This is apparently ‘Garmin makes pricing reasonable again’ week in Olathe, Kansas. Hot on the heels of the budget-focused Forerunner 70 released on Tuesday, Garmin has permanently dropped the MSRP price of their newest Rally power meter pedals announced last fall, the Rally x10 series. This includes Shimano Road, Shimano MTB/Gravel, and Look KEO compatible versions, in both single-sided (Rally 110), and double-sided (Rally 210) variants.
I’ve actually been riding all three of those over the late summer, fall, winter and now spring on various bikes. Though it hadn’t quite bubbled up to the top of the review pile, partially because they got lost in the hell of September launches, and partially because there hadn’t been much demand for it…because the price was so high.
But now with these changes, it brings them quite close to Favero’s pricing, which had been undercutting Garmin for years, but the disparity grew stronger with the Rally x10 series.
The Price Changes:
In any case, here’s the Garmin Rally pedal pricing shifts:
Road Pedals (Shimano SPD-SL& LOOK KEO): Now $599/$899 (single/dual), was $749/$1,199
XC/MTB (Shimano SPD): Now $599/$899 (single/dual), was $799/$1,299
Bundle (set of both Road + XC/MTB bodies, one transferrable spindle set): Now $1,199 from $1,499
As a reminder, you can move the Garmin Rally spindles between the different pedal bodies, meaning you can shift it from a road pedal body to a MTB pedal body within a few minutes. It’s not something you’d want to do every day, but every once in a while, sure. The bundle offering is aimed at exactly that.
Meanwhile, they’re also lowering the cost of their replacement body/kits substantially. This was frankly an even more obvious sticking point when compared to Favero, where these replacement bodies were a fraction the cost. Favero is still cheaper, but at least it’s half-way reasonable now.
RS/RK rebuild kit/replacement body: Now $99, was $199
XC rebuild kit/replacement body: Now $129, was $299
RS/RK conversion kits: Now $149, was $249
XC conversion kits: Now $249, was $399
Phew, got all that?
Now, for context, here’s how this compares to Favero’s pricing:
Favero Assioma Pro RL/RS (Road): $499/789USD (Single/Dual)
Favero Assioma Pro MX (MTB): $499/789USD (Single/Dual)
In other words, Favero is basically $100 cheaper for the single unit, and $110 cheaper for the dual unit.
The Technical Differences:
I’ll pull together a complete chart at some point of all the technical differences, but I’d say roughly speaking, here’s the key technical bits:
– Accuracy: This is a wash, I just don’t see any difference at all in all of my riding between the two pedals. Both are super accurate.
– Automatic calibration and Temperature Compensation: All of this is the same, works the same.
– Battery Charging: Both use rechargeable pedals these days, this is a wash.
– Battery Duration: This is the biggest difference now. This past March Favor basically doubled their battery via a firmware update. To date, we haven’t seen any repercussions from that. Perhaps we’ll see Garmin do the same, or perhaps not. Either way, Garmin’s claim is 90-hours, whereas Favero’s is 160hrs. Now, practically speaking nobody really had an issue when Favero was half that value given how many hours/weeks/months of riding that really is for most people, but obviously, it’s handy to charge less often.
– Connectivity: Both have unlimited ANT+ connections and 3 concurrent Bluetooth connections. Garmin also supports Secure Bluetooth pairing, which, while in theory is great, I find to frankly be the biggest @#$@)#*U ever. Especially when I’m trying to pair a new watch to the pedals. Once it’s paired, life is fine. But there’s no single thing that annoys me more about these pedals than this. Of course, this may just be a me problem with constantly pairing the pedals to new bikes, but still.
– Direct Force Measurements: This is really the only technical area where Garmin has a ‘win’ over Faveo, which allows you to see the direct force itself. But again, virtually nobody uses this. So while I’m sure a few appreciate it, most probably won’t ever even care/notice.
– Phone Configuration/Update: Yes, both companies have apps that can connect to the pedals, toggle settings, and update firmware.
– Q-Factor: The same
– Strain Gauge: Both companies like to talk about their strain gauge design and how it might be better or not. At the end of the day, it simply doesn’t matter and that’s marketing doing its thing, both are super accurate, super durable and well proven over time.
– Weight: The Favero road pedals are lighter (130g/pedal vs Garmin’s 156g).
– Cycling Dynamics: Both units have it. There are some nuances around Garmin’s new secure Bluetooth pairing that might matter down the road, but practically speaking only Garmin devices support display of Cycling Dynamics, so whether that’s ANT+ or Bluetooth Smart for today doesn’t matter. Let alone the limited value of the data anyway.
So then, given the Garmin pedals cost $100 more than Favero, and have less battery life, why would someone buy them over the Favero ones? For the same reason they did in the past: Global support, and local availability.
One of the biggest challenges of Favero is that they handle all support out of Italy, including replacements. Don’t get me wrong, they’re really good at it, and it’s really efficient, but it means sending your pedals back to Italy and getting a replacement set. Up till now, I’ve argued that you could basically get two Favero sets for the price of one Garmin set. But now that argument evaporates.
Beyond the shipping aspects, there’s the customs/duties aspects. Just last week someone was e-mailing me about issues they were having getting Favero pedals out of customs. Issues that simply wouldn’t exist if they had local distribution.
Now, if you’re in Europe, it largely won’t matter. It’s all pretty seamless. But if you’re in Brazil, or the United States, or somewhere else, it may very well matter. It really depends on your country, and as anyone who has ever imported anything knows: Luck of the draw on that given day.
Wrap-Up:
Ultimately, both companies make really good pedals that work great and are very similar in terms of features. It’s just that now the decision is no longer “obviously, get Favero”, but instead, much closer. I noted that last year I bought my wife another set of Favero pedals for both her gravel bike (MX) and then road bike (RK). The reason was super simple: Price.
At the end of the day, like most riders, she’s simply looking at total power and current cadence, and wants that data to be accurate, with good battery life. Both companies can do that, but one was almost half the price of the other. Now they’re pretty similar, and instead you’re basically paying that $100 for a blend of the Garmin brand but also the Garmin distribution and support network behind it. Depending on where you are in the world, that may or may not matter.
I had the Rally x10 pedals on my long-term review list (along with far too many other things), so maybe this will finally push me to get them done, since people will probably start to consider them. Of course, you can also just read the technical differences section above and pretty much know what my review will say: Pedals work great and are durable, battery life is just fine, pairing is annoying AF, but otherwise I just ride. It’s easy.
With that – thanks for reading!
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If you're shopping for the Garmin Rally RS210 (Dual SPD-SL Power Meter Pedals), Garmin Rally RK210 (Dual Look KEO Power Meter Pedals) or Garmin Rally XC210 (Dual SPD Power Meter Pedals) or any other accessory items, please consider using the affiliate links below! As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. It doesn’t cost you anything extra, but your purchases help support this website a lot.
Garmin Rally XC210 (Dual SPD Power Meter Pedals)
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