Vector 3 - Setting the install angles

We (Bikeboard.at) are just testing the Vector 3 and they work really fine. We did also some comparisons with other powermeters and with the Cyclus2 and the Vectors were showing accurate results. But one time, after installing on a different bike (with calibration afterwards), their watt values were too low. So I entered the "menu" on the Edge 520, went straight into "sensors" and "set installation angles". After setting them, the values seemed alright again.

On your homepage you write "Vector 3 and 3S: Install angles are automatically determined and set in the background and are not required to be set by the user."

My questions: Why is the function "Set Install Angles" still available on the Edge? What does happening after activating? And is it better to "set the install angles manually" after each new installation?

Thanks and best regards.
  • Great question..!

    t_smit or Vector-Info might be the ones to know?
  • gplama

    Check this out. Did you try this out, read post #1?
  • I tried activating the “Set Install Angles” command. It started the same as on the Vector 2 saying “Loading Sensor Setting,” which last for several seconds. Eventually that text goes away and no further action is apparent nor is there any other prompt.
  • My questions: Why is the function "Set Install Angles" still available on the Edge? What does happening after activating? And is it better to "set the install angles manually" after each new installation?

    Quick anwers: It is normally not necessary to force a clearing of the installation angles. Vector 3 will automatically track changes due to re-installation, but it takes a few minutes after each change to arrive at the correct value. If it is critical to have correct power immediately after re-installing the pedals, then you can use the manual installation angle reset feature.

    Long answer:
    Vector3 is designed so that it continuously monitors the spindle installation angles. However, the angle values are not allowed to quickly change by large amounts once they are set, in order to keep the installation angle value from being corrupted by some kind of transient pedaling event. For most situations this behaviour is invisible to the user. Even if you remove and reinstall the pedals on the same crankset, the final installation angle will be close to the previous value (assuming similar installation torque) and the installation angles will re-converge relatively quickly.

    However, if you are changing between bikes then the spindle installation angles might be completely different (up to 180 degrees in either direction) from where it was. In that case it may take a few minutes for the system to clear out the old setting history and to re-converge fully to the new values. This scenario would also apply if you install a spacing washer on the same crank, since its thickness does not equal a full thread pitch. In these cases (and if you compare to a reference power meter) you would see an initial power error and then a gradual convergence to the correct value as you ride.

    The 'reset install angle' user interface feature was retained in the Edge (and is still accepted by Vector 3) so that if necessary, a user could force a clearing-out of the accumulated history and start accumulating the new installation angle data from a clean slate. In this case the initial estimate of installation angle occurs very quickly and it will typically be close enough to give decent power numbers, but then the angles will still get refined over the subsequent pedaling efforts.
  • Thank you very much for the detailed answer. Just one last question please.

    When triggering the "clearing of the installation angles" via the Edge manually, do I have to pedal at a certain cadence, or is it necessary that the bike is still without any force on the pedals, or is there no clear rule?

    Thanks again.
  • When triggering the "clearing of the installation angles" via the Edge manually, do I have to pedal at a certain cadence, or is it necessary that the bike is still without any force on the pedals, or is there no clear rule?

    The reset of the installation angles is triggered by a message from the Edge or Forerunner, and the pedals need to be awake to receive it.

    After the angle data has been reset, any pedaling below 120 RPM will be used to compute the new angle data. The amount of force that is applied to the pedals is not relevant to the installation angle computation.
  • Very nice info. Thanks.
    By how many watts or percent can the pedals potentially be off?
    And how long can it potentially take for the numbers to settle (both with and without resetting the angle)?
  • Since I bought the pedals I’ve been switching the pedals back and forth between my road bike and a Wattbike. Admittedly not torquing the pedals to the required level. I could never get similar power readings between Vector 3s pedal and the Wattbike; Vector 3S was always 40w lower. I’m assuming because I didn’t install the pedals to the correct torque (I hand tightened then to make removal easy). I’ve since stopped switching the pedals between bikes and they are now permanently on my road bike, torqued correctly. I’ve since ridden 6hrs with the pedal installation unchanged.

    I recently did a ramp test and my result was 40w below what I expected. I then did a 78k outdoor ride, and my power seemed to be about right. What is going on? Do I need to find a Garmin Edge owner manually reset the install angles?



  • I recently did a ramp test and my result was 40w below what I expected. I then did a 78k outdoor ride, and my power seemed to be about right. What is going on? Do I need to find a Garmin Edge owner manually reset the install angles?


    If you are doing frequent swaps then it is actually more important to ensure you tighten the pedals because it usually takes a bit of riding and a few hard efforts for the spindles to 'set' in the cranks. Up to then the zero calibration might shift around and give you inaccurate power measurements as a result.

    The installation angles are going to be fine at this point and you would be unlikely to see any substantial change from resetting them now.

    With Vector 3S your reported power will change as your balance shifts from left to right. This could well be different out on the road, compared to an indoor trainer environment.
  • I'm unable to reset the install angles with my Garmin 810.

    When pressing Calibrate, there is a message telling me that I should reset the angle as well. Then, it hangs on the screen asking to pedal at a cadence of 80-90 rpm. I can pedal 5-10 minutes on this screen with the working icon spinning.

    This leads to a discrepancy of about 20w when swapping it to a new bike, and I don't like the idea of waiting 5-10 km before getting accurate numbers.