Back in the beginning of 2006, James Meyer wanted to purchase a power meter for his bike, but Mieke Meyer would not let him make the purchase due to student loans. By mid-2006, Jim convinced Mieke that he could build a power meter and he set out soldiering – 10 hours later he had a prototype. After two years of testing and refinement, production units of the CinQo were finally shipping out to customers.
Since 2008, the CinQo has been shipping with cranks or designed to work with cranks from many different manufacturers. SRAM, Cannondale, Lightening, Specialized, Rotor and FSA all have models that work with the CinQo. The computer that ships with the CinQo is one of four offerings from Garmin with their own Quarq ‘head unit’ in the works, but as of May 4, 2011, this will probably all change.
SRAM announced the acquisition of Quarq detailing or eluding to the changes that will occur. The short term operations will remain in Spearfish, South Dakota with Jim and Mieke Meyers at the lead. The customer service aspect will also remain in South Dakota until it is integrated into SRAM’s current system. All warranties will be honored, but future product replacements will be with SRAM equipment once the current stock is depleted. The sponsorships and retailers will all be evaluated with changes to come as SRAM sees fit to meet their current business practices. Upcoming product releases that were announced will be brought to market.
In a few years, Quarq will be rolled under the SRAM name just like Rock Shox, Zipp, Truvativ and Avid. Production will probably be moved overseas to allow a lower cost of production, but this may not be a bad thing for the power meter market. To even consider purchasing a power meter, you will need to be willing to spend thousands of dollars. This is just not practical for a majority of the cyclists and weekend racers out there that truly would like to become faster using a tool like a power meter to aid their training. With the purchase of Quarq by SRAM, the economy of scale may work in the advantage of the average cycling consumer.