Best Garmin for running ,cycling & triathalons: Any Recommendations?!

Arequipa

Happy Friday!

I am looking for a Garmin which I can use for cycling and running & also wear as a wristwatch.
I can spend 200-300 euro on it and would plan on using it for running, cycling, sportives, triathalons in Ireland and around the world.
Looking for good value,quality, reliable product which is easy to use...

I would appreciate any recommendations...

Arequipa.

Krusty_Clown

Forerunner 305 represents best value for money. If your budget stretches to it, the 310xt has some improvements (Improved GPS chipset, water-proof). Then there's the bigger brother, the 910xt, which again has some further improvements (but still suffers some early release bugs) and will cost a lot more. But there's probably not much that you'd need, that the 305 won't do. None of the watches are really intended for use as a general day to day wrist-watch. For that, you'd have to look at one of the 'run-only' Garmin watches, that are less multi-sport friendly.

You can compare prices on anazon.co.uk, and check out in-depth reviews, on DC Rainmaker's blog.

Arequipa

Thanks for the reply!
Will check these models out on Amazon!

Arequipa

Any of u tried the Forerunner 610; Lance Armstrong uses it for his Current Ironman training?!

Arequipa.

Krusty_Clown

Arequipa wrote: »

Any of u tried the Forerunner 610; Lance Armstrong uses it for his Current Ironman training?!

Arequipa.

It's only water resistant (IPX7) so not suitable for swimming and doesn't support multi-sport modes. Supposed to be a great running watch though.

kc83

My brother is a cyclist and he got a great one in HArvey NOrman, it was about 190 but in Harvey Norman u can try get them to discount so he paid 170 for it.
Sorry don't have details of it but I do know it's a really good one and wears it as a watch also.

Krusty_Clown

kc83 wrote: »

My brother is a cyclist and he got a great one in HArvey NOrman, it was about 190 but in Harvey Norman u can try get them to discount so he paid 170 for it.
Sorry don't have details of it but I do know it's a really good one and wears it as a watch also.

Some of the watches can be bought for as little as €115. So whether or not he got a good deal depends entirely on the model. If it's a 310xt, 610 or 910, then it was a good deal. Anything else? Not so much.

Arequipa

Thanks!

Do u think the Garmin 610 will work well for cycling?
I do a few sportives each year in Ireland, France and Canaries!

Arequipa.

Krusty_Clown

Arequipa wrote: »

Thanks!

Do u think the Garmin 610 will work well for cycling?
I do a few sportives each year in Ireland, France and Canaries!

Arequipa.

It will likely not be as good as one of the 305/310/910 multi-sport watches (or dedicated bike GPS units), but yes, GPS will work fine, you can get data fields to display speed instead of pace, you can buy a bicycle mount kit, and it supports the additional speed/cadence sensor. Don't expect mapping/routing though*.

*: Some watches do rudimentary bread-crumb trail mapping of previously uploaded courses.

Arequipa

Thank u sir!

So the 610, will record speed, power & route which can all be viewed later on laptop...
But cannot see route mapped out on watch as with 500 Edge model?!

Appreciate your feedback!

Arequipa.

Krusty_Clown

Yep, that's pretty much it. Except possibly the power bit? One of the tri guys would know better, but doesn't that require a power-meter?

Arequipa

I think u can get a Garmin cycle speed & cadence sensor & attach to the bike: this wirelessly sends info about your power output/rpm, speed etc to the 610: i hope anyway?!

Arequipa.

jimbo21

i am looking at the 410 and 610 for running only any ideas

Krusty_Clown

jimbo21 wrote: »

i am looking at the 410 and 610 for running only any ideas

What's the question?

jimbo21

what one should i be looking at

jimbo21

jimbo21 wrote: »

what one should i be looking at

either are fine. 610 is more expensive but has some extra features.

read this guys reviews of both watches and make up your own mind.

http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2011/04/garmin-forerunner-610-in-depth-review.html

here's a table that compares things.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_Wo8yCZ1eTVw/TaP_ec3iGdI/AAAAAAAAprQ/JoTReaGfMQs/s1600-h/image%5B53%5D.png

Krusty_Clown

jimbo21 wrote: »

what one should i be looking at

Both!

Krusty_Clown

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

Both!

More useful reply: If you have the money, then the 610 is a better product (better GPS chipset, more functionality, vibration alerts, better input method (touch screen far better than bezel) etc). If you don't have the money, then the 410 is not necessarily the best purchase. I would go with whichever is the cheapest of: 405, 405cx, 410. They are all very similar in terms of functionality (differences are only very subtle, e.g. slight improvement in the bezel, different mechanism for calculating calories expended, different colours).

Alternatively, look at the 305 as a bulkier, but better value for money investment.

jimbo21

:)thanks lads for the info.

mlyj

I bought the 610 a few months back, really good running watch and works fairly well on the bike to - I don't use it in water as I'm not really confident after reading DC Rainmaker's reviews and its to expensive to take a chance !

What I find most useful / fun is racing against my previous races - which you can send / store on your watch.. there's all sorts of really usefully options like pace, speed and customer interval training another really useful function is the virtual partner which allows you to preset a pace and will tell you how far ahead or behind you are..

I find that the battery life is not great, I do a run / cycle most days I find it better to charge the watch the night before as I've been caught short a few times

I got the watch and HRM form these guys, really good service, delivered to Ire in a few days without any issues...

http://www.handtec.co.uk/search.php?xSearch=forerunner+610&submit=search+for+products

jimbo21

had a look at that site might give the a go:D