I've never had a problem with my P1s battery cap.

I do have a problem with PowerTap never coming out with a way to allow me to upgrade from single to dual, and now for a pedal in the marketplace this long, PowerTap is being out-innovated in the marketplace.

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I'm closer to the feathered end of the spear than the point.

Something I haven't seen you mention related to the Assioma on your channel - if you use the Wahoo Elemnt/Elemnt Bolt, the average power is displayed incorrectly - by a lot (usually about 65% of what it should be)

All other values are ok.

I use the Elemnt myself, so have first hand experience of the issue.

I thought I'd mention it, as you're one of the main resources for independent information these days.

Link here:

https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/wahoo-elemnt-users/20pptRcO-Kg




Other than that, the Assiomas have been excellent for me.

Is it just average power? What about 3sec avg power, Lap avg power, Lap NP, NP, etc?

I have the P1 pedals. If I'd understood how annoying the clip-in action would be, because of the cleat ridge you mentioned, I wouldn't have purchased them. Most of the time it's not that big a deal to do the foot wiggle and retry clip-in if I don't succeed the first time, but it's a big deal precisely when it matters, which is sketchy uphill starts when one needs to nail clip-in immediately.

I've tried generic Look cleats and had trouble getting them to clip in consistently. But both with the Look and the OEM cleats, I had to shim them to accommodate the curvature of my (normal) Specialized road bike shoes, neither worked without shimming. The Look cleats just persisted with clip-in issues even after shimming them.

Most P1 owners do not seem to mind the clip-in action, I feel like I'm in the minority there.

I’m using the Bolt as well with the Duos and everything apart from avg power displays correctly on the unit. I also have an issue with avg cadence when I look at my ride on the Bolt but when uploaded to any other software (Strava or Golden Cheetah) everything displays correctly. So everything is recorded accurately but it’s just avg power is not displayed correctly on the Bolt and avg cadence is not displayed correctly when looking at post ride on the Bolt but is correct while riding.

And these are issues with the Bolt, verified by Wahoo, and not issues with the Duos as they don’t effect Garmin users

Few reasons why not...

- I hadn't experienced this. My primary display is 3s power, I don't use any other power average metric on the display. Analysis of the data is done elsewhere.
- I'm on a beta firmware stream for the Elemnts.
- Updating videos is impossible on YouTube, it's static once it's there. Cut edits only. So I can't add info to it.
- Putting out a video on something that's likely to be fixed in one simple bit flip firmware update isn't worth it.
- I cover things like this in general discussions/live videos... but then the info is tucked away and nobody watches those.

On a similar note, I've had someone not so politely ask me to do a follow up on the Vector3 dramas... more than once. The skinny on that is yes, I'm a pissed off Vector3 owner too after having issues after swapping the batteries... and I'm waiting for a proper fix from Garmin. Once I'm happy with the fix, I'll do a follow up. If not, the pedals go back, then I do a follow up. That's how the independent thing works for me, abusive emails and all.

/vent

In short - I'll have a look next ride. Let me know the exact details of how to replicate what you're seeing.

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Shane Miller - GPLama
YouTube | Web | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Strava

Garmin Vectors 3s suck. I had two sets of the Vector 3s. Both had the dreaded battery door issue where they kept turning off and on and I wasn't getting any reliable data from them. It was really frustrating, especially since they are hard to find. Happened once in a race -- raced without power that day.

I ordered Assioma Duos and they're running great. I was skeptical at first having never heard of the brand but am a convert. Most importantly data is clean and reliable. Easy to get in and out of them. Only downside thus far is traveling to races with another charger is annoying (even if I leave with fully charged pedals, I bring it just in case) and I don't love the looks of the pods but frankly I think they look much better than gigantic P1s.

As someone whos bread and butter is reviewing and testing don't you think you have a responsibility to keep people up to date with the issues various products are having? For example when researching power meters I of course checked all your vids and based on your Garmin review was almost ready to buy a pair.

If I had have bought the V3's I would be a little peeved that despite all the overwhelming evidence there is a problem that this wasn't updated on your channel until potentially many many months after the fact? People watching your vids have no indication there is even a problem... And I assume this is why some frustrated buyers may be contacting you-they don't want others to experience the same problems they have?

Good question(s). The video I made on the Vector3 pedals I purchased was as-is and exactly my experience. There's no bullshitting involved there. Herein lies the problem with video format - it's static. And it dates quickly. Diving into the comment section will give you a real-time finger on the pulse. I'll also refer people to Ray's site more often than not for this reason too, both for the updated web content and the active comment section.

I can't take any heat on companies making shitty products. That's not in my control. What is in my control is ensuring the content I put out doesn't date (much), isn't invalidated with a simple fix, or is straight out wrong. The battery issue in the Vector 3 units should have been a simple fix. I've possibility given them too much time for a resolution. Well, I guess I have now people are pissed at me for not making a video on the issue. (note, I've been pretty active in forums on the topic..)

I could have put out one of those "DON'T BUY THESE WORST PRODUCT EVER" click-bait headlines for a shitton of view traffic... maybe even stuck my wife on the thumbnail with in a suggestive pose. That's how YouTube works. That's not how I work.

What I'm patiently waiting for is a solution from Garmin so I can do a "Garmin Vector 3 - Battery/Dropout Issues Resolved" video. Where the issues are history.

It's easy to get pissed at independent content creators, they're accessible and will hear your screams. They'll also reply. So just ask if you're hedging your bets on a big purchase.

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Shane Miller - GPLama
YouTube | Web | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Strava

But youtube is a fluid and in many cases a daily medium. I cant see what the problem would be with you posting an interim video explaining the issues, and then a follow up one describing the potential fix. To stay silent on a known issue does give the impression that you are a little cautious of upsetting Garmin?

Garmin have dropped the ball massively on this yet again. Read the Garmin forum, people are livid at being sold a dodgy product yet again. The product should be recalled and pulled from sale until the issue is fixed, simple as that. So its no wonder people are upset, and unfortunately for you id assume your viewers would expect you to provide updates on such issues, be they good or bad. To stay silent isn't the answer mate.. .

Anyways I enjoy your content and appreciate your responding on ST!

Cheers. I do appreciate the feedback.

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Shane Miller - GPLama
YouTube | Web | Twitter | Instagram | Facebook | Strava

My own V3 experience has been great - until it was not. I've been using mine since Dec 17, swapped among bikes a few times - pretty much perfect. The only problem - until recently - was when I forgot to change the crank arm length after a bike swap (my fault, of course). But on the last few trainer rides, the RH pedal ha long stretches of flat position data and the power has many dropouts. While watching my FR920XT during these rides, it's reporting 1/2 of the power that my Tacx Vortex Smart is reporting through Sufferfest - one pedal not reporting, clearly. I pulled the batteries (pretty new), checked them (fine, according to my tester and Garmin was reporting the batteries to be 'good') and reinstalled with a tiny bit of baby oil. Last ride was fine - no dropouts. Is the baby oil lube *that* important? Was the reset achieved by pulling and reinstalling the batteries the answer? Inquiring minds want to know.

Hey, I'm sorry! I was just pointing it out in case you had the chance to mention it in the coming videos, as I wrote, you've become a good public source of information.

It wasn't a criticism at all! It was a compliment.

Apologies again.

giorgitd wrote:

nd reinstalled with a tiny bit of baby oil. Last ride was fine - no dropouts. Is the baby oil lube *that* important? Was the reset achieved by pulling and reinstalling the batteries the answer? Inquiring minds want to know.

I think the baby oil is pretty important. One of the problems seems to be the contacts to the batteries. My batteries will get a black "film" where the battery contacts are. I believe this is some type of oxidation that then affects the resistance of the contacts. Garmin calls this "battery fretting." The baby oil helps reduce this oxidation and keep a good contact. My theory anyway from reading through Garmin's detailed forum. I HIGHLY recommend any Vector 3 users to read through this!! (link below)

Also do NOT overtighten the battery door. It's super easy to do and you will damage the threads.

https://support.garmin.com/en-US/?faq=J1EgCFrqIo0utFYW1CGTc8&searchType=noProduct&utm_source=faqSearch%252F

My understanding of battery issues with the V3 is that Garmin failed to taking into account the engineering tolerances on the batteries when designing the unit. They assumed all batteries were identical in size/shape and then built the electronics such that they needed the batteries to match their assumed ideal battery. This turned out to be a bad assumption but its a difficult one to easily fix. Adding baby oil etc. helps fill gaps and prevents battery rattling but only works when the batteries are on the small side of what Garmin designed for. If the batteries are too big you are more likely to see issues with seals failing and the door not closing properly.

How does Garmin fix this? I am not sure. They might be able to redesign the battery door with a spring system to allow for more variability in the system, but I am not sure this will solve every problem. If Garmin were to abandon coin cell batteries and move to a rechargeable system of their own design they could eliminate the problem, but at that point you are talking Vector 4.0.

So to answer your question I would say Yes reinstalling the barriers did achieve the reset because it re-established the proper battery position. Will your batteries rattle out of place again? Yes probably.

Another happy Assioma customer here. I've never had signal drop outs, head unit issues, or even clip in issues with the pedals. As others have said, they just work. They swap quickly between bikes, charge quickly, and hold the charge for 40+ hours. According to DC Rainmaker, the pods are fully sealed in epoxy, so no leaks or pesky battery doors. Twp thumbs up!

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"One does not discover new lands without consenting to lose sight of the shore for a very long time."

Perhaps a weekly video with updates of what is going on with gear could be a good start :)

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The entire event (IM) is like "death by 1000 cuts" and the best race is minimizing all those cuts and losing less blood than the other guy. - Dev

A downside of the Powertap pedals that no one has mentioned yet is the big reduction in cornering clearance. You are losing several degrees of bike lean and will not be able to pedal around corners that you used to.

I say this as someone who has returned their Vector 3 pedals and went back to my Powertap wheels. No plans to try anything new again for a while.

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-Physiojoe
Instagram: @thephysiojoe
Cycling coach, Elite racer on Wooster Bikewerks p/b Wootown Bagels

Just ordered some assioma duo’s today based on everyone’s advice! Just want reliability that I can switch between my road bike and tri bike. Thanks everyone!

add me to the list of unhappy vector 3 users. mine were solid for the first batteries. after the first changeout they went to crap.

i’m awaiting my replacement doors. if they don’t fix the constant power fluctuations and right pedal no longer evening being “visible” i’ll fight for a full refund from garmin.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

for the assioma users here, how is the battery life per charge, and as the battery degrades how does the owner / user swap batteries out?

the magnetic charging connections are VERY attractive versus the silly batteries on the vectors.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Did you contact garmin for replacement doors, or did they contact you?

If you have to contact them, is it recommend to call or email?

make sure you’re vectors are registered on your online garmin account. after that just contact their support line.

make sure you’re able to be by your pedals so you can run through their troubleshooting steps.

as others have said their phone support people are not cyclists, just a person reading prompts off a screen so they don’t know anything other than what their computer says.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

50 hours seems to be the general consensus which is dam good, then a simple magnetic snap on charger-easy as!.

As for battery swap outs i don't think you will need to worry ;)

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/...in-depth-review.html

"First off is that batteries are generally rated to a certain number of recharge cycles, in the case of the Assioma battery, that’s estimated to be about 500 cycles (per an e-mail from Assioma). Once it reaches that number, they don’t stop working. Instead they might slowly degrade, perhaps to 80% of battery capacity. With a battery life of 50 hours, and the 500 recharge cycles, that puts you at 25,000 hours of battery life before it starts to degrade. That’s 24 years of riding 20 hours per week. Or almost 50 years if you rode 10 hours per week. Seriously, you’ll have long moved onto something else by then. Battery cycle time is not your concern here."

Bumping this as Wahoo just updated the Bolt’s firmware (WF09-1937) to fix the issues with displaying wonky avg power and candence with the Assioma Duos

https://support.wahoofitness.com/...OLT-Firmware-Updates