Garmin Vector Usage

[Enda Marron]

Lucky Me! (I hope)
My brothers bought me a set of Garmin Vector pedals for my Birthday, and I bought a Garmin Edge 500 with my voucher for placing second in a local TT league.
Anyway I installed the Vectors, paired them to the Edge 500, inputted the Vectors' identity number and calibrated the Vectors to the Edge.
So far so good.
I then started a session and for 2 minutes all went reasonably well, then the power readings became very sporadic; jumping from 190 Watts to 400 Watts, and then it would read 0 (and 0 rpm on cadence) before jumping back to a reasonable readout, only to do it again
What is happening - teething problems for a first session or are they a crock of shite?

[djconnel]

Likely the pedal torque isn't enough. Did you use a torque wrench?

[Enda Marron]

Good post - My torque wrench would not fit the pedals so I tightened on the cautious side (just tight). I'll try torque-ing to the recommended torque and report back
Thanks
Any more suggestions?

[Enda Marron]

Wey Hey!!! 300 posts in 11 years as a WW!
Am I the longest server?

[VNTech]

Yep, torque is key with the Vectors. If it's quite low you can get what you saw. A bit too low or too high and things stable out, but often 20+ watts off.

[michaelten]

I have had a problem with the cadence dropping out and therefore losing the power reading. I pulled the batteries out of the pods and then it asked to set the installation angles and calibrate again. Since then it has been fine.

[Doolop]

You don't need a torque wrench to install them. Just make sure they are very tight or the readings will be off.

[Enda Marron]

Thanks for all the replies - I'll tighten them up (to a reasonable torque)
One more question:
How do Iset the installation angles with the Edge 500 - the Garmin You-Tube video shows it for higher end computers and not for the Edge 500
Thanks

[thisisatest]

The one install I did with the 500, it did not ask me for install angles either, even after a firmware update (3.30 is current, I believe). I don't know why yet.

[theremery]

My G/Fs vectors give weird readings (generally LOW) if the pedals are loose (she did them up with a cone spanner recently .......left my pedal spanner at a mates place). Tightening them fixes it.

[djconnel]

I haven't tried them yet, although obviously I've got a lot of interest. Limiting factor for me on $$$ right now would be the Look platform, since I like double-sided. But it would be fun to give them a try -- I am curious about L-R, as well as future pedal stroke diagnostics they might have coming.

[rmerka]

They're definitely NOT a crock of shite Grease the threads and the where the spindle contacts the pods. Torque them down at least to spec. Take the batteries out for 10 full seconds. Do a static calibration. Ride the bike (don't just spin the crank on a stand) and smoothly bring the cadence up to 80 rpm. When power starts to be displayed on the 500 you're angles are set. I haven't had a lick of trouble out of my pedals. You have nice brothers

[Enda Marron]

I have spent all evening trying to get these pedals sorted
I even bought a new Torque wrench at £80.00
Garmin support were unhelpful as usual
I tightened the pedals I followed the unhelpful firmware update instructions and these pedals continue to go from a reasonable readout to 0
What will I do?
I am not happy

[djconnel]

I have spent all evening trying to get these pedals sorted
I even bought a new Torque wrench at £80.00
Garmin support were unhelpful as usual
I tightened the pedals I followed the unhelpful firmware update instructions and these pedals continue to go from a reasonable readout to 0
What will I do?
I am not happy

Send them to me. I'll give them an extensive test and get back to you in a year.

Garmin has a [url=https://forums.garmin.com/forumdisplay.php?424-Vector
]Vector Forum[/url] where you can probably get better help than here.

The usual answers are "incorrect torque" and "insufficient spacers", assuming your crank is a compatible dimension.

[michaelten]

https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.ph ... -drop-outs

Post number 2. Do that and you should be set.

I change mine from bike to bike all the time and have never tensioned them. Only once has the power/cadence dropped out and all I did was the instructions in that post and it was fixed.