Garmin Vector Power Meter...Vaporware no more

[firerescuefin]

http://velonews.competitor.com/2013/08/news/unboxed-garmin-re-launches-vector-pedal-based-power-meter_298062


Some interesting nuances. Cool to see it finally coming to market.

[MattTuck]

I'll echo what I said in the other thread. Pedal/cleats are a personal choice for many cyclists. It is a main (arguably the most important) contact point with the bike. I'm not sure if this is their long term plan, but it may have made more sense to develop a spindle platform technology that they could license to other pedal manufacturers.

As it is, the guys willing to spend this amount on a power meter probably have their fit/equipment selection pretty dialed in. I'm not sure they will want to switch up their pedals when they could put a powertap on for less money.

[buddybikes]

Chinese made no name pedals, WHY?

[gavingould]

Exustar isn't exactly no name. if you read any of the articles, Garmin mentions they could work with any pedal supplier (and have been contacted by all of them, apparently) but went with Exustar as a business decision.

meaning: Exustar would work with us at a good value proposition and lets us do what we want, ie. control the spindle supply chain.

[aramis]

It'll be a cold day in hell before I give up my speedplays. ;)

With a crank based deal, and hopefully with a complete switch to 110 bcd rings The only choice is crank arm length (and you can swap those if you want). With powertap hubs getting lighter and lighter and cheaper and cheaper it's not a super big deal to have a couple sets of wheels with a powertap hub.

But if you have to give up your favorite pedals.. that's not going to be an option for a lot of people.

[Keith A]

I'll echo what I said in the other thread. Pedal/cleats are a personal choice for many cyclists. It is a main (arguably the most important) contact point with the bike. I'm not sure if this is their long term plan, but it may have made more sense to develop a spindle platform technology that they could license to other pedal manufacturers.

As it is, the guys willing to spend this amount on a power meter probably have their fit/equipment selection pretty dialed in. I'm not sure they will want to switch up their pedals when they could put a powertap on for less money.Bingo.

[druptight]

It'll be a cold day in hell before I give up my speedplays. ;)

With a crank based deal, and hopefully with a complete switch to 110 bcd rings The only choice is crank arm length (and you can swap those if you want). With powertap hubs getting lighter and lighter and cheaper and cheaper it's not a super big deal to have a couple sets of wheels with a powertap hub.

But if you have to give up your favorite pedals.. that's not going to be an option for a lot of people.

You could go with the speedplay cleat based powermeter that's coming out soon (allegedly).

[slidey]

I'm with the general sentiment here, i.e. I'd be damned if I gave up my choice of pedals for power readings. In any case, I'd be curious as to see the innards of this power meter as I recall from one of the very early prototypes/rumours that the Vector was going to be compatible with any pedal i.e. the electronics would be in the spindle. I wonder if that's still the case.

[firerescuefin]

Don't know if power tap is the best example...as you would have to have a separate PT rear hub assembly for each set of wheels. This never appealed to me...as well as their long noted maintenance issues. If I am running the same BB on different roadbikes, I can swap cranks faster (or as fast) as a pair of pedals...before someone wants to argue that...I guarantee its within a minute..which is negligible.

No, I wouldn't switch pedal types..Metrigear was originally developed with speedplay zeros..which was great (for me)...Stages is gathering a following, SRM is a PITA when you want to get it serviced (yet It's bullet proof...and it's a really good unit)...and SRAM is doing well with quarq...which I've also owned...and is another great option.

Metrigear was originally advertised at the 1k price point...and people were excited. I have a hard time seeing these pedals (especially with their history) gaining a lot of early adopters/traction in the market.



I'll echo what I said in the other thread. Pedal/cleats are a personal choice for many cyclists. It is a main (arguably the most important) contact point with the bike. I'm not sure if this is their long term plan, but it may have made more sense to develop a spindle platform technology that they could license to other pedal manufacturers.

As it is, the guys willing to spend this amount on a power meter probably have their fit/equipment selection pretty dialed in. I'm not sure they will want to switch up their pedals when they could put a powertap on for less money.

[wasfast]

At least at intro, they don't seem much of a value. Pricepoint at $1K was the original play and would have been a game changer. Unfortunately, that was 3-4 years ago. Quarq has rock solid reliability, can be changed between bikes very easily (takes 2 minutes), and is very competitively priced. I bought a brand new Riken for $1200.......

It would appear that Powertap knew they were close to intro given their large discount a couple weeks back.

The apparent vector they've pursued is more interesting data to collect like L/R balance, up/down torque etc. Perhaps that is useful information but once you find that you have a L/R difference, now what? One legged training drills?

Likely the firmware is better than most products at introduction but with something like this, I'd be very cautious about being an early adopter. Firmware bugs, mechanical reliability issues (think Ergomo), potential POD damage. That's a lot that could go wrong. I just hope for Garmin's sake that it doesn't.