Quick Look: Garmin Vector power meter
A year after acquiring power meter startup company MetriGear, Garmin has announced details of the production-ready Vector pedal-based power meter.
The new meter will be compatible with Garmin’s Edge 500 and Edge 800 GPS computers. Availability is set for March 2012 and price will be $1,500, placing it squarely in the middle of power meters currently available.
The Vector will be easily swappable between bikes, as quickly as swapping any other pedal. A four-sided array of strain gauges sits inside each pedal spindle, with data sent via the ANT+ protocol from the external transmitter to a head unit on the handlebars. The external transmitter is clamped in place by the pedal itself, in between the axle and the crank arm. The pedal itself is a Look KéO-compatible platform built by Exustar for Garmin.
The transmitter sits perpendicular to the crank arm, meaning that during a pedal strike or crash it is protected by the shoe, pedal body , and crank arm itself.
By reading power out of each pedal, left and right side power output can be analyzed independently, in addition to viewing total power output.
I am excited about this for many reasons. I train with power, I am a Garmin fanatic, I love toys and this looks to be incredibly simple. I can ride any wheels I like, it works with current equipment and doesn’t take hours to install.
The only things I am not 100% on are that it works with 1 pedal system only (for now), and that I have to wait till March. Maybe Garmin will get a pre-production-ninja-sample to me?
