Garmin Vector
![Brian Quarton [OLD]](https://us.v-cdn.net/6029573/uploads/userpics/387/n8MFCPP8OPACX.png)
Garmin acquired Metrigear last year. They target a pedal based ANT+ powermeter to be released for Christmas. Also keep an eye on the Look/Polar project. LINK The upshod is that power is coming to the masses.
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Garmin acquired Metrigear last year. They target a pedal based ANT+ powermeter to be released for Christmas. Also keep an eye on the Look/Polar project. LINK The upshod is that power is coming to the masses.
Comments
The issue with the Vector is that they've been saying it's going to come out soon... for the past two years and change. It has largely been a vaporware project that has had about 10 new release dates that have come and gone. The acquisition by Garmin certainly means the product is probably for real and will come to market. The question is when? I wouldn't hold your breath for a 2011 release though. If they meet their supposed price point of under $1,000 then it could be a game changer. Semantical arguments aside, the pedal based power meter is a better measuring stick since it's basically direct pressure from the power source as opposed to some loss of power transfer from the legs to the shoes to the pedals to the cranks for Quarq or SRM and further loss transfer to the hub for PowerTap. It will also separately measure left and right power which is pretty darn cool.
Power to the masses is a strong statement considering most people won't spend $1,000 on a bike let alone pedals with a fancy measuring device inside. If Garmin can actually get the product to market this year I might purchase it since I plan on buying a new bike once the 2012 models go on sale later this year. I'll sell my Quarq with my bike.
The Polar/Look project is destined for failure, IMO. First off, it's going to cost $2,300. Which is $800 more than a Quarq CinQo and potentially 2.5 times the cost of the very similar Garmin Vector. Secondly, it's not Ant+. That means that fancy Garmin, Joule or whatever you're using isn't going to work. You'll have to use Polar's head unit which adds an additional $300 or $400 to the cost bringing the total package price to $2,600-$2,700. They're off their rocker if they think folks are going to pay that much for that product.
Do you guys really think sub $1000 will be a game changer?
I don't as you can get a PT wheel for about $700 now. For $1500 (if you shop around) you can get a quarq. I don't think moving two pedals from bike to bike is all that much easier than moving a rear wheel or crank. Sure it is a cool new option and offers some nice benefits but now you are locked into one set of pedals instead of one crank or one wheel...maybe not a big deal, but doesn't completely solve the issue of being able to use the PM on a road bike, mountain bike, cross bike, etc.
I agree it will be great for cyclist and triathletes that race and are interested in this kind of stuff and should drive costs down which is good. In otherwords in our little world it will be great but to the rest of the cycling world, will they even care?
To add to Bob's point, I think power to the masses is a LONG LONG way off. Not because of cost but because of usability. Anyone that trains with power has had to invest a good bit of time into learning about it and how to review the data. Even with the awesome EN webcasts and guidence of the team this is still at least a few hours of learning and quite a bit of trial and error. Do you really think the masses of cyclist are going to buy a power meter any time soon? I beat even at $200 the majority of your recreational and fitness riders that that have a basic road bike are still going to buy a cateye for $30 instead. Or if they do get a PM, they are going to use it like a cateye and get very little benefit at all from it.
Just my $0.02
BTW, some cool news to share, I am sponsored by Garmin this year and will get to meet with them in April. You bet I'll be asking more about the metigear and hopefully they are actually willing to share something that I can then share.
For the love of Dog, please no one buy a first generation powermeter. Let the BleedingEdgers try it out, experience the growing pains, be betatesters for Garmin and improve the product for your 2nd or 3rd generation purchase.
Agree with Matt that price point isn't a game changer for 80% of cyclists out there. The head investment required by power is just too great for it to be adopted by the masses.
For the 20% that are you and I, think that recommendations and advice from peers carries far more weight than price. I'm very sure that when/if Garmin comes out with this, we'll have people ask about it on the forum, we'll give our recommendations for the established players in the market and people will find a way to beg/borrow/steal the extra $300-400 for a recommended system.
Polar is smokin' crack. Their current PM has been out for years and has never been successful. They should just eject and stick with HRM's and perhaps footpod systems.
I guess I should have stressed game changer within the power meter market and not for cycling overall. Who wouldn't give the Vector a look if they're shopping for a PM and that thing costs $900 or whatever. It just undercuts the competition's price point by so much that one would be negligent not to give it a serious look assuming it works as advertised. The competition will have to either lower their prices to stay competitive or prepare to be dominated.
It's a win/win for consumers.
I hear ya on being a first adopter, er, beta tester. I'd probably run it in conjunction with my Quarq for a period of time to make sure I'm getting nearly identical numbers.
It's all conjecture at this point anyway.
Don't get me wrong as I like the idea of the Vector and think it will offer some benefit over the existing systems, I just don't understand why people seem to think it is going to be so much better than the PT, SRM or Quarq. With any of the three systems you are still spending a minute or two moving a component (or two) from one bike to another.
PT - you are locked into one wheel
Quarq/SRM - you are locked into one crank
Vector - you are locked into one set of pedals and it may only be one type of pedal (i.e. speedplay) that not everyone will like
I guess I'm just mechanically inclined as swapping a crank is just as easy to me as pedals. I have a few bikes and a few sets of race wheels as well and the quarq goes into all of the bikes no problem.
In my opinion it is a pick your poison situation still, and each person will value these systems differently depending on what otther components they have.
That being said, I will not be lining up for one any time soon. Even if it's released next week.
@Jon - Doesn't a Quarq or SRM doesn't solve your problem. Both will work with 650 or 700 wheels and will work with Shimano, SRAM, or Campy. Sure the price is slightly higher then the "estimated" price of the Vector, but both are proven and available today, and they cost less then buying two powertap wheels.
Since I like to be a beta tester, when the Vector does come out, I will try and get my hands on one while keeping my quarq as a backup. However for folks that don't have power today I would not recomend just waiting for the vector.
Jon
Another not-so-attractive option is a PT that works on only one of your bikes. (Pick which one) Wheel rental for races isn't THAT expensive, even for a wheel with a PT in it. Probably $100 range.
Finally, if you just hate the Quark idea, another idea in the same price range is getting a wired PT for each of your bikes. The used price isn't a HUGE discount, but the wired ones are considerably cheaper. One computer takes care of both. The bad part of that solution, though, is that you're stuck with the crippled wired computer that it comes with. You either have to have two computers or live only with that one if you want GPS, for example.
The crank option is clearly better if you're willing to do the mechanical swap out.
I'll gey my wife to take the video this weekend and I'll post it.
while you can't see the details, here is a quarq swap being done in a minute:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ibycOXD-Mw0
Really not harder to swap a crank than a wheel.
Looking forward - thanks in advance Matt!
Ah, the famous quarq swap video. What it lacks in detail, it makes up in speed. I remember when this was posted on ST and wishing that i could see the business end of the bikes he was swapping the quarq on. Proving that it was fast and easy was important. Now that we know that I'm looking forward to Matt's video that will hopefully some close ups and perhaps a play by play dialogue.
Matt: that would be great: then maybe this is the way to go: I could even sell my expensive cranks to help fund the quarq
Steve, I'm a Quarq dealer if you want to go the new route.
Yes, I HIGHLY recommend that EN athletes do NOT jump on the Vector wagon until after the bleeding-edgers have worked out the bugs for us. Don't be a beta-tester when your training, racing, and season is very much wrapped up in the success or failure of a product.