytime you want and we can adjust your Quarq to account for those changes.  We can diagnose issues without sending the unit back to Spearfish.  We can get you back on your powermeter faster and ensure it's as accurate as possible.

For comparison, I just checked the factory calibration of a brand new Quarq against what I would find in the shop.  After two trial runs, my slope was less than .1% off of the factory slope both times.

We are one of only a handful of shops in the country offering this, and were the first to offer it as a service to our customers.  We have calibrated dozens of Quarqs in the last few months and are ready for more.

This is a roughly 25 min process (we check our numbers twice to make sure you get the best calibration possible) and will set you back $35.  That's almost the cost of boxing your Quarq up to send back to Spearfish and leaves you with virtually no down time.