Garmin Vector Power Pedals to be released in March

OLATHE, Kansas - The long awaited Garmin Vector Power Pedal will be released in March 2012. Serious cyclists have been waiting for the release date for these pedals as they are the first to offer left/right balance outputs as opposed to a simple reading of wattage output.

The Vector pedals will be first on sale in the United States at a price of $1,149 (£742), meaning that they aren't really in the reach of the average sportive rider but may be of more interest to those who are racing or training with the intention of riding several major events.

Power output is now used as the most important training metric for top cyclists and shapes their entire training programmes. The Vector system shows riders if they have an uneven power output in each leg - which may need correcting - and where in the pedal stroke they are generating their power, allowing changes to be made to the stroke to maximise total power output.

The Vector system uses Look KEO compatible pedals. Garmin say that the pedal casing has been tested in extreme conditions and has not broken in any pre-launch tests. The output data, which will include metrics such as normalized power, training stress score and intensity factor, will be compatible with the Garmin Edge 800, 705 and 500 units and the Forerunner 310XT and 910XT triathlon GPS watches. Users will need to ensure they have loaded Garmin's firmware updates.