Multi-sport GPS watch

lakesluddite

Hello all,

I am after a GPS enabled watch that will be good for cycling, but with the addition of tracking running and swimming, both indoor and open water. Ideally it would have a triathlon function as well. I currently have a Garmin Edge 25, which I like, but obviously this is a cycling-only unit, with limited data.

I have narrowed it down to two options, the Garmin 735XT and the Polar V800:

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/garmin-forerunn ... gps-watch/

http://www.wiggle.co.uk/polar-v800/

These come in at the top end of my budget, as I can get either of them around £200-£230ish. Does anyone who dabbles in the odd spot of running, swimming, triathlon etc have any experiences, or any alternative suggestions? I have seen good reviews of the Garmin Fenix 3, but this is somewhat above my budget.

Thanks.

joenobody

I had a V800, which I replaced with a Garmin 920XT (prize in a competition). Both are good watches, and I'd reckon that the 735 is also a good choice, although I have no experience of it. Of the 2 you're looking at I'd probably go for the 735 purely because it's a bit cheaper, and also the V800 is a bit chunky - I wouldn't wear it as an every day watch, but you could do so with the 735 if you needed/wanted to.

fenix

Check out what DC Rainmaker has to say about them before you choose. His reviews are pretty in depth....

lakesluddite

Cheers folks - yes I've just literally looked at his review for a Suunto device (another added to the shortlist), and it sure ain't brief!

Andymaxy

Garmin Fenix 5 no doubt. It's the most powerful sports watch you can get, plus it doesn't look bad at all if you wear in a business meeting. The only downside is that it's a bit heavy, quite expensive, and not as good as Apple Watch if that's important.

You can really customize a lot of things with Fenix 5. If the huge list of pre-installed sports mode isn't enough, you can get apps for it as well. I really don't think there's anything better in terms of sports.

fenix

Or fenix 3 if wrist HRM isn't your thing and save some cash. I don't believe HR accuracy is good enough from the wrist sensor for cycling.

Andymaxy

Fenix wrote:

Or fenix 3 if wrist HRM isn't your thing and save some cash. I don't believe HR accuracy is good enough from the wrist sensor for cycling.

Ya I think, there's a lot of source of vi ration on he bike, it confuses the sensor. Even riding on trainer it's not that accurate.

bendertherobot

The wrist sensor on the Fenix 5 for me was total rubbish. Otherwise it's an incredible piece of kit.

Shame about the need for tri and open water swimming as the Vivoactive 3 is almost as good as the Fenix.

chippyk

Garmin 920 is good but the straps are made of soft cheese. I bought some cheap Chinese ones which are far better. I’d buy a Fenix if I were buying today.

lakesluddite

Thanks for the feedback peeps.

I was looking at the Fenix (3), but this is sadly out of my budget. I have a few on my Ebay watch list (ho ho), but I'm a little reluctant to go down this route given there would be no warranty.

One other consideration for me is I have £50 to offset this in Evans vouchers, but it's not absolutely vital I have to get something from them - there will be plenty of things I can use those vouchers for. I do, however, need to choose a store that has 10% BC discount, so that's Evans, Chain Reaction or Halfords/Cycle Republic. Shame BC don't have a deal with Wiggle, especially seeing as CR and Wiggle are essentially the same company now.

essex-commuter

I'll second the Fenix 3. Best watch I've owned...and I've owned a few! I got mine a year ago, second hand from eBay for £200, as new condition.

stueys

I had a 735xt and recently swapped to a 935. The 935 is the exact same watch as the Fenix 5 but half the weight (it’s a plastic case) so for sport I find it sits a lot better on the wrist, you don’t notice it. The 735 was a good watch but the 935 was a significant step up IMHO, worth the extra cash if you can stretch.

dmont

For me, no watch is good for cycling, due to bending the wrist and loosing contact.
The best I've found is an Apple Watch paired with a Wahoo chest strap, this is for running and cycling, I've no ideas about swimming. Although the Apple Watch is supposed to be good while swimming. .
U fortunately it's a case of suck it and see what works for you.

cougie

Fenix3 with HR strap for me.

Swimming in a pool - tell it the length of the pool and it knows how many lengths you've done and hence the distance.
Open water - the GPS does it.
Running - perfect - lots of options.
Cycling - can even plumb in routes and follow them around. No full map but good enough to know what road you need to take.

Very durable.

bflk

I've got totally fed up trying to track hr on the bike. I hate the hassle of straps and find amongst other problems that they can slip down the chest especially if you change position a lot (ie in and out of tucked position). Meanwhile my TomTom watch seems to say my AHR is 82 which I've now learned, after a Garmin upgrade, is exactly the same as my cadence. Bizarrely it currently only reads correctly when I stop at traffic lights!

cougie

I've been using HRM since polar first introduced it. 30 years or so ? If you do the strap up right it shouldn't move.

bflk

I've had various ones since 2000. It's a balance between too tight and not tight enough I guess. Or maybe my chest is a funny shape :-)

letap73

Every so often Sports pursuit has a 20% off sale - a couple of years ago I got my brand new Fenix 3 for around about £200 in their sale.

johnsonmoog

Funny you should mention Sports Pursuit - it appears they have Fenix's on sale..

https://www.sportpursuit.com/sales/garmin-030618

lakesluddite

So...despite being nervy about the lack of warranty, I actually did get a Fenix 3 from Ebay, given the rave reviews here. Go it for £180, and it was a refurbished unit, so looks immaculate, good as new. The only thing it didn't have was an instruction booklet, but it was easy to download one from Garmin and it's saved electronically.

I used it for the first time on a 'brick' session - created a profile for a bike-run, waited for GPS then pushed the stat button and away we go! I admit it's a little difficult to read on the go, I was on the tri-bars so what I should have done was wear it against the underside of the wrist, as opposed to the normal way up. In my TT position it would have been much easier to just twist my wrist anti-clockwise slightly to view.
Anyway, time will tell, but initially very pleased with it. I'm not that bothered about lack of HRM, but there's always the option to go for a strap HRM if I can't do without it, I'm more interested in tracking training sessions, especially run, swim and brick sessions (I'll still use my old Edge 25 for just cycling).

joenobody

You might want to think about a quick release kit so you can mount the watch on the bike, somewhere in sight. I have one for my 920 - it's pretty good, and allows me to move the computer from wrist to bike as appropriate. That said, I'm thinking that a dedicated bike computer is the way to go for cycling data. If I understand correctly I can pair it with my sensors, set it up on the bike, and have it track as well as the 920. As you already have the 25 then you're already sorted in this respect, unless it can't display the same data fields as you get on the Fenix. At the end of your session you just ditch the activity on the bike computer...

lakesluddite

JoeNobody wrote:

You might want to think about a quick release kit so you can mount the watch on the bike, somewhere in sight. I have one for my 920 - it's pretty good, and allows me to move the computer from wrist to bike as appropriate. That said, I'm thinking that a dedicated bike computer is the way to go for cycling data. If I understand correctly I can pair it with my sensors, set it up on the bike, and have it track as well as the 920. As you already have the 25 then you're already sorted in this respect, unless it can't display the same data fields as you get on the Fenix. At the end of your session you just ditch the activity on the bike computer...

Good idea..use it just to see real time data, then turn it off without downloading. Thanks.

kimchiwitrice

Forerunner 935, though the recent forerunner 640 looks good too. Polar M430 another solid pick according to DC rainmaker

APIII

JoeNobody wrote:

You might want to think about a quick release kit so you can mount the watch on the bike, somewhere in sight. I have one for my 920 - it's pretty good, and allows me to move the computer from wrist to bike as appropriate. That said, I'm thinking that a dedicated bike computer is the way to go for cycling data. If I understand correctly I can pair it with my sensors, set it up on the bike, and have it track as well as the 920. As you already have the 25 then you're already sorted in this respect, unless it can't display the same data fields as you get on the Fenix. At the end of your session you just ditch the activity on the bike computer...

I use the quick release kit, but set up a bike profile on the Fenix with 5 or 6 data screens and have 1 field per screen with fast scroll on. Makes it much easier for me to read the data I want.

joenobody

APIII wrote:

fast scroll

Automatic? I tend to use just one data screen on my 920, and I think they only support 4 fields per screen, but that gives me all I need. Apart from it's on the small side, and I think I might like better mapping/nav support. I'm yet to try out Courses on it yet, so I don't know for sure.

scotthunter

dmont wrote:

For me, no watch is good for cycling, due to bending the wrist and loosing contact.
The best I've found is an Apple Watch paired with a Wahoo chest strap, this is for running and cycling, I've no ideas about swimming. Although the Apple Watch is supposed to be good while swimming. .
U fortunately it's a case of suck it and see what works for you.

/\ Bad advise. DON'T buy an Apple Watch for cycling - the battery life sucks and the display switches off after a few minutes. There are also no physical buttons for sport use. The Forerunner 935 paired with a Garmin HRM-Tri chest strap is perfect for both cycling and running, and you will still have over 50% battery left after a 10 hour bike ride.