I've been waiting for this one. Hoping to see some favorable reviews and price points.
http://garmin.blogs.com/pr/2011/08/garmin-brings-power-to-the-people-wit...
Power in the spindle and a meter that is easily transferable between bikes and wheelsets is a great concept. If the price is right, I might need to put it on my early Christmas list if it works.
Link fixed.
Link fixed.
I can't wait to drop the hammer on this! I've been waiting for this PM since 2008.
Vector will be available in March 2012 and will have a suggested retail price of $1,499.99.
at that price I wait another
at that price I wait another 20 years and go by heart rate and perceived effort, disttance, time, and regularity, thanks :-)
I was excited as well till I
I was excited as well till I saw it was $1499
I was excited until I saw
I was excited until I saw March 2012.
I need until March to save
I need until March to save up that much money.
SRM? $2K, easy, and you're
SRM? $2K, easy, and you're stuck using it on one crank set or have fun swapping it out.
QuarQ? same general price, same general issues.
These two are options that will only work on a single bike without swapping cranks.
PowerTap? $1,300ish, but then you have to build the hub into a wheel set. and it stays there. No ability to use one power meter across both a training and racing wheelset.
Good option, but you can't use it on different wheels.
Look and Polar worked together on the KeO Power Pedals. Same concept of measuring power at the pedal spindle. Same benefits as the Vector, but at a $2,000 price point.
Not sure I'm gonna jump at $1,500 either, but if you believe that training with power is valuable, it's hard to say this isn't an interesting new option. But I'm willing to bet that $1,500 on this powermeter and a focused training effort would deliver a lot more speed than that new set of Zipp wheels.
Thought of something re: the
Thought of something re: the Garmin design: They're catering to a cycling market made up (partly? mostly?) of people who like other's to know they are riding on really expensive hardware. Yes? No? Unless I'm making it up, is there not a fairly large contingency in the tri/roadie community that doesn't mind being conspicuous in their consumption? I'm not calling anyone out or disparaging anyone's purchasing decisions. If you have a power meter or similar high-end products, that's great (I live in a glass house). I'm not criticizing anyone; just commenting on what I think Garmin's design or consumer research didn't take into account.
Garmin may lose some interest from their market just by the placement of the meter. Just for sake of example, if I were the type that wanted people to know that I spent $1,500 on a power meter, I'd want people to be able to [i]see[/i] that I spent $1,500 on a power meter. If it is built into my pedal, no one can see it - at least not when I'm actually riding. PowerTap satisfies this need to be seen with a bulky rear hub and bright yellow computer (color choice was not just an homage to the maillot jaune). SRM and Quarq are prominently placed in (or replace) standard cranksets. My point being, you can [i]see[/i] the $1,500-$3,000 power meter; they're not hidden underneath someone's shoe.
How many people who would otherwise buy a power meter will be less interested in a mostly-invisible meter? Impossible to know because the hesitation for the inconspicuous Garmin version may be subconscious.
That is a very interesting
That is a very interesting theory, and I think you're correct. What else would explain the huge Zipp stickers on those $3,000 race wheels? Remember though, there's that big "Garmin" plastered across the pedal. Plenty of time pre-ride and on the breaks to clip out so everyone notices.
But I think we tend to announce our conspicuous consumption more verbally. My favorite it when the pace line goes at 24-25 mph, then the Cat riders move to the front and pick it up to the 28-30mph range. That's usually when the tri guys start spewing something like, "sorry guys, but my personal coach is making me keep this a four hour zone two effort with average power output in the 205-210 watt range".