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First look: Garmin Vector 3 pedals

Pod-free power from Garmin's third-generation power pedal...

Power pedals are getting more competitive, and they're also very good. It's been a while since we reviewed the Garmin Vector 2 pedals, which at the time would have set you back £1,200. Since then the trend has been for power pedals to get cheaper, and that's demonstrated by the excellent Favero Assioma Duo pedals, which offer accurate and repeatable double-sided power readings for £735. So Garmin have had to up their game, and they have. The Vector 3 is a major update, and a dual-sided setup is now just £849.

> How to choose a power meter

The new Vector 3 is a brand new pedal: it doesn't really share anything with the previous version. Both the body and spindle are redesigned, and upgraded: you get needle bearing internals in place of the bronze bushings, for example, and the redesigned bodies are much better looking. The main difference, though, is that the pods have been binned. The Vector pedals used to use a separate pod containing the transmitter and battery, which plugged into the back of the spindle. The connection was prone to problems, and the pods themselves wer a bit fragile. For version 3, all the electronics are inside the pedal, meaning it's a much neater unit. The batteries (two LR44 button cells) will run the vectors for a claimed 120 hours, and Garmin have added Bluetooth Smart connectivity so it's easier to pair the pedals to your phone or tablet, and update the firmware.

> When should I replace my cleats?

As before, the Vector pedals use a Look-Kéo-compatible cleat, and cleats are supplied. Once fitted to the bike they're pretty much indistinguishable from a standard pedal: there's nothing to give away the fact that they're a power pedal save for a blinky status light in the back of the axle. And the fact that they say Garmin on the side.

We'll be giving the Vectors a thorough test here on road.cc and benchmarking them against the other power-measuring devices we have knocking about. Watch out for the full review soon.

Dave is a founding father of road.cc, having previously worked on Cycling Plus and What Mountain Bike magazines back in the day. He also writes about e-bikes for our sister publication ebiketips. He's won three mountain bike bog snorkelling World Championships, and races at the back of the third cats.

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11 comments

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libor | 6 years ago
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Hallo, ich möchte fragen, wie hart Pedale sind? Wie lange hält Vektor 2? Vielleicht Lager?
 

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donalmahon | 6 years ago
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Ive received the Vector 3s, but even though it says Bluetooth conectivity on the box, i cant pair to any IOS or bluetooth device, Ant+ is ok with the garmin head unit. Has anyone had this issue?

 

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ibr17xvii replied to donalmahon | 6 years ago
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donalmahon wrote:

Ive received the Vector 3s, but even though it says Bluetooth conectivity on the box, i cant pair to any IOS or bluetooth device, Ant+ is ok with the garmin head unit. Has anyone had this issue?

 

Shane Miller has just uploaded a video on the Vector 3's & he had the same issue.

He said that they are only Ant+ compatible at the minute until they update the firmware.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P5xD57HxHKw

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zedbedboy | 6 years ago
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Thanks for the updates on deliveries. Fingers crossed they land soon!

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tashlin | 6 years ago
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I had mine on pre-order from Sigma Sports since late October.  They were originally meant to ship in early November but I was notified they would likely come into stock and be dispatched early December.  They actually arrived yesterday (30 November).  It feels as though stock is finally coming through just in time for Christmas!

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Fluffed | 6 years ago
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Evans may have been telling porkies, I asked Wiggle about them a month ago, and they said their preorder will be going up early December, stock due mid December. Clevertraining have had them listed for preoder for a week or two, again with mid December for stock.

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MalOSB replied to Fluffed | 6 years ago
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fluffed wrote:

Evans may have been telling porkies, I asked Wiggle about them a month ago, and they said their preorder will be going up early December, stock due mid December. Clevertraining have had them listed for preoder for a week or two, again with mid December for stock.

That is not fair. Evans are giving the information they have. I got mine on Tuesday so not December.

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kamoshika | 6 years ago
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You mentioned in the video that you'd swapped the pedal bodies on the previous vectors for Shimano. Is that possible with these new ones?

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zedbedboy | 6 years ago
2 likes

1st question - when will delivery problems be sorted? I've had mine on order with Evans for a number of weeks. 1st delivery promise was 6th Nov, that's gone back twice now to 15th Dec.

Are there production issues at Garmin or just very high demand they can't cope with yet.

Yours in anticipation!!

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MalOSB replied to zedbedboy | 6 years ago
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zedbedboy wrote:

1st question - when will delivery problems be sorted? I've had mine on order with Evans for a number of weeks. 1st delivery promise was 6th Nov, that's gone back twice now to 15th Dec.

Ordered mine beginning of October and got them Tuesday from Evans. Garmin are filling stock ASAP. Evans has the dual pedals as a hot item so it looks like demand has been exceptionally high.

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KINGHORN replied to zedbedboy | 6 years ago
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zedbedboy wrote:

1st question - when will delivery problems be sorted? I've had mine on order with Evans for a number of weeks. 1st delivery promise was 6th Nov, that's gone back twice now to 15th Dec.

Are there production issues at Garmin or just very high demand they can't cope with yet.

Yours in anticipation!!

 

I have mine, through local LBS (mine were in there 2nd delivery last week), think they're fullfilling orders from independent shops first, thats why Evans and such keep chaging the date. So yes, demand is high and Garmin UK can't keep up!

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