So, at long last I feel like its time to write the review of the new Garmin Vector pedals. I purchased mine through Primera Sports in Bournemouth, who mailed them to me using a 48 hour delivery service, and they arrived in a huge box with lots of packing 6 days ago, on Sept 24th. It was very exciting to open them from their chocolate box style packaging:
However, I was more than alarmed to find they came with some cleats which were red in colour. I immediately called up the shop to ask why, and they told me that the colour does not relate to normal Look Keo pedals. They are a float of 6.5 degrees, whereas I use 4.5 degrees. So I am leaving my grey cleats on my shoes rather than change them before the race. I don't understand why Garmin would not offer the same cleats that riders are used to, but there we go. I took them to the mechanic Chris Bailey as he was finishing my rebuild of the bike ready for Kona. We assembled them in about 5 minutes, starting with the left pedal per the instructions. The washer goes next to the crank, then the metal part of the Vector pod, then the pedal. Once tightened by hand, they should be tightened to 25 foot pounds with a torque wrench with a claw foot. I have done it twice with a 15mm spanner and no torque wrench and it worked. The angle of the pods does not matter, and you do not need to get it to read the message about angles being checked during calibration. Mine worked following only a static calibration. But I did enter the crank length on my Garmin 510. There is no option to do this on the 310xt, but they both read the same, so I guess the 310xt must have worked it out.
So, here is the history of all the teething problems I have had and why. I think that the support available on the Garmin 1-800 number is very effective, but its not easy if you are not on the continental US.
1. The pedals did initially pair with my Garmin 510 and my Garmin 310xt, but it requires a lot of determination to get this to happen. At least 5 goes at pairing and receiving the 'power sensor not found' message seems to be normal. After cajoling, they paired, and then calibrated successfully. I took them out for a first ride and they read consistent power, albeit a little haphazardly with zeros creeping in every 5-10 minutes..
2.Every ride you are supposed to re-calibrate. I noticed, that following static calibration, it took about 5 minutes for full power readings. This is apparently a known fault and can be fixed by upgrading the firmware. I was told this by Garmin support but I am not inclined to try to upgrade my firmware at this time, as I have never had success using my ANT stick and without a good wireless signal while I am travelling I think its too big a risk.
3. After I disassembled the bike to travel to Texas, I stored the pedals in their box for travel. per the recommendation, and then reassembled as soon as I arrived on Friday. I tightened the pedals manually, and then took the bike to the shop to have them do it with the torque wrench. I could not get them to pair with the Garmin this time. So after several calls to Garmin, I took them off again and found that there was a washer in between the pedal and the Vector pod, ie the wrong side, which was preventing them from reading. After removing this they would pair and calibrate. But they were still reading bad data. So I removed the batteries on both pods, and calibrated again. This fixed the problem and they are now paired and reading correctly, if a little low. But no random zeros this time. So I think that is as good as they will get, and I will test using this set up before I dismantle the bike again for the flight to Kona.
I would recommend that anyone deciding to buy the pedals has a means to compare them to another source of power at the start of the installation, and makes use of the Garmin Support helpdesk. Generally though, they are a great source of power recording for the less technically or mechanically able athlete who just wants to be able to travel. use multiple bikes and download the power readings straight away using the same Garmin Edge or Forerunner that they are used to.
However, I was more than alarmed to find they came with some cleats which were red in colour. I immediately called up the shop to ask why, and they told me that the colour does not relate to normal Look Keo pedals. They are a float of 6.5 degrees, whereas I use 4.5 degrees. So I am leaving my grey cleats on my shoes rather than change them before the race. I don't understand why Garmin would not offer the same cleats that riders are used to, but there we go. I took them to the mechanic Chris Bailey as he was finishing my rebuild of the bike ready for Kona. We assembled them in about 5 minutes, starting with the left pedal per the instructions. The washer goes next to the crank, then the metal part of the Vector pod, then the pedal. Once tightened by hand, they should be tightened to 25 foot pounds with a torque wrench with a claw foot. I have done it twice with a 15mm spanner and no torque wrench and it worked. The angle of the pods does not matter, and you do not need to get it to read the message about angles being checked during calibration. Mine worked following only a static calibration. But I did enter the crank length on my Garmin 510. There is no option to do this on the 310xt, but they both read the same, so I guess the 310xt must have worked it out.
So, here is the history of all the teething problems I have had and why. I think that the support available on the Garmin 1-800 number is very effective, but its not easy if you are not on the continental US.
1. The pedals did initially pair with my Garmin 510 and my Garmin 310xt, but it requires a lot of determination to get this to happen. At least 5 goes at pairing and receiving the 'power sensor not found' message seems to be normal. After cajoling, they paired, and then calibrated successfully. I took them out for a first ride and they read consistent power, albeit a little haphazardly with zeros creeping in every 5-10 minutes..
2.Every ride you are supposed to re-calibrate. I noticed, that following static calibration, it took about 5 minutes for full power readings. This is apparently a known fault and can be fixed by upgrading the firmware. I was told this by Garmin support but I am not inclined to try to upgrade my firmware at this time, as I have never had success using my ANT stick and without a good wireless signal while I am travelling I think its too big a risk.
3. After I disassembled the bike to travel to Texas, I stored the pedals in their box for travel. per the recommendation, and then reassembled as soon as I arrived on Friday. I tightened the pedals manually, and then took the bike to the shop to have them do it with the torque wrench. I could not get them to pair with the Garmin this time. So after several calls to Garmin, I took them off again and found that there was a washer in between the pedal and the Vector pod, ie the wrong side, which was preventing them from reading. After removing this they would pair and calibrate. But they were still reading bad data. So I removed the batteries on both pods, and calibrated again. This fixed the problem and they are now paired and reading correctly, if a little low. But no random zeros this time. So I think that is as good as they will get, and I will test using this set up before I dismantle the bike again for the flight to Kona.
I would recommend that anyone deciding to buy the pedals has a means to compare them to another source of power at the start of the installation, and makes use of the Garmin Support helpdesk. Generally though, they are a great source of power recording for the less technically or mechanically able athlete who just wants to be able to travel. use multiple bikes and download the power readings straight away using the same Garmin Edge or Forerunner that they are used to.
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