I just changed jobs and as a leaving present have been given a pair of Garmin vector 3S pedals.
Can anyone point me to a good idiot’s guide about how to train and race with power?
Will these mean I can use Zwift on my dumb turbo trainer?
Do I need to get a Garmin edge for my bike or is it sufficient to mount my phone and use Garmin connect? My watch is a forerunner 235 which I don’t think can connect to the pedals.
Thanks to anyone who knows the answer to these qs
Nick
Where did you work and how long do I have to work there before they will give me a PM to leave? 
As for.
Just ride for a while and look at the data. See what happens on hills, flat, junctions, where does the power spike. Sooner or later you will need to do an ftp test to set a threshold, then it gets more complicated.
Yes, but in my experience Zwift on a dumb trainer is not that immersive, I prefer a more training oriented app like TrainerRoad or Sufferfest.
You can use you phone as a bike computer, but Garmin Connect is not the app. There are loads, don’t know the latest recommendations.
If the power number is too low, then work harder 
Low, being subjective, but based upon what the power averages were for that segment in the past.
posting to get notification of replies so I can learn as well
I’m dipping my toe in the world of power atm also. I picked up a Kurt Kinetic Road Machine off eBay to replace my venerable Cycleops & I’ve put a Kinetic inRide V3 on it.
If all goes well I may get some proper power pedals later in the year.
Primarily posting this to follow the thread 
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That’s what I’ve got, although it already had the sensor installed. Great bit of kit for power training on a budget. Use it primarily with Trainerroad.
There’s the training with Power book by Hunter Allen. Worth getting.
Thanks Buzz. I’m afraid the answer is 17 years!
Not really even sure how to get started, need some sort of display- instructions only mention Garmin edge or Garmin connect. Guess maybe will start off pairing with Garmin connect on my phone & see what happens
TrainerRoad app on your phone will resolve both of these for you. 
Get the Power Meter Handbook by Joe Friel and the Training and racing with a power meter by Coogan and Allen.
Read and apply what’s relevant to you. The Friel book is slightly more tri focussed. Although most principals are the same.
I don’t own vector, but I’m 99% sure you can’t connect it to the phone and record data. That’s not what Garmin connect is. As far as I’m aware, the garmin connect connection is purely for vector firmware updates.
You’d need a suitable bike computer or watch. Even just an old Edge 500 would work, which you should be able to get for cheap as chips. That will record the basic power data. But newer devices which upload via your phone/Bluetooth are so much more convenient than having to plug into a computer each time.
People above mentioned trainerroad. That’s what I use and at least vector 3 also broadcasts in Bluetooth so all phones should work. I have an ant+ only Power2max so am restricted to Samsung phones with ant+ built in to get it to work without phone adapters. There are many similar trainerroad alternatives too. They’ve just put their prices up, altho their podcast this week said they’re doing a week period to lock in old prices.
I’ve never used zwift, but from everything I’ve seen and everyone I’ve spoken to, the immersive aspect relies on a smart trainer. Personally, I just rather train with my own videos/music/podcasts, hence why I use trainerroad
Really helpful info thanks.
Trainerroad have a very good help section on the website. This page probably has what you need, regarding setup.
If you have an Android phone you can install the ANT+ Radio Service App and then record power using Strava. You can then feed your workouts into TP for a bit of analysis.
ANT+ phone plus Vectors plus Strava app works fine for recording and seeing power realtime.
Yes, true. Strava would be an equivalent phone based app to Trainerroad that would also work outdoors in terms of just recording the data. I’m presuming you don’t even need the ant+ phone and that the Vectors can use their dual broadcast to just connect to almost all phones via BT?
I’ve got a smart trainer but packed it away for the summer and have been using a power meter with rollers (a dumb trainer you can fall off!) since.
I use the free software from Golden Cheetah or Veloreality to create interval workouts that you can then follow, albeit without Erg mode. I use a laptop with Ant+ dongle but if you have BT option then you shouldn’t need anything else. There are 1000s of workouts in ErgDB database that you can download to Golden Cheetah, Veloreality you have to build them yourself but it’s pretty easy.
Oh yeah you’re probably right. I have old ones so totally forgot about bluetooth!
Nice, does it suit endurance sessions over interval work? I don’t really know how rollers do resistance but I’m curious about doing this in the off season.
I’ve got some Sportcrafters rollers with progressive resistance built into the rear drum. If you put it in one way round they’re normal rollers, the other the resistance builds with speed. I get more resistance than quoted in the normal position but less in the progressive position but they easily produce more than I can use. I’ll try and post a picture of the graph I did when I tested the resistance in both positions.
In terms of the type of sessions, I find they work well for both but the longest I’ve ridden then for is 90mins. I find as I tire my concentration starts to lapse and I’m more likely to get spat off. I like having them and a turbo as you can just switch off on the turbo and turn your legs whereas the rollers are more immersive so it depends what you’re trying to do at any given time. My winter/summer split seems to work well.