Product Review: Upgrading the Garmin Vector 3S to a Dual-Sided Vector 3

It wasn’t without bumps, but it wasn’t hard either. Overall, upgrading the single-sided Garmin Vector 3S to the dual-sided Vector 3 was totally worth it. So much data, it’s almost too much to handle.

Summary

I had two little bumps in the road when trying to upgrade my pedal-based power meter from the single-sided Garmin Vector 3S system to a dual-sided Vector 3 pair: software (on my Android) and the batteries (a common talking point in the online forums). Still, these were relatively easily overcome, and the upgrade was definitely worth it. With the dual-sided system, I got more data than I could possibly need in a single ride. It also brought my pedal-based power to consistently within 1-3 watts (that’s right, watts – not percentage) of the power reading from my Saris H3 direct-drive smart trainer.

Pros

• Dual-sided power means more data. A lot more data. With the 3S, all you get is power. Single-sided power. Some examples (more pictures down below, as well)
  • L/R Balance: For me, since I slightly favor my right leg but the pedal was on the left, that meant the power reading slipped slightly lower whenever my right leg pushed/pulled harder than my left. With dual-sided power, I was able to tell that my right leg was doing more, and get a more accurate reading throughout the right.
  • L/R Pedal Offset: This let me see that there was a difference in where I was putting power through the pedal. For me, my right pedal power was being pushed through significantly to the left of the center of the pedal. After looking at my cleats, I realized I had set my right cleat out slightly farther to the right.
  • Sit/Stand Time and Power: This was an interesting metric. Not so much the time – I was mostly able to see that with the major drop in cadence in my power graphs from before. But the power really helped me understand how efficient I am in the saddle vs. out of the saddle.
  • Power Phase and Balance: This is what a lot of people come for, and one of the biggest advantages of the Garmin Vector 3 pedals over some of its competitors. How much of the pedal stroke are you effectively using? What is your peak power phase? Behold the data:
  • Torque Effectiveness: How much of the power you’re putting into the pedals is effectively moving the bike? This was really interesting. I noticed, for example, that I’m significantly more efficient at a higher cadence and higher power than during my recovery/endurance intervals (not shocking to many).
• Easy installation.
  • Just like other pedal-based systems, a big draw of these is that their installation is as straightforward as installing any other pedal. One catch – you need a 15mm wrench to install these – there’s no Allen key slot on the back-end to tighten through.

Cons

• Software/Upgrade Issues.
  • In order to upgrade from a single-sided Vector 3S system to a dual-sided setup, you need either a compatible Garmin Edge device or a mobile device that run the Garmin Connect Mobile app. I don’t have an Edge computer, so I was hoping I could use my phone. Nottttttttt so easy. I have a Samsung Galaxy S9 running on the latest version of Android with the latest version of Garmin Connect. I couldn’t (and still can’t) connect my Vector pedals directly to my phone. Every time I tried, I got a weird message about a virtual activity and the app would freeze and timeout. Fortunately, my wife has an iPhone so I was able to use that with no problem.
  • Plus side – with my wife’s iPhone, the upgrade was quick and painless. Super quick and painless. I just connected the Vector 3S, navigated to its settings, and put the serial number of the upgrade pedal into the app. It was that easy. That’s all I had to do and I was rockin’ with dual-sided power.
• Battery power over re-chargeable power.
  • People complain about this more than I do. My biggest issue with this was not preparing for it in advance. When I bought the Vector 3S, it came with a nice new battery already installed with baby oil already on it (I’ll link to Garmin’s recommended battery replacement instructions later). It worked great. When the upgrade pedal came in, the batteries were dead. I couldn’t find new batteries in store, so I ordered them on Amazon. They took two days to get here. I needed baby oil and a toothpick – not hard to find, but something else to buy (like $5 total, don’t get me wrong).
  • An advantage to battery power over rechargeable power? Imagine this: you’re about to go out for a big ride and you realized you forgot to charge your power pedals. Oh well. You won’t have them charged in time. UNLESS they’re battery powered! You have a couple of extra batteries with you. You change them out in 30 seconds and you’re good to go! Bang!
  • Here’s the other thing: The battery replacement isn’t hard. Yes, they recommend baby oil or mineral oil to prevent corrosion and increase connection, but that’s cheap and easy. The batteries are $5 or less a piece (cheaper the more you buy). They’ve got new battery covers that I’ve had no issue with. Overall, I don’t think that the pedals being battery powered is that big an issue.
• Price.
  • They’re more expensive than the Favero Assioma Duos, but they give you more data, too. If you think the battery power is a pro (like me), then that’s worth it, too. They also seem to be more available (at least to me right now, during the coronavirus bike boom). Also, thanks to a bunch of discounts right now, I was able to get them for a comparable price (a little under $900 for a single-sided then the upgrade pedal. I’ve seen the Vector 3 dual-sided system for as low as $825).

Product Review: Garmin Vector 3S Single-Sided Power Meter Pedals

A solid way to track your power as you ride, though I quickly found myself wanting to upgrade to the dual-sided option.

Summary

The Garmin Vector 3S single-sided pedal power meter is an affordable (comparatively) way to bring power to your training. While the numbers might not be as accurate as a dual-sided meter or smart trainer, they are still consistent and prove are an effective way to bring power to your training. On top of that, they give you the option to upgrade to a dual-sided power meter later on.

Pros

• You’ve got the power! Power pedals are considered the best reading, because they’re closest to the power transfer (your foot), so I feel confident that they’re accurate.
• It’s more affordable than dual-sided options, but for obvious reasons. It wasn’t soon after I felt the urge of upgrading the pedal (and I did – another post coming soon).
• Easy installation.
• Pretty quick plug-and-play.
• Includes built in cadence sensor.
• Transmits via Ant+ or Bluetooth.

Cons

• All you get is power. You don’t get any sort of stroke analysis, standing vs. sitting stats, efficiency stats, or anything else. All you get is power.
• You only get power for your left leg. In my case, this led to slightly lower readings because I have about a 52/48% right-to-left leg split. I was able to close the gap with the readings on my smart trainer by focusing on spinning my left leg, or by spinning only my left leg. It was further confirmed when I upgraded the pedals to dual-sided power, which started to read almost exactly the same as the smart trainer.
• Battery powered. Power lasts approximately 120 hours, according to Garmin, but it’s also susceptible to battery corrosion and power drops. I haven’t had this issue, but Garmin has come out with some guidelines on replacing the batteries. I use a single, double-thick battery with baby oil like is recommended, and I haven’t had any problems to this point. I also like the fact that it’s battery powered. There’s no forgetting to charge the pedals before a big ride – if I see that the batteries are low, I just replace them! Boom! Thirty seconds later and you’re good to go.
• I had issues connecting the pedal to my phone (Samsung Galaxy / Android). Looking at the forums, this seems to not be the first time people have had trouble connecting Vector pedals to Android. Hopefully that gets resolved soon and permanently. In the meantime, I was able to connect through my wife’s iPhone with no problem.

Other Thoughts

• The battery covers on the Vector 3’s have gotten a bad reputation for stripping/breaking. Apparently, Garmin has gone through a few generations by the time of the publishing of this review. I don’t know if I’ve got the latest version, or if I’m just super careful with covers (because I’ve stripped so many screws…) but I’ve had no problem with these.
• Another piece of the puzzle that gets questionable reviews are the cleats that come with the pedals. The cleats are Exustar, Look Keo-compatible, 6-degree float cleats. They seem fine to me. They seem like they might be a bit greater than 6-degrees to me, but I soon replaced them with 0-degree floats anyways.

Comparison to Power Readings from Saris H3 Smart Trainer

At first, the pedal reading was far lower than the power measurements coming from my smart trainer. That was because my smart trainer wasn’t calibrated correctly. After re-calibrating, it was soon within a few watts of the trainer reading, most of the time. The higher the wattage, the greater the difference. It wasn’t too far off, but it was noticeable. After upgrading to the dual-sided power meter, I realized it’s because I slightly favor my right leg – especially when I’m cranking high power at a low cadence. I was able to bring the Vector 3S reading to within a couple watts of the Saris H3 smart trainer by focusing on my left leg or spinning my left leg only. Still, it was better to have power than not to have it at all. Theoretically, as long as it’s consistent, you can still use it as a super effective training tool.

Coming Soon: A Review on the Upgrade Pedal and Process of Upgrading It To Dual-Sided Power

Here it is!

Product Review: The Garmin Forerunner 935 is everything you (probably) need!

Considering my last smart training watch was the Garmin Fenix 2, the Garmin Forerunner 935 was a welcome upgrade and has not let me down.

Summary

The Garmin Forerunner 935 has everything you need in a multi-sport training watch! Except for music? Do you need music from your watch?

A couple of screens from the Garmin Forerunner 935.

Pros

• Lightweight.
• Easy to setup and start using.
• Loads of data available and customizable screens to show it. You can make multiple custom screens in every workout mode (as far I know), with data available such as 3-second wattage, average heart rate, average heart rate for the current lap, average pace, average speed, current speed, etc. etc. It’s a pretty long list.
  • One of my favorite customizable features is a metronome you can set when you run. You can set it to beep, buzz, or both, and choose the pace at which it beats (in beats per minute).
  • Another great feature is the heart rate zone warnings you can set. These will warn you when you hit the bottom or top of a heart rate zone – via beep or buzz. This has been great to keep me low during recovery workouts and high during interval sets.
• Customizable faces through the Garmin ConnectIQ app.
• Daily tracking – steps, sleep, and stairs. Not everyone loves this, but I do (“Serious athletes that get a watch like the Forerunner 935 don’t want to waste battery and screen space on something like steps” – I saw in a review one time). I disagree – I think these numbers serve as a good reminder for how much stress your encountering throughout the rest of your day.
• Heart Rate Variability (HRV) and daily stress scores – HRV can be used as a good metric to determine your recovery level every morning. To use it with the Forerunner 935, you need a compatible chest-strap heart rate monitor. Even if you don’t have a heart rate strap, the watch will give you a daily stress score, which lets you know if you’re giving yourself enough time to recover throughout the day. I’ve found the latter to be especially useful during tough days at work. If it’s a real bad day, it even offers a breathing exercise to help you ease off.
• Long battery life – I might charge it once a week? Maybe every two weeks? And that’s with the smart notifications turned on! I typically have it in training mode, connected to a trainer, heart rate monitor or more for 14-17 hours a week.

Cons

• Wrist-based heart rate, not just with Garmin but in every watch I’ve seen, seems to be iffy at best. I trust it when I’m resting, when I’m sleep, or when I’m just walking around from here to there. It seems to be pretty consistent. But when I start working hard, it’ll spike way too high too fast, or drop off by 70-80 beats per minute out of nowhere. Fortunately, Garmin sells compatible chest-based heart rate monitors which are remarkably more consistent.
• No music? I don’t mind this. You can’t listen to music while you race anyways. If I need music, I’ll use my phone. People also complain that watches playing music drains battery faster, strange…

Daily Activity Tracker: Steps, Stairs, and Sleep

I’m not going to get into this too much, because the title says it all. The Forerunner 935, on top of everything else, is also a daily activity tracker. For your night, it tracks your sleep cycles (light, deep, REM). For steps, it automatically adjusts your daily goals for you. For stairs, well it’s far more consistent than other trackers I’ve used. I’ve used trackers in the past that would say I’ve gone 2 flights of stairs when I had done 40, but on other days would count a flight for me getting out of my chair. While the measurement might not be perfect, I certainly don’t see the leaps I used to with other products.

Would I recommend it?

Absolutely. The Garmin Forerunner is thin, lightweight, and incredibly powerful. Not to mention is last generation’s model, so you can probably get a pretty good deal on one…

Wet Watches: A Product Review for Swimming with the Nike GPS Sportwatch and the Garmin Forerunner 15

Are you scared to really test out that “Water Resistant” claim that your watch company made on your $150+ GPS watch?

Don’t worry! I did it for you!!

As a bit of a disclaimer here, this won’t be a full product review.  I will only be reviewing the performances of the watches in relation to their manufacturer’s water resistance rating…specifically while swimming. (I’ve only had the Garmin Forerunner 15 for a couple of days, so I’m still getting a feel for it.  The Nike GPS Sportwatch, however, I’ve put a few hundred miles on.  If you want to see a full product review on it, comment below!)

So, here we go:

Products:

• Nike+ Sportwatch GPS with optional Polar heart rate sensor

From left: The Garmin Forerunner 15 and Nike+ Sportwatch GPS after coming with me for 1000m+ swim at the local pool this morning! Still going strong!

• Garmin Forerunner 15 GPS Running Watch

What the companies say:

• The Nike Sportwatch is, according to its user manual, water resistant up to 5 atm! Generally, this means that it should be water resistant up to 50m.  Yet, in the guide, it explicitly suggests that you don’t try swimming with it. Confusing?! It was to me, too.  Probably just Nike trying to save it’s own butt.
• Garmin Forerunner 15 GPS, however, actually states in the manual that you could even take it for a swim, if you wanted!  Garmin should be proudly advertising this, as many of its previous models had, well, frankly awful water resistance ratings.  Here though, Garmin rates its Forerunner 15 at 5 atm, just like Nike, which is about a 50m water resistance.
• It is important to note, however, that both say up to 5 atm.  What does this mean? Well, it refers to atmospheric units, which is a measurement of pressure.  Swimming doesn’t tend to build up too much force, no matter how strong or fast you think you are.  This means, however, that you probably shouldn’t take your shiny-new training tool out with you for a day of water skiing.  A hard crash there would probably far exceed the 5 atm threshold that the companies claim the watches have, and you’d have no argument to try and get them to replace it.  Your loss!
• Every watch manufacturer tells you not to use the buttons on a watch while it is completely submerged.  This will increase the likelihood of water getting into the hardware and almost certainly ruining your watch.

What actually happened when I took my watches to the pool:

• This is actually the second time that I went swimming with the Forerunner 15, and it has worked perfectly both times.  Last time I used it as a chronograph, this time I just used it as a normal watch.  Both times, I had no problems.  I’m still waiting on the Garmin HR transmitter to come in so I can test that out in the water, though my hopes are not high (It bugs me that every watch company needs to have their own code for their HR monitors.  This will be my third different transmitter).  On another neat note: the GPS even picked up inside the building!  I didn’t use it to save the battery, but that’s certainly something the Nike GPS watch wouldn’t do.
• I won’t lie.  I was hesitant to bring the Nike Sportwatch into the pool with me.  It wasn’t cheap, and they explicitly tell you not to swim with it.  But, I have an extra (a long story that I won’t go into right now), and I wanted to know.  Of course, I searched for some articles that were bound to be on the internet telling stories of disaster and triumph with the watch.  I saw one that said it was fine, so I went for it! Haha the Nike GPS watch is fine! I’m wearing it right now, hours later.  I even used the Heart Rate Monitor along with it! This was less of a success.  While it worked, I found that the HR Strap would slide whenever I had a strong kick off the wall, and sometimes just while I was swimming.  I also noticed that the watch wasn’t too good at picking up the signal underwater.  When the transmitter itself was submerged and the watch was out of the water, the watch had to be within probably about two feet of the chest strap to get a read.  This was great, if you were only looking to get your starting and ending HR for a lap/swim.  It didn’t do much for looking at your overall statistics, or any sort of recovery times during the actual swim itself.  Basically, the watch was saying I was dead for about half of my swim.  But, again, it did work and is still kicking!

The key takeaways here:

1. I am NOT responsible for your watch being a dud.  Mine worked, it’s one case, but my watches did what they were supposed to do according to the manufacturer.

2. DO NOT press the buttons when the watch is underwater.  Suck it up and start your watch a little early and end it a little later.

3. HR Monitors, from my research, all tend to have the same result right now with water readings.  Under water, most HR monitor watches have trouble reading a signal.  When the watch is out of water and the transmitter is submerged, the watch probably needs to be within a foot or two to read properly.
4. DO NOT take your watch out for Jet Skiing, Wakeboarding, or anything of that genre.  A hard crash could result in a pressure hit greater than the 5 atm these two watches are rated at.  Bye-bye pretty watch!
5. Make sure your watch is DRY before you try to charge it or plug it in! This is per manufacturer suggestion, and for good reason.  Be grateful that your super-watch is waterproofed in the first place!

If you have any questions or comments, want another product review, or just like this one, let me know in the comments below or shoot me an email!

Thanks!

Matthew