Garmin watch or similar?

rozzer32

So I've got a garmin 810 that I use to log all my rides. However I race cyclocross and use two bikes so I'd like to have a watch to record my data. It would also be better for when I go for a run rather than having to stuff the 810 in my pocket.

I have a power meter so I'd like it to be ant+ compatible to pick that up and pick my hrm up. And I must be able to import the data into golden cheetah. Obviously as it will only be used a few times a year I'd like to keep it as cheap as possible.

So can anyone recommend a watch that would be suitable? It doesn't have to be garmin.

bendertherobot

Sell the 810, get a Fenix 3.

The Forerunner 25 does ANT+ and is one of the cheapest. Links to Garmin Connect/Strava so should be easy enough getting it into Cheetah

Man Of Lard

Go to http://thisisant.com/directory/ pick a power meter (I picked the 4iiii Precision because it's near the top of the list)....

https://www.thisisant.com/directory/precision/

In the filter box type "Watch"

There's a list to get you started - obviously older devices will probably be available more cheaply...

Many of the lower end Forerunners will not connect to your power meter.

bendertherobot

aye, missed the power meter bit.

Can I plug the Fenix mind? It's bloody awesome.

fenix

+1 on the fenix. Lovely watch and doesnt look weird in every day use.

bendertherobot

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/suunto-ambit-3-sports-with-hrm

not as attractive as the Fenix but have a look at that.

bendertherobot

Fenix wrote:

+1 on the fenix. Lovely watch and doesnt look weird in every day use.

When I bought mine I thought I'd only wear it for exercise, never leaves my wrist. Tad annoying with double cuff shirts and a dinner jacket but apart from that.

fenix

I'm very practical. CBA with having to swap watches so my Fenix does for everything and on a weekly charge too. Awesome.

lostboysaint

I picked up a Forerunner 610 cheap and it's brilliant. Touchscreen, Ant+ and all the usual Garmin functions including HR.

bendertherobot

Yeah, think they're still on Sport Pursuit? I'm a swimmer as well so the Fenix really suits me. It's just an utterly staggering piece of kit. Fenix Sapphire is £299 on sport pursuit at the moment.

964cup

+1 for Fenix 3. I bought the HR, but wouldn't bother again - the sensor isn't very accurate. The Fenix will pair with a proper chest strap, and you can get a quick-release kit that allows you to swap it between the strap and a bar mount. It's also not a bad smart watch and takes the same straps as a full-size Panerai if you want to dress it up.

bendertherobot

I have the performance with the run HR strap. Staggering piece of kit. My ground time contact balance is all over the place apparently.

Like I could do something with that........

tangled_metal

I think a Fenix has been recommended.

I take it people mean the Garmin watch and are not recommending the OP strap fenix, the regular poster on here, onto his wrist. It would be a bit uncomfortable running with him/her on one arm giving you readings from the Fenix on his wrist.

Sorry! Just had too much caffeine, feeling light headed and an image.appeared in.my head.

fenix

Lolz.

My name came before I was aware of the Garmin - I took the nickname after one of my favourite torches.

(What do you mean you lot don't have favourite torches ???)

buckmulligan

bendertherobot wrote:

I have the performance with the run HR strap. Staggering piece of kit. My ground time contact balance is all over the place apparently.

Like I could do something with that........

I've used the Ground Contact Time Balance and Vertical Oscillation metrics to modify my running gait and I believe it's made me more efficient and less injury prone. For example, I'd been struggling with IT band issues in my left leg for quite a while and noticed that my GCT Balance was consistently around 45-55% L-R; I consciously modified the stride of my left leg and tried to keep my foot in contact with the ground longer, accentuating the drive phase and it seemed to help a lot in addressing the ITB issues.

Obviously there are a lot of factors at play in such a scenario, but for me, I believe GCT Balance is a useful metric for keeping my lazy left-leg in check, particularly over the course of a long run.

I'd certainly recommend the fenix 3, but note that there's supposedly a new model (or three) coming out imminently, have a Google for fenix 5, fenix 5S and fenix 5X if you're interested.

Also, I believe the Suunto Ambit 3 is Bluetooth only (i.e. no ANT+ support), which may be a deal breaker depending on what your sensors and power meter use.

fenix

I think that Ground Contact Time data is only available if you have the Garmin Run HRM with the inbuilt accelerometer.

Now you've made me hanker after that too.

bendertherobot

Yeah, my GCTB and VO aren't all that bad really 49.5/51.5 or so, cadence goes rubbish when I hit a tired zone. The metrics are great and come spring I'll start to do something with them.

Fenix, do get the run one, it's a great piece of kit. You may be better off getting £250 by selling your optical, then getting the 3 plus HRM for about £280 or so. There's a mega version as well with the tri HRM which will do absolutely everything.

davep1

No-one has mentioned the Garmin 310. I suspect it is a bit old school and clunky compared to the Fenix, and might not do the power meter or Golden Cheetah, but I think mine is ace. The quick release strap that allows you to fit it to handlebar stems works really well, although makes it more clunky as a watch.
They also make a 910 which is a more modern version I think, on Ebay for £140.
Might be worth looking at Polar and TomTom.

bendertherobot

Slightly OT, I remember the first GPS I had:

Man Of Lard

The first one I had (access to, through work) was before Selective Availability was turned off - so positional uncertainty was of the order of 100m (200m for altitude) - where current devices poll multiple channels simultaneously, this one had a single receiver and polled each channel sequentially... tore through AA batteries (of which it took 6) like the clap in a whorehouse.

It was actually quicker to fix your position using an OS map and compass

topgunsteve

Another advocate of the Fenix 3, bloody love it. SportPursuit are selling them for £300 I think - got mine from them for £200 in their June sale

rozzer32

Looks like it's the fenix then. Cheers guys

bendertherobot

Good man.

Do try and get the HRM separately. I think in the end I got Wiggle to price match Winstanleys and had my Red banded Fenix 3 with run HRM for £282?

That Sapphire at SP is good value though

letap73

Already mentioned - Sports pursuit sell the older version of the Fenix 3 - occasionally they have a discount code - I got my fenix 3 from Sports Pursuit for less than £200. It does connect to a power meter and generally does all the things my 800 does, except the navigation part. However, there is a map app which requires you to have a connection to a mobile phone - although admittedly you are best off looking at your phone if need be.
The screen on the ordinary Fenix 3 does not scratch that easily and I am sure if need be there is a screen protector available somewhere - although I personally never needed one.
The battery life of the Fenix 3 is very good even when recording cycling activities - so much so that it is now my go to watch.

bendertherobot

Yeah, I charge mine about once a week and use it for several commutes, runs and swimming. Battery life is outstanding.

stueys

I got a 735xt a few weeks back and it's an awesome piece of kit. Full ant+ plus it's got the full multisport modes as it's a tri watch, I've used it on mtb rides and for running so far. The fenix 3 is nice but was too chunky for me.

super_davo

I'm a big fan of my Vivoactive. Its definitely not as fancy as a Fenix, but it cost only £100. The main thing I like is that its small enough to wear all day every day.

It can do all the sports tracking you need, its got Ant+ capability and bluetooth, it can sync to your phone and be a smartwatch, and quite importantly its got access to the Connect IQ store, so you can add apps and features. For example it doesn't have native support for Power meters, but there's an app to add the functionality. Same with Open Water swimming, navigation etc. You can only have 8 apps at a time but they can be installed and uninstalled quickly enough to add what you want.

Anonymous

+1 for Fenix
-1 for selling the 810 and strapping the Fenix to your bike though!

johnny25

You should get some good deals on the Fenix 3, as the 5 is penciled in for the new year.

chris_bass

johnny25 wrote:

You should get some good deals on the Fenix 3, as the 5 is penciled in for the new year.

what about the 4?

do you have a source for this? i've been thinking of getting a fenix 3 but can hang on if the 4 (or 5) is around the corner

Man Of Lard

4 is to be avoided because it sounds like "turds" in Mandarin or something.

Like the Toyota MR2 was called MR5 in Francophone countries (MR2 sounds a lot like merdeux - shitty)

Edit: Tetraphobia! Apparently 4 sounds like death in various East Asian languages...