Got the new Vector pedals and installed them this morning. The physical installation of the pedals, and the pod is pretty easy. (definitely easier than the Look power pedals because the pods don't have to be precisely alligned.

Setting them up to an Edge 800 is another story. All the documentation relates to using them with an 810, although Garmin advertises that they are compatible with the 800.

Nothing in the Quick Start Manual, the Owners Manual, or the on line videos, tells you correctly how to set crank length on the 800. in fact the answer in the on line owner's manual is wrong.

After a 20 minute conversation with Garmin Tech support, they finally found someone who knew the correct answer.


Turns out you have to do use the provided Ant+ dongle to do a software update of the pedals, and then set the cranklength using the dongle and the computer.

This would be a deal breaker if you were planning on using them with an 800, and moving them from bike to bike with different length cranks. You'd have to use a laptop to reprogram every time you moved them.

Ironically, DC Rainmaker in his review already explained the process, better than the Garmin Tech rep, but I didn't read that far down when I read his review the first time.

I'm getting the distinct feel that this is really a Beta version of the product, particularly with regard to documentation. For example, the installation guide is misleading on torqueing the pedals. DC Rainmaker's review makes clear that the pedals need to be torqued firmly to get accurate readings. The installation guide does provide a torque spec that's pretty high, (34-40nm) but warns about over torquing and says nothing about inaccurate readings from under torquing. Also it takes a special crows foot attachement to a torque wrench, which Garmin does not supply. It really appears that the crow's foot to turn a torque wrench into a pedal wrench was an after the fact scramble by Garmin when they realized that improper torque was a problem.

And it perturbs me to have to do a software upgrade on a product that's only been released for 30 days.

You get the distinct feeling that Garmin, and its tech reps are still trying to figure out the product.

I suppose all this is to beexpected when your the first kid on the block, but something to think about if you're looking at Vector, as well as Quarq, and Powertap.

I'm sure you kept your receipt

At this point, I think its just going to be annoyance issues, as opposed to something that would make me send them back.

Well good thing I went with the already tried and tested quarq. They were close on price but knowing how it is too new I thought something like that would happen. Thanks for the overview.

I'll just mention that a crows foot changes the torque reading. Google it for many sites that explain how to correct for it.

It may be easier to simply use a fish scale and pull perpendicularly on a pedal wrench to torque the pedals. Torque is length between the pedal spindle and where the scale pulls multiplied by the force. (to convert kg to N, multiply by 9.8) 1kg=9.8N

At first glance, these seemed like such an awesome solution, and the installation issues wouldn't even be a big deal for me, as I never remove the pedals from my "good" bike. But the price is just way too high, particularly when you can get a Powertap + wheelset for less...

Reading between the lines, I think it has to be good and tight to work, but it doesn't need to be mathematically precise for accurate readings. So, I'm going to just try it by feel first.

34-40nm is definitely tighter than I routinely tighten pedals. Put a lot of grease on them first, in the hopes they'll be easier to remove.

Give me a call when this is in generation 5, foolproof to install and costs less than $500 for a set of pedals.

FWIW and as a point of reference, Look specifies 40 Nm for Keo pedal installation.

Good to know.

I know I never tighten pedals that tight. Given that the pedaling motion tightens the pedal, I've never had an issue with a pedal coming loose.

I have wrestled with pedals to get them off (admittedly more likely due to not being greased before someone put them on). Thus, I've definitely gone easier than that.

Dang, 40 N-m seems like a lot. My wife and I share one of my bikes (it's my fast commuter and her road bike) and she rides with cages, so I swap the pedals on that thing all the time. I basically just spin the crank until the wrench stops...probably no more than 10nm, but the pedals never come loose.

I don't understand why everyone gets upset about having to update a product relatively soon after they buy it.
To me this means the vendor is continuing development and is rapidly addressing any issues they find. The product isn't a beta, they're just continuing to improve it as they go.

I'd be more concerned if I bought something that has the ability to be updated and the vendor doesn't bother. This means they either don't care after they have your money, or they're busy working on the next version and you'll have to swap out to get the updates.

I might have been a little precipitous. Updated the software, and got it working. It was mostly the lack of documentation, and the cluelessness of their support that ticked me off.

Before computers, people used to expect manufacturers to release products that worked without needing repairs. Now e're conditioned to accept Version 1.0 and be the beta testers while they straighten it out.

First ride the power balance was way off (35%-65%) which is inconsistent from my Quarq data. But that appeared to clear up after recalibrating a couple of times.

In the tandem application, the stoker pedling and with my feet off the pedals, it still reads 10-20 watts. I'm hoping this isn't affecting the power when I pedal, given that I'm pulling her crank around rather than vice versa in the Captain coating experiement. Need to do some field tests to see.

https://www.strava.com/activities/83343811

I would send DCRainmaker an email (or contact via his website). He's very helpful and VERY knowledgable.

I am extremely curious about your opinion on these as time goes on.

This was delivered to my office last night by the local Garmin agent.

I've been using the DC Rainmaker review as my guide and I'm waiting on my new torque wrench to arrive (only have a small 15Nm one that is good for stems, seatpost clamps etc) before I start to install.

DC Rainmaker makes the point about the pedal needing to be torqued properly and I'll admit to being in the same position as the OP with regard to how I normally put on pedals. I doubt I've ever had my Look Keo pedals at 40Nm. I guess I'll be greasing everything up like a champ as well.

That's SOP for Garmin.

Before computers, products were a whole lot less complicated. Software is hard.

Software is easy to update. Hardware is fixed 'as is'.

However, good hardware always works as designed. Software can let you down...

LOL. No.

I used to work in digital pre-press. I've been scarred by software.

But in the end, everything lets you down somehow.

A Garmin bike product with software problems? Why am I not surprised.

Their stuff is great if and when it's working correctly. But every model seems to have it's own set of intermittent problems.

My 705 still locks up occasionally on a ride, or writes garbage into the middle of a ride recording file, or quits calculating grades, or mangles the filesystem, needing a check and repair scan.

After rolling out fixes to some of the problems, this seems to be Garmin's standard method.

So why is there no power data on the Strava link I posted? I hardly ever use Strava, but just put the file up to share. When I'm logged into Strava, there's power data.

Whe I click the link I posted, there's no power data.

I think I saw these were ~$1,600? That is higher than I thought they would be.

It is high, but only if that is the price you paid.