Quarq Tyrewiz Air Pressure Sensors For Presta Valve: Black

Product Information

Quarq claims a battery life of 300 hours’ ride time. After a month of use, I’ve not yet been able to test that, but the batteries are widely available CR1632 watch cells. I’d like to say there’s more to show here, but honestly, that’s it. It just shows your tire pressure in real-time. It’s instantaneous though, in fact, you can see this when pumping up a tire, as it responds instantly to each pump. Super cool (you can see that in my video). Your tires are the only thing connecting you to the road or trail, and having optimal tire pressure can have more impact on ride comfort than both frame and wheel choice combined. But finding the right tire pressure requires trial and error. TyreWiz is the first-of-its-kind tire pressure sensor for riders of mountain bikes and road bikes, taking the guesswork out of finding that optimal tire pressure. Now, behind the scenes, it’s also recording your tire pressure into the .FIT file, so that it shows up later on Garmin Connect, as well as for 3rd parties to access. The earlier beta Connect IQ apps I was using didn’t have the code to write to the .FIT file, so I can’t show you that today. I got the updated beta app about the exact same time I boarded the plane to the US on Monday. But the good news is I’ll be giving these a whirl mountain biking over the next few days at Sea Otter, so I’ll share some data there and post it here. Also note that there is an ANT+ Tire Pressure device profile in the works, making it such that this kind of data can be better standardized. Tyrewiz has a led that will tell you if you’re within target pressure without looking at your Garmin or phone. The led supposedly turns off when the tire rotates. And of course when the unit goes to sleep after a few minutes without movement.

I hardly noticed the TyreWiz once installed. And riding fast descents on the road didn’t produce an unbalanced feel or the speed wobbles I expected. That may have to do with the minuscule 10-gram weight of each TyreWiz or the Zipp 303 NSW wheelset I was using. Airspy is newer, so it might be supported for longer (app updates, chances of a Wahoo data field in the future etc.). This is pure speculation.Airspy is slightly bulkier, and double the weight (maybe a little more, since you remove the valve core when installing Tyrewiz). On the positive, Airlspy attaches to a spoke to keep it securely in place. They call it “theft protection”, but that’s obviously a load of mumbo-jumbo.

TyreWiz is durable, waterproof, powered by a long-lasting user-replaceable coin cell battery, and adds just 10 grams. The unit is compatible with removable Presta core valves in tube or tubeless tires, including those with sealant. Above is some imagery from Quarq showing that, but I’ll capture my own photo goodness tomorrow when I steal someone’s mountain bike at Sea Otter. Wrap-up:While I can’t speak to the accuracy of my bike pump (some sort of Specialized model that says ‘Airtool’ on it), the two matched almost perfectly, within 1PSI, the entire time. The actual ID of the sensor is etched into the side of the sensor, making it super easy to figure out which is which. Your tires are the only thing connecting you to the road or trail, and having optimal tire pressure can have more impact on ride comfort than both frame and wheel choice combined. But finding the right tire pressure requires trial and error. TyreWiz is the first-of-its-kind tire pressure sensor for riders of mountain bikes and road bikes, taking the guesswork out of finding that optimal tire pressure. Lightweight and durable, TyreWiz adds only 10 grams to your tires. With an IPX7 waterproof and dustproof rating, you can confidently ride on any type of trail and know that your tire pressure sensor will keep going strong. TyreWiz reports data with +/-2% accuracy at a resolution of .1 PSI; vastly more accurate than any tire pump on the market. TyreWiz monitors air pressure in real-time and relays the data to a cycling computer or a smartphone. That information is relayed to the SRAM AXS app and delivers personalized recommendations and pressure alerts.TyreWiz gives riders access to highly accurate real-time tire pressure data to make decisions that can affect rolling resistance, traction, tire wear, and rider comfort.

I should also note that Quarq isn’t the first looking at this space, in fact, 4 years ago I showed a prototype at Eurobike from Lightweight. And last year at Eurobike, Hutchinson also showed a prototype. Neither though have brought a product to market that’s ready to buy and about to ship. The battery is a CR1632 battery that they claim will last about 300 hours of use. Also, it’s IPX7 waterproofed (so 30 minutes at 1-meter depth), and the weight is 10g each. I would say 100% of their target group have: “taking out ugly reflectors from your wheels and bike”, as step one of making a new bike ready to ride and Quarq put something way uglier in their place… I’ve been trying this out for the last week on my rides, and have come away pretty intrigued. So I figured I’d dive into all the details on how it works, and perhaps more interesting how I think it could be leveraged down the road. Since it’s not a super complex product, I’ll try and keep this post as streamlined as possible. The Tech Details: Works with any tire that uses a removable Presta valve core: both tube and tubeless, and tires with anti-flat sealant.Speaking of precision – exactly how much air/pressure do you lose when you take the pump off the valve and you hear that air spit out? The answer as I found out: Almost nothing, well under 1PSI (I suspect the air you’re hearing is actually from the pump, not your tire). I used the app to figure this out.