Not an industry watcher and I don't own these pedals, but I do know that the best place to see if people are still experiencing problems with any Garmin product is Garmin's own forums.

Those people are not at all reluctant to voice their displeasure. I would trust the noise level there over any general statement you might find here

I hope that some one has useful data on the V3 returns over the last few months, but I think that our access to that information is unlikely. I don't know if this is the type of n=1 you want to hear, but the vendor responses imply much more than n=1... I got a pair of V3 duals Dec 17 - they worked ok through summer 2018, then started throwing error codes that Garmin claimed they could not interpret. New warranty pair in July lasted less than a month. Power spikes, dropouts, all with factory-installed new battery caps. Now, the interesting part...I asked Garmin to provide the 3rd pair in consumer packaging, not new in a brown box. The service rep agreed and said that she was getting many such requests. Then, I used my story and the new-in-consumer-packaging story to try to get a store credit from Clever Training - mind you, this is now 9 or 10 months after the original purchase. CT was awesome, accepted my return after this long time since purchase and said that they were doing the right thing for all their V3 customers (i.e. I'm not the only one). Me? I'm in the northern hemisphere and have 2-3 months before I need power outside. Still waiting, but probably Assiomas...

Cue DC Rainmaker

Quote:

For my own purposes, I have my own Garmin Vector 3 pedals I got last December, and they’re even on the old caps (seriously) without issue. No problems. I use them in testing without issue.

Quote:

Would I buy it? Yes (finally, I haven’t recommended Vector pedals prior)). I continue to like mine, and when I’m not testing something else it’s the pedal I default back to.

If I were buying today it's what I would get. (Un)fortunately my gen 1 Vectors are holding up well so no purchase yet.

I was skeptical of them at first considering the battery door issues. I do trust DCRainmaker who seems to think they are ok. I was looking to replace my Rotor InPower and I saw the Vector on a Black Friday sale at half off, so I took the plunge. I will start using them on Zwift shortly to compare with my Direto. I will post my first thoughts in about two weeks once I get started. I am certainly looking forward to seeing how they perform, although I know they don't currently support oval chain rings (my Rotor QXL). Stay tuned. :)

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"see the world as it is not as you want it to be"

I bought my Vector 3 dual's on 6/1/18, right after they started shipping the new battery caps. Got them using the Slowtwitch code from BicycleDoctorUSA I found in the Classifieds here. I put about 1,250 miles on them, and replaced the batteries once, before I switched to my indoor bike. (On the trainer I just use trainer power numbers) I have had zero problems. No dropouts, no crazy numbers. Zero. I pair them to both my old Garmin 800 and my FR935, and neither of them has had issues reading the data.

I had (still have in a box) a PowerTap P1s (single sided) that I used for quite a while, but they never did come out with an upgrade option to dual. Plus they need special "almost Keo" cleats, as does Assioma pedals, and they are heavy/clunky compared to the Vectors. Other cleat-based pedals have bulges, or pods, or need to be USB charged.

Fact is, Santa just brought a second set of Vector's for my wife to use. She hated how hard it was to un-clip from the hand-me-down P1's.

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

I went from the Garmin 3 to the Assioma's and could not be happier. Lighter, less expensive, and they work. They do have cycling dynamics.

Do not waste $1K on these. Seriously. Do not be part of Garmin beta project.

I sent mine back. So did 4 others at our LBS. 5 for 5. Thats a pretty big shit ratio.

Powertap have updated version.

I went with a 4iii crank solution and its solid.

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@rhyspencer

Buying Assiomas in the next week or 2...

I regret buying V3s. I purchased in April and suffered from persistent drop-outs. I was given the new battery doors (free, thank you Garmin) but the dropouts continued. Then the spindle/bearing in the right pedal started to seize so they went back to Taiwan for servicing. They returned working perfectly....for bout a month. The right pedal has been giving me grief for the past 2 weeks with persistent drop-outs (even after a battery change).

I am v. disappointed with this purchase. I am swapping to Quarq.

Riders I coach have had no end of problems with Garmin and Powertap pedals.

Assiomas for the win!

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Hamish Ferguson: Cycling Coach

i sent two sets of vector 3s back to garmin.

the first was the initial batch that were messed up from the get-go.

the second set was one with updated doors.

long story short they did the same exact thing the first set did.

garmin overall was great to work with, but ultimately it was going to be me doing “routine maintenance” on the pedals to maybe get them to work right.

i wasn’t about to do that with a set of $1000 pedals when there are other completely maintenance free offerings out there that are proven and work.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

While everything quoted above is still true, I would encourage folks to read the entire tidbit I wrote on the battery cap debacle: https://www.dcrainmaker.com/...8.html#garmin-vector

I think for the most part people having active issues has mostly dried up (especially new purchasers). I see an occasional issue from readers maybe once a month(?), but in I think every case it was someone on an older set (even with retrofitted caps) rather than a new purchase. As folks probably know, part of the issue was how easily the the interior got threaded. So if someone did that, no amount of new caps or software updates would really address their issues.

Note on Assioma: They actually don't have Cycling Dynamics today. However, it's coming in a firmware update very soon (for those that want data). No plans from PowerTap to adopt that standard.

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My tiny little slice of the internets: dcrainmaker.com

I have commented on these pedals a lot on this forum, gist is I had the early version and suffered all of the issues with them (software, doors, spindle nut).

I ultimately had sent mine back and got a new pair with new doors. I was still having drop out issues with them still and at the end of the day found out that my 810 head unit and the pedals just did not work together very well (not sure if this was just me experiencing this).

I upgraded to a New 520 Plus in a last ditch effort and BOOM - I have never had an issue again with my pedals and am eagerly looking for a reason to bitch or hate them again. They do everything perfect now and give me zero issues and I gambled and purchased a second set of pedals and a 520 for my wife (who also had a 810) and right out of the box/gate she has zero issues with the combination also.

I just change battery's and ride at this point and these pedals generally read within 1-2 watts of my Kickr when I ride inside and capture both Garmin power and trainerroad power.

That's my experience - I have some hate for them and want them to mess up but cant get them to (knock on wood), Garmin's customer service is top notch!

Interesting that the 520 seems to have improved things. I have never had one issue with my Vector 3 pedals and mine are from the beginning of production and I've only used the 520 with them. Garmin did send me the new battery doors, but again, I never had issues with them in the first place I just wanted them. I'm very picky about power meters. My gold standard are my SRM units and the Vector 3 pedals track within a few watts of my SRM readings, which is due to where the power is read from (pedals vs. crank).

I have nothing but good things to say about them.

I was surprised too and not sure if it was coincidence or if some of the legacy units just have a hard time with the software and processing the data - I am not sure.

What really lead me into finding that something was wrong was I was doing group rides from time to time and we averaged roughly 21-22mph on a rolling course and after the ride it said I averaged 120 watts which was simply impossible haha.


I then ran both my 810 and my wife's 810 on the same ride with the pedals and they had different power readings and averages. I wanted to upgrade my computer anyway and the 520 plus with its addition of Trailforks sounded like an awesome idea (we like to explore new MTB trails throughout the US).

I can say that if they continue to work the way they have all mid-end of last season that hands down it was an amazing/great purchase for me.

PS - I would never go back to a touch screen cycling computer now - the 520plus is freaking amazing!

This is still an issue though isn't it? Bought a pair in September and they've still got the problem with having a metal cap screwing into a soft plastic body. I had a relatively low speed crash (patch of oil on a corner) and inevitably the battery cap was the first part of the bike to hit the ground. Interior got threaded, Garmin said I needed an entire new set of pedals as the body isn't replaceable. Seems nuts that a plastic part can write off the whole pedal when the expensive components are all fine.

I was lucky, I managed to eventually re-thread the cap and have had 2 battery changes since then with no problems so think it's ok. Did have to do the trick with putting a spot of baby oil on the batteries and contact points but now I know about that it's easy enough to do. Does still worry me though that I'm one crash away from a very expensive broken pedal. The pedals are great otherwise, very accurate and reliable. And I love how easy it is to switch them between bikes, as I use 3 different bikes regularly. I'm just not sure I'd buy them again knowing how fragile they are.

I have about 30,000 miles on Vector 3's now.

Crit racing is the worst enemy I've found so far as the battery door being large and round do contact the pavement much more easily than a tapered pedal end such as SPD SL. It's a real difference even though someone like DC Rainmaker would call it mimimal. It is probably minimal, but I've clipped 3-4 times and blown the door off every time. It's taken the threads out of the pedal once.

Other than that I've found the pedals to be ROCK SOLID performing for the most part. Zero drop outs. Consistent. I've done 250 mile days in the gravel. Gravel races in the pouring rain. MTB races in the mud. Never an issue. So basically my only issues are battery doors and yes I had the originals that went bad.

I don't have a better power meter solution as of now as these can move between all my bikes easily. If they'd get the end of the pedal tapered it would be everything I'd ever want (and another -100 grams).

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

Have you had to replace the pedals from any of those times when the cover has been blown off? Or always managed to get it back on?

One time it damaged the threads enough that the end cap was loose and malfunctioned. Other times I have gone back on course and either helped teammates find their end caps or found my own. The end caps always work after blown off.

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex

My .02 - I've bought so many Garmin products in my lifetime they should send me free underwear.... about 7 boat GPS ranging from 6" to 12", 7 software packages, 2 Handheld GPS, 5 watches from (310 - Fenix 3), 520, Vector 1 and now Vector 3 pedals. I've had V3's for about 7 months. Initially I had a heck of a time getting the firmware loaded. Once I recall they shut off in the middle of a firmware upgrade with connect and at the time I was cursing Garmin and wanted to B^$^@ slap whoever designed them. I recall the forum stated if that happens you had to send them back. After about 1 week of headaches I made it through the upgrades and they've been flawless ever since. I've only changed the batteries 1x and ride about 100+/- miles/week. I don't look at other reviews or experiences but a friend of mine asked what PM he should buy and I kindly pointed him into the powerhub/pedal or pioneer direction.

I returned two sets because of the frequent drops and spikes. Both had the old battery door. When they sent me a 3rd set (with the new battery door) i sold them instantly. My conscience was okay with it, because in my head i thought there was at least a chance they would work for the buyer with the new battery door.

I think that was the last Garmin product I'll ever buy. They weren't even close to being okay. I can't think of any time in my life that I've spent my money on something worse (maybe a Power Balance bracelet, but at least that was only a few dollars)

This may be unfair to Ray, but the fact that he still recommends them makes me think twice about trusting his opinions anymore. Maybe he had some one-in-a-hundred set that just works, but obviously there were real problems. Hardly anyone on this thread is voicing in with positive experiences.

Mentioned something similar in a thread I posted today about trainers. Ray (and GPlama?) seem to base their reviews on out of the box specs, power comparison and noise level, but do not reflect any of the real world issues that so many of us run into with this stuff. Pretty much every trainer / PM they review works perfectly......

Thank you everyone for the thoughtful responses; I think I have been swayed to the Assioma!

Decision/discussion points:

Although there isn't much news to be had, I believe that cycling dynamics are coming to Assioma. They seem committed to offering a real alternative to Garmin.

The point of failure still seems to be the battery doors in that they can get ripped out of the plastic body way too easy. I am not a crit racer, but the though of losing a 1k set of pedals due to a small crash or pedal strike scares me more than anything. I can get behind Garmin updating and iterating a product post release until it becomes stable, but the battery doors are still screwed into plastic that can be blown or cross threaded or otherwise marred beyond repair. Not good.

650 for a set of assioma duo from the manufacturer website. At that price it becomes almost not contest. If they were still 800 I could easily justify gaping that 200 bucks to get the good stuff, but a $350 difference is notable and puts these products in different price categories.

The more I think about it, the more I am into a rechargeable platform. I am a believer in minimizing points of failure so fewer user serviceable parts means fewer points of failure. To temper this point, the amount of repair parts available from the Assioma website is staggering. You could almost build a set from repair parts alone. Very impressive.

The only drawback is that the availability of repair parts may mean the warranty/RMA/Customer service process could be more difficult to leverage that the historically phenomenal Garmin customer service. Time will tell in this realm.

Now, onto the search for WIDE 3 bolt shoes...

The pedal clipping issue I have communicated to Garmin each time I have called customer service. This is certainly logged in their system and with how much it costs them should certainly be under consideration for future models.....one can hope!

I for one am not loyal to Garmin but with the pedals they have treated me well. I am waiting for what's better...

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24 Hour World TT Champs-American record holder
Fat Bike Worlds - Race Director
Insta: chris.s.apex