Ironing out some newbie issues - Choosing a Tri watch

space2ground1

Hi guys,
I'm training for about 6 months and hope to do some sprint triathlons this summer. I'm just using runkeeper for cycling and running with a Polar HRM at the moment. Now that I'll be in the open water again soon I'm thinking of investing in a watch.

The Garmin 920xt has been recommended as the best watch suitable for beginners but I'd need to use a HRM belt that works on the bike, running and in the water. That'd add €100+ to the cost of the watch as far as I know.

I was looking at a few Sunnto watches today and they're a bit cheaper. Has anyone used these and how have you got on? Really all I need is a device that'll give me good HR info throughout a triathlon or through brick sessions along with the basic info.

I'd appreciate any advice!

EC1000

The 920 can be paired with any standard HR unit, they cost no where near 100e so I wouldn't let that influence things too much. You could always pick up a 2nd hand watch (lots of people off loading 910s and 920s) so keep an eye on here and done deal, etc....

stampydmonkey

Have suunto ambit 2s. Very good watch. Picks satellites in no time (8secs) and very easy to use and customise. You can select loads of sports, customise segments for adventure races and use swimming inside and out. Wife has a Garmin forerunner and it's incredibly clunky in use, interface and in comparison takes bout 5mins to pick up a satellite. This has put me off Garmin but check out DC rainmaker for really good independant reviews. Hr strap won't work in the water but sunnto tracks very well on GPS when openwater swimming. Can be paired with loads of ant+ devices for cycling etc. I can't fault it but that's just my opinion.

mossym

the HR strap for the 920 that tracks HR in the water is expensive. however, it only gives you the hr after you finish swimming. not during, so you need to figure out how useful it is to you. i'd guess not a lot

the standard HR which giver hr on the bike and run, can be won in the water but doesn't give hr data for swimming is a lot cheaper.

920 was going pretty cheap with it's new replacement out. for the price you can get it for now, i doubt anything else comes close.

Whyner

I got the tri bundle here last month

http://www.clevertraining.com/garmin-forerunner-920xt-multisport-fitness-watch

space2ground1

Whyner wrote: »

I got the tri bundle here last month

http://www.clevertraining.com/garmin-forerunner-920xt-multisport-fitness-watch

They delivered to Ireland no bother? Are the warranties the same if it's bought in the states?

tunney

You don't need hr in the water. To be honest I think for most its a bad metric. Why? How do you increase HR? Work harder. How do you work harder? You can go faster, or you can let your form go to sh1t. I know what most on here would do.

920xt is a nice unit. 910xt had huge quality issues and for most the 920xt is bomb proof.

If I was getting a tri watch and didn't want to get the latest and greatest and most expensive I'd get a 920xt. Some good value on second hand ones.

Whyner

space2ground1 wrote: »

They delivered to Ireland no bother? Are the warranties the same if it's bought in the states?

Yup, delivered in a few days. Can't confirm on warranty, you'd need to double check yourself

space2ground1

Great advice already. Thanks a lot!

Macy0161

I have the HRM Swim and Tri, as i wanted more accurate calorie information from swimming as i was never convinced by my Garmin swim (i'm still a bit weight obsessed!). However, I've found it doesn't give significant differences to Garmin's estimated based on other metrics. It turns out swimming does just burn feck all! It does help with that for drills, where "drill mode" gives you no credit.

Any ant+ hrm should work with the 920xt. Most of them are waterproof enough to wear during swims in races.