Quote:
Originally Posted by Rayscott
Thanks for all the great advice on this. Interesting that my friend and Bike Line manager uses the Garmin and has had no issues. However, I will relate the problems you have mentioned to him. I think i will give them a try and if I have any of the issues mentioned I will simply return them. I will not use them if they become a problem. Your experience and others experience with these pedals have cast some doubts on my decision.
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Clearly you are going to spend your money as you see fit. I am just curious though.... If you're not planing on moving these from bike to bike during training, why not spend $100 more than the original budget and get a power meter that accurately reports Left and Right power data, the C1 chain rings from Power Tap?
To your friend using Vector pedals, i'm sure there are plenty of people using Vectors without issues. I'm not sure you're aware of how they work so i'll just add this info for you. I recently had a friend go into a bike shop intending on buying P1 pedals. The bike shop talked her into the Vector2(s) and when she found out there was an external pod she was less than thrilled. Especially after catching the pod wire on something in the back of her car before evening getting ride with them. To add insult to injury, a replacement pod (not warrantied) cost $75.
This is a picture of the pedal and pod that attaches to the spinal. The wire i'm talking about is the flat plastic looking thing that comes out of the pod and goes to a circular section that plugs into the spindle of the pedal.
This is how the pod hangs off of the pedal spindle.
If you bump this pod from it's mounting location (which isn't terribly difficult to do, clipping in, unclipping in an emergency, hitting it on a curb, bike carrier, etc...) your power readings will be off from that point on until you re-calibrate. If your chain slaps and catches the wire on the back side of the crank, you'll have to replace the pod at the price listed above.
On top of that, a single sided power meter estimates your powerless side which means the data will be less accurate than a L/R or hub power meter.
If you buy one singled sided power meter today at retail pricing, you'll spend $600. Buy another in the future at $500 and you've spent as much as a set of P1 pedals or $400 more than a set of C1 chain rings. Have to replace a pod and you're $75 more in the hole.
My Wed night riding buddy has a Vector2s and said it reports high wattage unless he calibrates before the ride and then again after his warm up portion of the ride. Just a month ago my friend ended up with Garmin pedals and is now disappointed. I also did a 20min FTP test with her and her watts were reading incredibly high. She's 5'3, 110 pounds on a TT bike and i'm 5'10, 180 pounds riding an endurance bike. Her watts were reading equal and at times higher than mine while riding side by side. No way that's possible. The few people i know with P1 pedals have no such issues that require multiple calibrations or even every ride calibration requirements. Mine is the only one i know of that had an issue (mechanical) and they handled it under warranty, which also extended the warranty period.
I don't get commission for Power Tap purchases and ultimately don't really care which meter you go with. I'm just trying to arm you with information and first hand experiences so you can make a decision based on more than a Bike shop owner's recommendation.
