Bald Paul

Or, rather, non-instructions.
I just installed a Quarq power meter (Rival 12 speed). ZERO instructions in the box, other than to 'bring it to a qualified dealer'. Luckily I found some Youtube videos showing the procedure. Then I searched for how to install the battery (you would think THAT would be included) as well as calibration.
I've tried looking through the SRAM manuals online - useless.
So, where do you get the necessary info for working on these systems? I'd hate to have to kidnap a SRAM engineer, tie him up in the basement, and torture him. (Although the thought has crossed my mind. But then I remembered we don't have a basement.)

cxwrench

I have no idea what you're complaining about. Here's a 46 page manual that explains EVERYTHING for both the old and new powermeters with lots of pretty pictures. It even lists which tools are needed.
The very detailed Quarq manual

Bald Paul

Would you mind telling me how you found that? I searched for Quarq power meter instructions, and that never came up.
Really, though, there is no reason not to include installation instructions with a new component.

cxwrench

When I worked for a SRAM sponsored team we'd get clinics at pre-season camp. One year the SRAM guy told us that nothing is more than 4 clicks from the home page. This manual is precisely 3.
Go to sram.com. Click on Quarq in the banner at the top of the page. Click on Service, upper right. Click on Quarq (right side of the page) Power Meter user manual. Done. I find it hard to believe you couldn't find it, my experience w/ the SRAM sites is that they're all very easy to navigate...and I'm old.

veganbikes

I just searched: sram power meter manual on the great gods googles (you can also swap sram for quarq and get the same manual). Came right up. But as cxwrench said the SRAM site is easy to use and find manuals have certainly found a lot of stuff on it without much work.

Bald Paul

Evidently, I was too specific in my search, looking for a manual for the particular model I was using.
Being a Shimano guy since the 70s, I guess I got used to having a printed instruction sheet included in the box. Now, I sort of feel like that guy in the "becoming your parents" commercial - "We don't need to print the Internet" (yeah, I do that.)

veganbikes

A lot of companies are moving away from printed manuals especially since they are printing in many languages (not a bad thing just adds more pages) and they are getting longer and longer because everything is getting more complicated or we have to add more boilerplate to avoid lawsuits. Plus no need to use up all that paper for something a lot of people won't read or throw away save some money and trees. But yeah sometimes a print copy is easier to read.

Camilo

I used to keep a "file" of instructions for stuff I've installed on bikes. OK, it was just a disorganized, incomplete pile of some of the instructions for stuff I still have and also stuff I haven't had for years. Plus the instructions were often in very small print, crappy paper and folded in a way that it was hard to follow the flow of what you were trying to figure out. Plus, as mentioned, there is so much of the printed instructions I don't need (other languages, as one example) just made the volume of stuff a waste. Not being able ot find what I needed (like I said, not organized), and often not having it, caused me quite a few years ago to just forget about looking through that stuff and look online for the specific part or adjustment issue I was dealing with. Manufacturer's site, Park, etc. Used to use Sheldon Brown as my primary go-to but less nowadays,

So I totally understand and agree with not providing printed instructions. But a small card or brochure with a link which helps short cut the search is much appreciated.

I often print portions of instructions because it's usually easier (for me) to page through printed material rather than use my phone or laptop. BUT I do have a music stand in the garage that I use to hold my computer so it's easier to read instructions while I work. I either a Surface PC or a convertible laptop so both function essentially as a touch screen tablet in that case.

pdlamb

I've started seeing products with a QR code on the box or an included (small) sheet, which links to the instructions.

For the record, that's sub-optimal IMO. I can barely read a web page on my phone, much less a .pdf file.

veganbikes

I am good at making an "organized" mess and keeping stuff I really don't need. I love Shimano because they have docs going back a long way and they are fairly easy to find.

+1 on the links on the package or something or use those QR codes that the kids are all into.

scott967

I've always gotten the SRAM instruction sheet with any component. Same thing you find online, though sometimes it's not identical and not always easy to tell which is correct for your part. I'm not super impressed by them, but they are of the common numbered picture variety. Another thing is with SRAM part numbers/SKU numbers. You search out parts and see different numbers for what looks like the same thing and there's no master list I've ever found.

scott s.
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DaveSSS 

I've bought a lot of SRAM components in the last two years. They never have any instructions included, but they're easy enough to find. I just bought new brake/shift levers with hydraulic calipers. No instructions.
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scott967

I guess they can save a nickel that way.

scott s.
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Sy Reene

Been to a restaurant lately? QR codes are becoming standard fare for menu delivery at your table