Friday, June 27, 2014

Garmin Vector Pedals - update 1

I was supposed to give an update on the pedals a couple of weeks ago.  But, they didn't function the way I wanted them to so I made some more adjustments, made some adjustments on my bike seat, made some more adjustments to the pedals, changed my bike seat, changed my bike seat again... yada-yada-yada.  Anyway, I didn't want to give an update when I only had faulty data that I didn't know what the cause was.  So, as for the pedals, after I have everything pretty much set, or as good as they're going to get for now, they work ok.  As far as I can tell, they work exactly like any other power meter.  Although, if you don't have the torque right, you're going to get different outputs.  Which is annoying because if you take off the pedals, you have to set the torque exactly to how it was before to get the same output.  I think this is a user error, but for $1500 and the selling point that they are easy to install and move to different bikes, I think the torque should have some wiggle room and still achieve the same output.  I compared the pedals to the CompuTrainer at my LBS and the CompuTrainer was always 10 - 20 watts higher than the Vector.  It's not a huge deal because if I'm only using my Vectors then I'm always going to be using the same equipment to measure my output and gauge my effort.  It's just a little discouraging to feel like I'm working harder than the power is reading out.  Oh well.  I'm going to try re-installing the pedals one more time.  If it magically starts working how I want it to, then I will post an update.

 


10/3/14 Update:
After some trial and errors and taking my time, I have learned how to successfully, install/uninstall/repeat the vector pedals.

After buying a 15 mm wrench with a long handle, removing the pedals is a lot easier.    



If I can't apply enough pressure using my upper body, I steady the bike and use my legs by putting one foot on the wrench and pushing down.  But, so far I've only had to do that once.  Other times I just need to wrap the handle with a towel so it doesn't dig so much into my hand.

As far as re-installing them, make sure to add some grease to the threads of the pedals to make it easier to get them off later.



Hand-tighten the pedals first, then snap in the back piece of the silver/grey pedal pod, then tighten with the regular wrench just enough so that you would need the wrench to unscrew them.  Then use the torque wrench with the attached crows foot (the picture below shows 19 mm, but you will need a 15 mm with 3/8'' Drive) to tighten down to the recommended torque: 34 - 40 Nm or 25 lb/ft.  I have installed the pedals 3 times successfully.  Each time, I set the torque to 40 Nm and my readings have been consistent after each install.  So, I recommend just going to the full 40 Nm every time the pedals are installed.



Hope this is helpful to someone.  Please let me know if you have any questions and I will try to answer them.

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