Anyone have the Garmin Vector 3s?

kimchiwitrice

Considering buying a pair since it's a bit of faff to get Stages installed on a bike - not to mention it seems to drop a lot. If you have/had a pair, mind sharing what it's like?

DMHR2018

Perfect until the first battery change, at which point all sorts of accuracy issues and drop outs occur. Garmin have recently offered a new battery cover for free to all previous buyers which along with a software update is supposed to fix the issues. Have not received my new cover yet so we shall see. I believe all new purchases will come with the updated battery cover.

redvision

kimchiwitrice wrote:

Considering buying a pair since it's a bit of faff to get Stages installed on a bike - not to mention it seems to drop a lot. If you have/had a pair, mind sharing what it's like?

Yes.
I would hold off.
Garmin have released the revised battery cap (not had mine yet) but early reports suggest it has not solved the issues and there are still numerous drops.

My advice, if you want a pedal pm look at the favero assioma duo instead

stueys

Bought them 2 weeks ago, refunded them last Friday. I didn’t need to replace the batteries, mine started playing up in the first 45 minutes. Power spikes, multiple prolonged drop outs, effectively useless.

Loads of feedback on the internet. Garmin are saying battery doors are the issue and are replacing all of them. I would stay away until we’ve got some resonable data that the problems are resolved, lots of proven options aren’t there, no need to take a punt on something with problems.

pamplemoose

I’ve had some on order since early April. Thinking of cancelling and getting something else.

CptKernow

Also worth checking out Favero Assioma pedals. Just got a set and they seem to be living up to the positive reviews

bobones

Wiggle have Vector 3 pedals with the new battery door design in stock. I think all of the problems have now been ironed out with this hardware change and the latest firmware. Mine have been flawless.

redvision

bobones wrote:

Wiggle have Vector 3 pedals with the new battery door design in stock. I think all of the problems have now been ironed out with this hardware change and the latest firmware. Mine have been flawless.

Mine haven't. Had new doors and pedals replaced again in the last fortnight but still getting drops and inconsistent readings.

I suggest people watch the Shane miller video (particularly the last 10 mins or so) as the problems most definitely have not been fixed by the new doors.
https://youtu.be/wVsiVfT4gfs

bobones

Shane Miller is reporting a consistent 2% low reading on his right pedal, but this has nothing to do with dropouts and spikes, which he has said have disappeared since installing the new battery holders.

I deliberately ran down my batteries to see how much run time they gave, and it was only in the last ride, prior to changing the batteries that I experienced any dropouts or spikes. Before this, and since changing the batteries, the pedals have behaved impeccably.

If you are still getting dropouts with the new holders, it would suggest that you're experiencing other power supply problems.

Have you tried CR3/1N batteries? (single large battery rather than two)
Have you taken any action against battery fretting? (applying small amount of light oil to battery contact points)
Did you try the cork fix? (not recommended but others report success https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbK1pkCyW_s).
Do you see any physical separation of the pedal body and spindle? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g63Bm3hnt88)

redvision

bobones wrote:

Shane Miller is reporting a consistent 2% low reading on his right pedal, but this has nothing to do with dropouts and spikes, which he has said have disappeared since installing the new battery holders.

I deliberately ran down my batteries to see how much run time they gave, and it was only in the last ride, prior to changing the batteries that I experienced any dropouts or spikes. Before this, and since changing the batteries, the pedals have behaved impeccably.

If you are still getting dropouts with the new holders, it would suggest that you're experiencing other power supply problems.

Have you tried CR3/1N batteries? (single large battery rather than two)
Have you taken any action against battery fretting? (applying small amount of light oil to battery contact points)
Did you try the cork fix? (not recommended but others report success https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbK1pkCyW_s).
Do you see any physical separation of the pedal body and spindle? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g63Bm3hnt88)

Thanks for the help but I have tried everything, long ago.

The problems remain and i won't be surprised if garmin halt production again as I have received another email today saying they are aware that the replacement battery covers have not solved the issues some users have experienced and they ate continuing to investigate.

Anyway, I have now asked my cc to get my money back.

For anyone looking at the vector 3, check out the garmin forums and other forums so you know what you're getting in to first. Some units may be fine but if you have one of the many which aren't, and have bought direct from garmin, getting a refund seems as difficult as getting the bloody pedals to work.

stueys

For the majority the new battery doors seem to have fixed the issues but there still seem to be cases where issues remain. I’ve refunded one set of vector 3’s and am about to release a second set I had on order. Love the idea of them (I’ve a set of vector 2) but there seem to be enough doubts about this product that I can’t see any reason to buy when there is a market full of proven competitors at similar (or lower) price points.

cookeeemonster

Had mine since February and not had any problems so far. Have received the new battery cover and will change it over soon. So all good for me thus far, they do what they say on the tin with no problems.

bigmitch41

Just ordered a set which i'm told is the new stock with the updated battery doors, fingers crossed for trouble free power recordings...

daniel_b

Gents above,

please update with how you get on :-)

gingerflash1975

I've bought a pair with the upgraded battery cover fitted from new. No problems so far. Early days though.

bigmitch41

Had my Vector 3's on for a week now, very easy to install and pair to my 520 and phone. They take about 10 seconds to calibrate which I do before each ride, I've had a 60 minute race and a 100k training ride so far and the power data has been spot on, early days but so far im impressed! The look keo style cleats have been easy to use, once clipped in you don't notice any difference to Shimano SL's etc, and the pedals themselves look like a standard pedal at first glance.

bigmitch41

Less than 3 months old and my vector 3's developed the widely reported right power sensor missing error with power drops etc, new battery doors have not resolved the issue

Warranty claim in progress with CR

stueys

BigMitch41 wrote:

Had my Vector 3's on for a week now, very easy to install and pair to my 520 and phone. They take about 10 seconds to calibrate which I do before each ride, I've had a 60 minute race and a 100k training ride so far and the power data has been spot on, early days but so far im impressed! The look keo style cleats have been easy to use, once clipped in you don't notice any difference to Shimano SL's etc, and the pedals themselves look like a standard pedal at first glance.

What did you reference the vector power data against out of interest?

bigmitch41

Power data from my Wahoo Kickr

gingerflash1975

I posted about mine above, when i'd had them a few weeks.

I've had them for three months now and done about 2500 miles on them. No problems at all. I've changed the batteries once.

thegreatdivide

I've had mine since they were first released and they've been faultless. No data issues, no battery cap issues (still on the original cap and I've done a handful of battery changes) no power draining. They've been swapped multiples times, they've been bunged in a bag and taken abroad. Zero issues.

bigmitch41

Good to know tgd. Ive had to send mine back to Chain Reaction on a warranty claim...... disappointing.