Best advice for buying a good pair of used Vector 3's is to buy a new pair of Assioma Duos....

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Anders

Lol I thought about this but aren't they on a million year back order? (60-90 days?)

Clever Training has them now. It looks like the prices are up a little. Still worth it over a used pair of V3 pedals.

https://www.clevertraining.com/...-cycling-power-meter

Appreciate the wait but this.......

I have 3 sets between my bikes and my GF's bike. They have been a very reliable product. I haven't had any of the issues of other people have had.

Make sure you get the ones with the latest battery covers. I can give you pictures of mine if you're not sure which ones they are.

Two of mine were refurbished and one set was new.

For batteries get the CR1/3N. Buy the 10 pack on Amazon for $20

My experience has been that both my Vector 1's and Vector 3's have been completely reliable. My 3's supposedly had the early (bad) battery covers but they never caused me any problems. Garmin proactively contacted me and sent me new covers for free. I would bet money that if you bought a set that had the old covers, Garmin would probably send you new ones for free. if not, it's $60 for a pair of new covers.

Just found a post/article with pictures of both covers. Thanks for the tip!

Have you considered a Rotor crankset with INspider power meter?

I'm very open for the next bike build.

Garmin sells the battery doors direct to consumer (https://buy.garmin.com/...GB/p/638682#overview) and the install is super straight forward. So having the doors fail outside of warranty is not a total loss. Replacing the pedal bodies is more expensive but is also a straight forward task. I think it really just comes down to price. What I would be looking for is a pair at a price that still makes sense if you have go through the replacement process.

I bought Vector 3s very soon after release and had the door fail after 18 months or so. At that point in time I had the choice of sending them off for warranty, which meant losing them for 6-7 weeks, or having my LBS order the parts and do the fix in about a week but at cost to me. I went the warranty route and I can totally see why if you had to do this more than once you would give up and just sell the unit out of frustration with the process. At the same time if the price was right (and I mean well under MSRP) I would have no concern about buying someone else's issue and having my LBS fix it for the cost I was quoted. There is a risk but I think it is a quantifiable risk and well worth if you can get the pedals cheap. Honestly the Vectors are a great product and I wouldn't let the battery door issue put you off but I also wouldn't pay anywhere near MSRP for a used pair. As a point of comparison I would never advise buying a older used Stages PM. When those things die they seem to die hard.

boom.

i went through two vectors sets. first were trash, brand new set from garmin as a replacement were also trash. only good thing about the whole experience was garmins support. overall i felt it was really good considering they were trying to give support on a bad product.

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80/20 Endurance Ambassador

Same here, I'm on my third set of Vector 3. I will say, though all the headaches, Garmin's customer service has been outstanding. When the Vectors work, they're awesome. My first set had the doors issue and I could not upgrade firmware with Android, that set lasted about 8 months. Second set, Garmin provided replacements, lasted a bit over a year, then the right side insert somehow unthreaded itself while I was riding!! Never tried to update firmware with Android on that set, again without question Garmin replaced them. Now on the third set, they are working great and I am able to update firmware with Android. We'll see how long they last but if there are any more problems I'm done with the Vector.

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The secret of a long life is you try not to shorten it.
-Nobody

I actually just placed an order for set of Assioma Duos through their waitlist program. You sign up on their website and I got the link to buy them about a week later. They haven't shipped quite yet, but that was just on Tuesday this week.

Signed up yesterday just in case and it said 20 days.

Rotor makes cranks all the way down to 150mm.

Lol yeah. I should elaborate and echo others. I got the Vector 3's to switch between some road bikes (use a Quarq on my tri-bike). Went through a year of dealing with all the standard issues on the Vector 3's. Got a little better over time, but still had dropouts.

I got on the Assionma Duo list and was quoted a long wait time. I think it ended up taking about 3 weeks to buy, and then another week or so to receive them from Italy. Worth the wait, they just work - no issues and I'm very happy. If I could go back in time I'd skip the Garmin's all together.

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Anders

Amazon has them right now also. They appear to be in stock in many bike shops globally, just not direct from Favero.

My Vector 1's are still rock solid. Trying to resist the urge to upgrade to the 3's for Christmas. The right price comes along and it's a done deal.

Had issues with Look Zed2 cranks so the older models don't seem to be compatible. Good call on holiday sales though.

Why would you have to send the pedals to Garmin for a failed door, or even have the LBS do the work? It's literally a 5 second fix to unscrew the old door and install the new one.

I’ve had 3 pedals have this issue (warranty replaced twice) - it’s been worse for me than the battery cover issue (still causes power dropouts). I wouldn’t buy them again. My new TCR came with a power meter and it’s been brilliant. On the garmin I’m constantly in fear of more dropouts. Ymmv

I completely agree the change is a DIY job. However if you do it yourself you invalidate the warranty. Here in the UK the Vectors have to go back to a certified dealer, in ny case that was my LBS, and then sent on to them or it’s 100% on you.

To give Garmin credit they replaced my pedals at no cost to me. The serial number was different so it wasn’t just a door replacement, but it was a lot of hassle for a simple job.

Sounds like there was something more than doors wrong with your pedals. Swapping doors by yourself definitely doesn't invalidate the warranty. Garmin sent me new replacement doors when the problem was discovered and swapping them was no more complicated than a normal battery replacement.