Assioma Duos: US$675, on Favero's website, vs Rally 200s: US$1100 on Garmin's website. You can buy a lot of cleats for that price difference. Value for money, Assioma is the clear winner here.
Another brilliant review Shane 👌. I’ve loved my Vector 2’s, apart from the pedal pods. Have been 100% reliable though. I’ve been waiting for these and very very happy to have my Shimano cleats back. I’ve ridden Shimano for 25 years until my wife bought me the Vector 2’s over 5 years ago. She’s just bought me the new Rally 200’s for Christmas! I’m a lucky man. Look forward to trying them tomorrow.
New firmware update (4.00) to address the ‘quality of the zero-offset calibration’ and has ‘improved zero-offset temperature compensation’ Very interested to see if this swings things in a more favourable direction.
Shane - thank you for your great review of the RALLY Power Meter pedals. I am probably one of the few 100% satisfied customers of the Vector3 pedal. I have had the set for almost a year now and almost 1000 miles on them and could not be happier. But as a gravel cyclist the SPD road pedals and cleats did get beat up on those days where hike-a-bike efforts were required. Yesterday my new RALLY XC pedals arrived and i just finished a 40 mile ride ..... I love them .... and since I have 2 NINER gravel bikes a conversion kit will soon be in the budget. The price of the pedals are expensive but I closed my eyes on the "buy now" tab. Thank you for great product reviews and ride safe
Really glad 2-bolt SPD cleat-compatible pedals are starting to be a thing, although I couldn’t justify buying a set at this price. Hopefully Favero or someone follows suit and manages to drive the price down a bit.
Have a touring MTB and a road bike and this video really convinced me to buy the RS100. Enough data for me, Garmin solved many problems with the Vector3 and i can use them for all my bikes.
My right side pedal seems to have just decided to die... Worked back and forth with Garmin and they sent me "new" refurb pedals after trying a battery circuit board replacement that still didn't fix the original dead pedal. All up and running smoothly again now with the new pedals. Garmin continuing to be great at customer support!
@@gplama many thanks Shane. There’s a European sale on the Rally range at the mo and a North America rebate offer in place which has knocked down the price by 20-25% which is a far more attractive offering
Of course, it’s just a thing of preferences, but honestly I don’t understand or find the difference between using SPD-SL or Look cleats. Before my Assioma Duo I was using Ultegra pedals and it was just a matter of change pedals, cleats and ride. Literally I never found any difference between the systems. Both engage and feel the same, I never noticed the change. I mean, I can’t see how just a cleat system could be a dealbreaker, considering, of course, just 1 bike, if you have several bikes with shimano system, could have some sense but in the end part of the advantages of pedal based powermeters is to be able to change easily from one bike to another. Great video, as always! 🦙
I watched this video a year ago and made the call to buy these pedals, may have gone over the top but really do not like changing pedals between bikes. So I bought 3 sets of the Rally Look Keo dual and 1 set of the Shimano SPD dual. All 4 sets have been in constant use. I have loved the pedals and fount them to be fantastic power meters. If I was to raise a issue it would be that the batteries are hard to find in RSA and that the head unit does not report low battery well. Other than these two small issues I would recommend these pedals all day.
Just bought a pair of Asioma a couple of months ago and I love them. The cost of these new pedals will have to come down about 30% before I take another look.
Same here. I had so many problems with my garmin V3 that they had to refund under warranty after a year of inconsistencies. I had just enough data to confirm almost perfect L/R balance and went for a 300$ left crank stages. Superbly consistent, no problem whatsoever, power in line with my neo. Like many others, I lost confidence with the vectors tbh. Hence their change of branding I guess?
Just as my Fevero Assiomas arrived this morning! Happy to have years of proven reliability behind them though...even if I'd rather be doing it on Shimano cleats!
With the Shimano patent, that covered the spd-sl standard, out of the way, it’s probably only a matter of time, until favero releases a spd-sl body for the assiomas.
Let's see, I do quite a bit of walking with cleats and people told me Look cleats are slippery as hell. And I know that during one of my races, the closest I was to falling was during an after finish run to the restaurant bathrooms :-D
Very nice options, and I think Garmin is not expensive as you have a lot of support, I only hope some one develop a rechargeable cr1/3n, what I love about my Garmin v2 is use of rechargeable battery
I have been interested in a power meter for a while and had my eye on the Assiomas! Got quite excited when i saw this this morning! These do look awesome, I like how you have the choice of different pedals but i think the price they are asking for them is just a tad too much for me to justify at this point! Think i might still go for the Assiomas as it looks like they have nailed it and they seem to have plenty of happy customers!
Garmin Vector3 lasted one ride for me, even with all the updates (but still 2 batteries), dropouts (not such an issue) followed by 1200W power spike when going over a cattle-stop; had to return them. Assioma have never missed a beat... integrated non-removable battery is the superior solution.
I haven't really had any problems with my Vector 3s apart from changing the 4 LR44s. A couple of years ago I did ask there help desk if I could use the single lithium cells instead of faffing around with the LR44s and they said no I couldn't do that as it would damage them - so much for that then. Garmin did send me some upgraded battery covers for free when I requested them though. Nice to see the improvement on the V3s, thanks for an in-depth review - I did wonder what the differences were from the V3s.
Good to have this out there! Now I just need to see what the Wahoo Speedplay power meter is like too, then maybe I'll get round to actually buying one of them... Still, the Assioma Duo are likely to still be the cheapest
As an owner of the V3's when they were released, I hope Garmin get things right with these pedals. I moved over to the Assioma's within 6 months of the V3's, due to their well documented battery issues. The price point for these pedals are not in the same ball park and charging what they want because they can doesn't inspire customer brand loyalty. Saying all that, it is good that finally other options exist for Shimano cleats and XC pedals. Pedal bodies way too much though. Can't help but think the price point will put a lot of people off when compared to the reliability of the competition.
IMO, Assioma design is still better by not having the electronics on the pedal bodies. Also, the pricing. I believe the days for PM price exceeding $1,000 are over.
I like just about all Garmin stuff. However, that price. The price is way too high, at least for me it is. I am waiting for an updated version of the Favero pedals for my next power pedals.
I realize you are not a MTB'er, Shane, but I would love to see you do a deep dive power comparison in the SBD version before and after a few rock strikes. Even the best of riders knock their pedals pretty dang hard on rocks on a regular basis. I'd be worried what happens to them taking such hard knocks.
I second that. My Quarq crank arms hit rocks REALLY hard a few times during gravel group rides last year. I'm pretty amazed that they even survived. Maybe I should try to re-calibrate them some day.
Thanks for the review…. yes they are expensive, really don’t like that they made MTB more expensive than Road…. would rather they had a standardised pricing list across platforms.
930 vs 650 euro for Assiomas. Who is crazy enough to pay this if there are equal alternatives... does not make sense for me... Imo there are no reasons good enough to choose these over others with the price difference...
Maybe just maybe, the advantage of favero assioma in terms of hardware design is on the pod. It is sealed, no moisture and much consistent in terms of temperature drift since it's sealed.
Oh yay!! The Rally XC is what I’m looking for since the SPD cleat it superior for commuting. Although the Wahoo Speedplay cleats have me rethinking and waiting for their power meter option. Could a Lama Lab test involve running up and down train station stair case with a bike on shoulder as the commuter test case? SPD-SL aren’t great (from experience almost falling many times). Now that I describe this, I realise commuting is urban cyclocross.
Glad I'm not the only person itching for an SPD power meter pedal for my commuting bikes! Is putting power meter pedals on a Brompton over the top? :D (I already have SPD on it as I hate not being clipped in) (TBH, I often consider putting SPD on my road bike, since I find SPD-SL a real PITA in traffic. Getting away quickly from the lights is an art form I _still_ haven't perfected after more than 20 years of using them...)
@Ali Abdullah there is a rumor of assioma spd-sl so heres hoping they drop a spd set as well. if not im thinking of just doing the conversion hack for assioma.
I would love MTB SPD Rally over my currently hacked Assioma + Xpedo, but it looks like the power/cadence is still all over the place and the replaceable battery bugs me - water is bound to ingress sooner or later. I hope Rally v2 will come soon enough with better cadence measurement and rechargeable battery.
Deja vu all over again - Y Berra. Okay, now including more cleat types. Nice but still too expensive when compared to the Assiomas. Favero will likely come out with SPD, SPD-SL models as well. A rose by any other name is still a rose.....
I'm done with Garmin Power Pedals (or any Garmin cycling product for that matter) - Vector 3 "veteran" here. Riding Assiomas now - after two years not one single dropout to report.
Favero Assioma Duo- lighter, cheaper, same accuracy. Fair enough the battery doesn't last as long but for the cash saving I think I'd take that hit. Paying the difference in cost for the Garmin name. Favero for me...
It might interesting to try the test with the cleats provided with Garmin. There could be a different interaction between the cleat, shoe and pedal considering that there was a weight difference.
The cleats that Garmin supply are widely sold by other brands like Wiggle's Lifeline version. I use them as in my usage they last much longer than the Shimano version and they are cheaper too. Only downside is that it doesn't have the soft grippy parts for walking. It's just plastic. You won't slip unless you are walking on real slippery surfaces but that is probably where the extra couple of grams are coming from. Plus if you are walking for any longer than 1 minute, then just get the cleat covers.
I'm really interested in getting a pair of pedal based power meters. I use pedal extenders to help with an old hip injury so I would love to see a test of the power output of a pedal based system when installed with extenders. I keep thinking it should have no adverse effect but it would be nice to have that verified. :-)
Hey Shane. Watched this video a few times now trying to convince myself I can look past the data issues you highlighted but just can’t do it at that price. They have to be spot on the justify that sort of premium. I’d buy the Assioma’s but don’t want to give up my SPD-SL’s. Any further updates coming 👀? Thanks for the great content.
@@gplama Thanks for the reply and advice Shane. I have looked into that route but can’t get all the parts due to current supply issues. It’s compounded by my good old Trek 24mm BB and running 165 cranks. Means I have very limited options and they come out very expensive, same or more than the Rally pedals, for a single power measurement and no left/right data etc... Thanks again, love the content.
So Favero Assioma/Xpedo SPD Hack is still the best option for gravel or off road power since they'd cost about $200 USD less and provide better power accuracy?
You would also have to take buying the expedo pedals into account. Xpedo m-force 8 pedals are pretty expensive, somewhere between 150 and 200 euros in Belgium. The m-force 4 pedals are cheaper but still... And you’d void the warranty. I’m a happy Assioma user myself, I think I’ll hold off and hope that Favero come up with an spd compatible powermeter pedal. If not, it’ll be single sided Stages on the GRX crank.
@@filipdeneve7712 You're correct and in fact I did take that into account. Favero Assioma Duos directly from their website are $675 USD. M-force 8's are $235 and 4's are $160. In total you'd spend either $910 or $835. The pricing matrix at 2:30 into the video shows the Rally XC at $1,199. So you'd save $289 or $364 depending on which Xpedo pedal you choose. It's probably highly dependent on the country you're in.
Like you I prefer the blue SPD-SL cleats but I moved over to Look zero degree cleats with Look Keo Blades a while ago & have got used to them. As a 1st time power meter purchaser (who is still not sure whether to go crank based or pedals) why would I buy the LK version of these over the Assiomas apart from aesthetics?
Great content, as usual. And finally something for SPD. Will do well on my MTB and Gravel. However, since I don't have any experience with power meters at the moment, I'm wondering what would the benefits of the dual-sided be. Is there even any for casual/ambitioned riders?
I used Shimano blue cleats before I got the Assiomas and, to be honest, I do not notice any difference between them and the Look ones. The Shimanos look wider, but it is only the part you walk on which is wider. The pedal contact points are almost identical.
The Wellgo (which they claim as Look Keo compatible) have a little lip on the back which takes a slight wiggle to get in. SPD-SL slide straight in a little easier for me.
@@gplama I have not tried Wellgo. I am using Look Keos 0% float at the moment with some xpedos 0% float in reserve. If I ever return to my Dura Ace pedals, I will buy the Shimano red cleats; for I find that, when set up correctly, 0% cleats make my knee tracking consistent.
I’m still having issues with residual torque (or floating offsets) after hard sprints. I can’t rely on them to compare other meters against unless I keep manually zeroing them.
After the firmware update to version 4.1, I can wait about 10 minutes each time after turning the crank for the left and right pedals to synchronize - the green and red lights flash continuously (Gramin Rally RS 200 pedals). Is this a weakness of the new Firmware? With the previous (older) firmware, there were no such waits.
Wow they also aren't compatible with the dura ace r9100 pedal body which is what I use... An instant buy on release day has turned into a hard pass. Perhaps the garmin rally is the way to go, although I haven't seen many long term reviews.
Hi Shane, just wondering if you will do a long term review? I am building a new bike and need to buy a power meter before I go for my bike fit. I would love a Shimano cleats power meter and was hoping to see a long term review of Garmin RS :) Thanks brother
I’ve had several sets of vector 3 replaced under warranty. Drop outs, separation of pedal body and also keep having pedal body wear out or break sections off inside 9 months. Keep swapping back to my ultegra pedals from 2012 when waiting on replacement as they’re still going strong. Hoping new pedal bodies wear a bit better possibly Shane?
Trying to decide between these and the assioma duos. Reading other comments it seems like things are better with the rally’s compared to when you did this video with the exception of hard sprints. Have you noticed if there is a certain wattage where the issue starts?
Have there been any improvements to these since this review increasing reliability and accuracy when riding outside with the temperature swings? Enough to where you would recommend them?
Shane, I got the CX100, and the conversion kit to change them into the Shimano SPD-SL. I put my bike on the trainer and did a few harder efforts, and Garmin read around 10-15w lower than my Kickr and Quarq. Any suggestions on how to bump up the power on the Garmin Rally? Thank you!
Hi Shane! Thanks for your thorough powermeter tests and the insights they provide!!! Any news re. the problems you detected? Problem 1 / 1a and problem 2 still open or some of it solved after your exchange with Garmin? Or are you still in contact with Garmin re the open topics?
@@tcb746 I've converted my RS200 into XC200 and have been riding those for the last few months. This has introduced a few other issues that.I don't see with other meters.
Very interesting, thanks. Just one question : With the SPD-SL cleats on Dura Ace, there is freedom of lateral movement of the foot (the whole foot, I'm not talking about angular rotation). Is this possible with the RS200?
Hey Shane, I like the stability of the shimano road pedals over the speedplay since i have wide feet. Which power pedals you suggest between the Asiomma Shi and Garmin Rally road? (So tempted to get the Powerlnk speedplay)
Seemingly the only problem is the right side pedal's power data after sprints that isn't correct. Would this not be a problem with only using the left side power pedal (rs100)?
Sprints in further testing years later have proven troublesome due to the accelerometers they’ve used. It’s a known / acknowledged issue that looks to be a hardware limitation.
Those really look great but I can buy almost 3x Power2Max NGeco or 2x Assioma for this price, which are arguably better power meters. So that's about it. I'm not that much about cosmetics to pay this abysmal price.
Great video, Shane - thank you! Quick question: I can get the Vector 3 in the UK for £600. I could buy those and switch my Shimano SPD-SL cleats to Look cleats. Or I can buy the RS200 conversion kit for an extra £180 and continue using my Shimano cleats. But is it really worth spending the extra money? Most people seem to say that the difference between the Shimano SPD-SL cleats and the Look cleats is negligible? Would love to know your thoughts on this... (If relevant, I use the yellow shimano cleats - 6% float) Thanks!
