Garmin Rally RS210 Dual-Sensing Power Meter pedals

Since publishing this review, the recommended retailed price of the Garmin Rally RS210 Dual-Sensing Power Meter pedals has changed to £699.99. The reviewer scored based on the original RRP (£929.99).

The new Garmin Rally RS210 power meter pedals are significantly more user-friendly than before, while retaining their reputation for reliably accurate measurements and a quality ride feel. However, their price remains high relative to the best power meter pedals, and for little real benefit.

I have the dual-sided RS210 on test here, and the ‘S’ refers their compatibility with Shimano SPD-SL cleats (the Rally RK210s work with Look Keo-style cleats). Both versions cost £929.99, as do the off-road versions (Rally XC210) which attach to SPD cleats. Single-sided power measurement starts at £549.99.

For £1,129.99, Garmin sells the Rally RS/XC210 power meter pedal bundle, which gets you both kinds of pedal body and the power-measuring spindle, which is interchangeable between them.

The outgoing Garmin Rally 200 ran off a coin-cell battery. This provided a long run time (up to 120 hours of riding, according to Garmin) but generated e-waste when it needed replacing, while the necessary battery door was a potential weak spot for water ingress.

The new internal battery should make these less vulnerable as the body is sealed, and is easily rechargeable via the supplied USB-C cables. Their magnetic clips attach to magnetic charging pins on the pedals.

Garmin claims the battery will last for an impressive 90 hours – although that’s now significantly less than the Favero Assioma Pro RS, which have recently gone from 60 hours to 160 hours, negating a flaw Dave identified in his review.

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Although these last 30 hours less than the old versions, I’m sure I speak for most riders in preferring a rechargeable system. Once your bike computer indicates the battery is low, you can top it up at the mains instead of potentially prematurely replacing a single-life battery.

If you run out of charge just before a ride, Garmin’s quick-charge mode will net you 12 hours of juice in just 15 minutes of charging.

The spindles are easier to remove from the pedal bodies for servicing now, requiring just a 15mm wrench and 5mm hex/torque wrench. You can also swap the spindles into XC210 pedal bodies to record power off-road.

This pretty simple process will be convenient if you split road and gravel riding into distinct parts of the year, for example road in the winter and gravel in summer. It’s also a viable swap if you want it for specific events, but any more often than that would be a drag. A power meter for each bike might be more practical.

It wouldn’t be hard to find two power meters for the same price as the Rally bundle, frankly, so long as you don’t mind one being single-sided.

Spec and tech

Because they have Bluetooth and ANT+, the Rallys can connect to any smart bike computer. Users of the latest Garmin computers benefit from the smart calibration feature, though. This tells you when to carry out a zero-offset calibration; for example if it detects a drop in temperature, a swap to a different bike or just generally thinks it’s been too long.

Don’t worry if your head unit lacks this tech, because the pedals automatically calibrate themselves pretty regularly anyway. The Smart feature just notifies you if it thinks an extra, manual one might be necessary.

The Garmin Connect app is also where you can view your Cycling Dynamics, which is data about how and where you produce power. Of these, left/right balance is the most useful, and that’s displayed on third-party bike computers as well.

Installation requires a pedal wrench, because the battery cover is in the location a hex socket would normally be. Incidentally, the Rally’s high IPX7 waterproof rating (capable of withstanding a 1m deep exposure for 30 minutes) is very reassuring.

They have a standard-for-the-road 53mm Q-factor – the distance between the outside of each crank arm – which you can broaden to 55mm with the provided washers. Their stack height of 12.2mm is on the low side (in theory, the lower the better for pedalling efficiency). You can adjust the release tension by turning the dial on the back of the pedal body.

These are heavier than the 247g Favero Assioma Pro RS 2 pedals at 312g. But that’s still not too weighty even for regular pedals, and they’re still among of the lightest options.

Aesthetically, they look just like normal road pedals, because the working are in the spindle, just as in most modern models.

Importantly, the RS210s are very nice pedals to ride. Like high-end Shimano road pedals, they are weighted to hang the right way up for clipping in, and you clearly hear and feel when your cleats engage. What’s more, the wide contact area and carbon-reinforced plastic body feels stable, supportive and stiff under foot.

Accuracy

As before, Garmin says the Rally 210 series is accurate to +/-1%, which is as high as you’ll see anywhere. In her review of the old model, Anna found no issues with accuracy.

Since the internals of the pedals are unchanged, their accuracy and consistency will be just as good. Certainly I have no reason to doubt it, having tested them against my Quarq DZero power meter crankset (rated to +/-1.5%) and Wahoo Kickr Core, whose integrated power measurement is claimed to be +/-2% accuracy.

I used Zwift Power’s analyser to plot the numbers from the RS210 and the Quarq, and they tally closely, both second by second and for the overall workout. If anything, the RS210 are quicker to detect changes in power, and they consistently read a little higher; just what you’d expect when comparing pedal data to crank measurements. Even when using a waxed chain, as I did, drivetrain losses bring down the latter’s numbers.

It probably also explains why the RS210’s numbers are about 1% higher through the Critical Power curve for the same session. Out on the road with the RS210 as my sole meter, I noticed nothing iffy – no dropouts, unexplained spikes or apparent under-reading.

Value

The Garmin Rally RS210s are brilliant, and I’m happy they’re now rechargeable and simpler to work with too.

The price is a big sticking point for me, however, even considering these are dual-sided. They’re nearly £300 more than the excellent, and similarly specced, Favero Assioma Pro RS-2s with no obvious advantages, unless you’re resolutely wedded to the Garmin ecosystem.

While the RS210s do undercut the SRM X-Power road pedals, that’s not a high bar in light of SRM’s notoriously premium pricing – the officially imported dual-sided version is now £1,865.

Crank-based and spindle-based power meters are harder to switch between bikes than pedals. But if you don’t intend to do so, you can measure Watts for much less money, especially if you’re happy with single-sided measurement.

The 4iiii Precision 3+ Powermeter is £324.99, for instance, while the SRAM Rival AXS power meter is £230.

Overall

Garmin has improved the Rally RS210s’ usability with its tweaks, while maintaining their benchmark accuracy. The road/off-road swappable bodies are potentially very useful, and it’s nice not to have to fiddle around with coin cell batteries (or worry about the battery door). It’s also good to have the choice between Shimano and Look bodies.

For me, however, none of it justifies the roughly £300 premium over very similar offerings, particularly those from Favero.