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Garmin Vector power meters

Whats the crack with the one sided pod set up.I would have thought the twin set up would be better because you could check power discrepancy between legs .The price is less but not half so thinking the twin set up is for me.Anyone used both types and got any advice to offer.Where's the best deals available. Is there any word of using Shimano spd sl anytime soon?

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HLaB | 7 years ago
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The OP has probably found out but you get an conversion kit for spd-sl.  A bit OT I've seen too many nasty pedal spindle failure with Looks so converted Vector pedals are my preference if I ever save up the pennies.

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giobox | 9 years ago
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+1 for DCRainmaker's site.

I wouldn't worry about the balance between the legs stuff. This is not really that useful as a training metric, and I feel is largely exaggerated by Garmin because it's the easiest thing for the marketing team to point out as an advantage, with big percent left/percent right glamour shots. I think there are some use cases for it when recovering from injury, but unless you ride professionally I think you can manage...

The real difference is that the twin pod model should offer slightly more "accurate" numbers in some scenarios, such as out of the saddle sprints. Over the course of a ride or an interval session on the turbo, the extra accuracy is not really needed to extract an identical training benefit. I think the one pedal S model is a really good option.

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Gasman Jim | 9 years ago
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THE place to read up on all the various power meters is DC Rainmaker's site.

I was initially very keen on the Vectors, but can't help but feel that they've bunged some incredible electronics into a mechanically very mediocre pedal. You don't have to look far on the web to find unhappy owners with wobbly pedals. Garmin do seem to have covered this with their warranty, and I think there has been a running upgrade to the bearing / bushing unit. I also felt the pod unit was a little vulnerable to damage, and I think there's been a running upgrade there to thicker material.

Personally, I ended up going with Stages and have been very happy. So much so I've just got a second one for my winter bike. Again, you don't have to look far to find problems with early units, but that seems to be sorted now, the company stand behind their product, and mine have been faultless.

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Iamnot Wiggins | 9 years ago
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Why do you want a power meter? You haven't advised as to whether your racing or training for something specific or have access to a coach etc.

If it's just to massage your ego & boast about numbers then it strikes me as a bit of a waste of money.

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Scrufftie | 9 years ago
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I have been using a pair of Vectors for about a year now. They are simple to switch between bikes, as easy as switching pedals, anyway. I can't see them producing anything other than a Look fit pedal as that's as close to a standard as we're ever likely to get.

If you just want power, a single pedal system would be fine. The advantage of the two pedal set up is that you can get a whole raft of metrics. This includes, smoothness, balance and even whether your cleat is sitting centrally. How much you would benefit from this wall of data only you can say.

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kentos1978 | 9 years ago
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The twin setup is better, hence why it costs more. I think the one side option is there to compete with stages. You can buy another pod later if you decide you want the accuracy.

I've got a stages and find its fine for me. I read somewhere that they outsell other power meters 10 to 1 so the lower price obviously makes sense to a lot of people.

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ChuckB | 9 years ago
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Was soo hoping there would be a good answer to this question, but I think the folks who need individual pedal measurements all have sponsors and aren't coming here for advice.. I have been holding off this expensive purchase for a whilst I try the get a good feel for what is available, and hoping the cost comes down. I am pretty sold on the Garmin as they work with my Edge 800, and seeing the output from a single sensor will still allow me to train better, and to maintain a more constant output. I do not expect to see any power sensors for the SPD-SL market in the near future as that type of riding is too sporadic for power measurements to be of great use.

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KirinChris replied to ChuckB | 9 years ago
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ChuckB wrote:

Was soo hoping there would be a good answer to this question, but I think the folks who need individual pedal measurements all have sponsors and aren't coming here for advice.. I have been holding off this expensive purchase for a whilst I try the get a good feel for what is available, and hoping the cost comes down. I am pretty sold on the Garmin as they work with my Edge 800, and seeing the output from a single sensor will still allow me to train better, and to maintain a more constant output. I do not expect to see any power sensors for the SPD-SL market in the near future as that type of riding is too sporadic for power measurements to be of great use.

They pretty much all work with your Edge 800. Garmin, PowerTap, SRM, Qarq, Stages. Anything that has ANT+ protocol.

What you should buy depends on your setup. Do you want to move it between bikes or not ? What are you going to use it for - racing, training, TTs?

Unless you're planning to base all your training around power I would just go for the cheapest practical solution, which will probably be Stages, PowerTap or the single Vector.

To my mind Stages is fine if you are just doing steady riding or TTs. Less great if your training involves very short bursts of power. Works best if you have one bike to mainly ride and want to swap wheels.

Powertap is great especially if you are planning to buy new wheels. You can pretty much buy the Power hub and get a decent wheel thrown in on top. Works well to move between bikes but not so well if you have multiple wheelsets.

Vector is much like Stages except you get the R/L measurement if you get the pair, but as nobody seems to know what to do with that data it's a questionable advantage. The moveability of the pedals is not all it's cracked up to be according to people I know who have them. So a single pedal is probably your best option.

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