Garmin Vector buying help

meanredspider

They don't have them yet. So I placed an order with Stages direct because they quoted delivery 25 Feb. No sooner had I placed the order when they come back and say it'll be 14th March instead!!! This whole thing is a real PITA

aberdeen_lune

I had a similar issue. I have a Powertap on a Mavic Open Pro rim. I want to measure power in TT races and hill climbs. I also want to use Training Peaks for all my rides including commuting and winter rides on my disc braked Pro6. I have threaded BBs on most of my bikes with Shimano Hollowtech. On my CAAD10 race bike I have BB30 with a FSA SLK light crankset.

I just ordered a Power2max Rotor3d this morning. I almost went for the Garmin Vectors but I'd have to change over from SPD SL pedals. I would have needed to buy at least two additional sets of Look Keos maybe 3.

Plan is to convert he CAAD10 to a standard threaded BB and fit a Shimano 7900 chainset, which I have in the cupboard. I will fit the Power2max to my TT bike and use my Powertap for training rides on my CAAD10 for now. If I have a hill climb I will swap over the Power2 max on to the CAAd10. In the winter I will use the Powertap on the turbo and the P2Max on the Kinesis Pro6.

mpdouglas

I have just bought a pair of Vectors on my most recent trip to the US. I saved about £250 over the UK RRP. For me, they have already proven the worth of having a genuine Left/Right split of power. On a recent 5 hour ride, I went from being 52% left bias to 56% right bias. The transition was gradual over the duration of the ride. I don't yet know what causes this or what I need to do from a training perspective but I know there is something to be addressed. Many other power meter solutions would not have yielded this insight. So I am very happy with my Vector decision. They fitted on my Chorus compact chain set without problems and could easily be swapped between bikes.

meanredspider

I'm so fed up with it all that I ordered a 105 Stages Crank from Evans (apparently available next week - we'll see)

The trouble with the L-R thing is that no-one yet knows what to do with it. It might be interesting to know and your absolute power figures might be more accurate but all the messing about trying to order systems that will actually fit and work, I got fed up. I want to start using the thing now (I'm training in Limburg tomorrow with 4500ft of climbing)

bigmat

meanredspider wrote:

I'm so fed up with it all that I ordered a 105 Stages Crank from Evans (apparently available next week - we'll see)

The trouble with the L-R thing is that no-one yet knows what to do with it. It might be interesting to know and your absolute power figures might be more accurate but all the messing about trying to order systems that will actually fit and work, I got fed up. I want to start using the thing now (I'm training in Limburg tomorrow with 4500ft of climbing)

Absolutely. I can see that my right leg is bigger than my left leg. And then what?

spasypaddy

meanredspider wrote:

I'm so fed up with it all that I ordered a 105 Stages Crank from Evans (apparently available next week - we'll see)

The trouble with the L-R thing is that no-one yet knows what to do with it. It might be interesting to know and your absolute power figures might be more accurate but all the messing about trying to order systems that will actually fit and work, I got fed up. I want to start using the thing now (I'm training in Limburg tomorrow with 4500ft of climbing)

do no dutch companies have one in?

and i agree about the L/R thing.

meanredspider

Well Evans have just blown me out but (as above) I was half expecting this. Order another from Merlin and it's apparently shipped (they can only supply to UK so I'll need it forwarding). It's a long time since I've had so much trouble buying anything.

In the meantime Power2max came back to me and asked why I cancelled my order. I said one of the reasons was delivery time. They said what if they brought delivery forward by a week? I said "So, this week?" They responded "No - the week of 3rd March" - I had to remind them that 3rd of March was the week they'd already quoted! Seems delivering product in the world of power meters is a real challenge...

JackPozzi

mpdouglas wrote:

I have just bought a pair of Vectors on my most recent trip to the US. I saved about £250 over the UK RRP. For me, they have already proven the worth of having a genuine Left/Right split of power. On a recent 5 hour ride, I went from being 52% left bias to 56% right bias. The transition was gradual over the duration of the ride. I don't yet know what causes this or what I need to do from a training perspective but I know there is something to be addressed. Many other power meter solutions would not have yielded this insight. So I am very happy with my Vector decision. They fitted on my Chorus compact chain set without problems and could easily be swapped between bikes.

The bold section here is quite interesting and the main thing that puts me off the stages system. I'm not that interested in knowing my L/R balance as I don't believe there's a huge amount you can do about it and certainly time spent trying to equalise the balance would be better spent just improving overall power IMO, BUT if the bias can swing by that amount over the course of a ride it's really going to effect the accuracy of a system that only measures one leg...

meanredspider

JackPozzi wrote:

mpdouglas wrote:

I have just bought a pair of Vectors on my most recent trip to the US. I saved about £250 over the UK RRP. For me, they have already proven the worth of having a genuine Left/Right split of power. On a recent 5 hour ride, I went from being 52% left bias to 56% right bias. The transition was gradual over the duration of the ride. I don't yet know what causes this or what I need to do from a training perspective but I know there is something to be addressed. Many other power meter solutions would not have yielded this insight. So I am very happy with my Vector decision. They fitted on my Chorus compact chain set without problems and could easily be swapped between bikes.

The bold section here is quite interesting and the main thing that puts me off the stages system. I'm not that interested in knowing my L/R balance as I don't believe there's a huge amount you can do about it and certainly time spent trying to equalise the balance would be better spent just improving overall power IMO, BUT if the bias can swing by that amount over the course of a ride it's really going to effect the accuracy of a system that only measures one leg...

BUT - provided this effect is reasonably consistent (no reason to expect it isn't) then you just need to measure a steady improvement for the one leg. Coaches over in "Road Training" will tell you that power is all about the aerobic pathways - the effect will be even across legs. Absolute power numbers are meaningless in reality - it's the relative change that really matters (to me, in any case). Of course, it's a nice to have - but not enough for me to spend more money or to wait for delivery - or the messing about swapping cranks (especially as the Volagi and Variado run compacts and the Foil a double)

meanredspider

Does anybody know if there's any issues with carrying a crank arm in your hand baggage in Europe? I've just been reading the DC Rainmaker (excellent quality) reviews of the Stages and he points out that it exceeds the size of heavy metal tool-like object allowed in hand baggage in US.