Used power meter, worth a buy?

freddygamingKz7N5KBa
freddygamingKz7N5KBa Posts: 1
in Road general
Hello all,

I am thinking buying a used power meter pedal for zwifting as I dont have a smart turbo trainer. More specifically the Garmin Vector pedals 1 or 2(s) etc.

What are your thoughts,experiences in used power pedals?

Cheers

Comments

  • ugo.santalucia
    ugo.santalucia Posts: 28,259
    I did look into the Vector, but people seem to think they were problematic, so I got a Stages crank instead, which is faultless
    left the forum March 2023
  • joe2019
    joe2019 Posts: 1,338
    Personally, I wouldn't touch Vectors, but I can wholeheartedly recommend Favero. - you'll be pushed to find a bad review of the BePro or Assioma.

    I have used their BePro Uno for some time, and it has been flawless.

    I have just upgraded to Assioma Duo, so I have a spare BePro pedal which works perfectly well, which I may put on eBay - PM me if you're interested.

    Reason for upgrading was simply that I switch them between bikes and the BePro's are a bit of a faff to set-up, however, if you're leaving it on one bike no worries.
  • redvision
    redvision Posts: 2,958
    I wouldn't buy a secondhand pm.

    Speak with any bike shop and they will tell you power meters have the highest failure rate of any piece of cycling tech on the market.

    If you buy secondhand you will have no warranty so if you are on a tight budget I would suggest looking at something something like the 4iiii crank arm pm. These aren't too expensive, are accurate, easy to install, and come with a 3 year warranty. Plus probikekit regularly have them on offer (if I recall correctly at one point last year the 105 version was on offer for under £200!).
  • joeyhalloran
    joeyhalloran Posts: 1,073
    I kinda second the above posted. It's like buying an older, used car. You may be fine, it may be a bargain, but you won't know until you get it. I think failure rates on PM are far less than the were ~10 or even 5 years ago, they are now pretty common and manufacturing has ironed out details I guess. But it would still be a bit of a gamble as to how long it will be working for.

    If you are buying second hand put reliability at the top of your list, Quarq, PowerTap, P2M, the companies that have been in the game for a long time. I personally wouldn't buy Vectors, but that was only because of the issues I read about when they first came out, they may have improved.
  • zest28
    zest28 Posts: 403
    edited August 2020
    Only get the Garmin Vector 3. The older ones had some issues.
  • hdow
    hdow Posts: 184
    Having had Vectors 1 and 2 they've proved reliable and I'm perfectly happy with them. However, they do eventually wear out or otherwise fail. I do cycle all year round and foul weather rarely stops me. Also my bike hangs off the back of my camper for some very long trips so I'm not surprised by the high rate wear which happens to all the bits on my bike

    When the Vector 2 pedals showed wear in the bearings Garmin told me that they couldn't be repaired but offered me Vector 3 pedals at a huge, and I mean huge discount. However, first I had to prove I was the original buyer which was easy to do

    If you do still go for some second hand power meters you may not get much support from the manufacturer especially on the older models

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