Against my better judgement, it looks increasingly likely I’ll be doing some tri’s next year and so I’d like to buy a watch to use during said events. It’ll also be used to running and the odd bit of cycling, though I generally use my Edge 520 for that.
Requirements are:
Multi-sport modes – Basically so I can switch between swim, cycle and run and the click of a button
Optical HRM – I may use a chest trap but when just running I prefer not to.
GLONASS – I run in the city a lot and my non-GLONASS watch struggle to find satellites some of the time.
Bluetooth compatible.

My first thought was a Forerunner 735xt, anything else worth looking at?

head over to DCrainmaker, he deals with your sort without judgement.

was looking into this, not for Triathlon but for running and also Bootcamp (yes, i do geek about HR and effort levels) and certainly a Forerunner was high on features, etc., but as i don’t really need all those features I was also looking at Decathlon’s own https://www.decathlon.co.uk/onmove-500-hrm-gps-watch-id_8391963.html

(btw, did you get my email re those brifters and mech

Edit – sorry, wasn’t you!!)

Garmin Vivoactive HR? AFAIK does most of the Forerunner stuff. I’m sure DC Rainmaker has a comparison somewhere.

Mrs has a 735Xt – assorted chest straps available for different sports.
Connects to her phone – and the garmin app there looks pretty good.

She’s a flinger/devil person and has used it in anger there without issue – spent ages researching it vs the other garmin offerings. No complaints from her

If it helps, I have an FR35 at the moment which has provided awesome almost all of the time. The things it lacks are multi-sports and GLONASS. Anything I buy will have those 2 additional things at very least.

I started looking at this recently, started mainly as a run watch looking at the Garmin 235 watch, as i already have a garmin 1000 for cycling

I asked my tri club…. and was told to go for something more like the 735 and use it for multi sports, so would cover my swimming

The more i have started looking into the features and detail i have talked myself into the garmin fenix 5s saphire edition, with an extra chest strap….. looks to have a good few more features than 735, looks smart enough for an everyday watch (not getting into proper watches here) and is good enough for our special forces. Downside is the price

The Fenix 5 is lovely. I love all of the features. I really like the design as a watch, and much prefer it to the plastic ones. It is heavier than the 935 or 735 but weight does not bother me.

BUT

I think it has some major problems. I think that an updated version will be released soon as enough people are moaning about it. It really struggles to pick up a ANT+ signal from various accessories, which is pretty damn important! It is certainly a problem with my Quarq, there are frequent dropouts.
Others have concerns about the GPS performance. This impacts data while running (obviously). I have not had mine long enough to see if this is a problem for me.

The 935 does not seem to suffer in the same way, maybe because it is plastic.

I’m using a FR235 for running and swimming. For running and every day use it’s great. I use the pool swim Connect IQ app for swimming which works OK but I think if I’d known I was going to take up swimming I’d have gone for one of the multisport watches. My mate’s multisport FR seems to give more reliable distance recording.

If sport pursuit are still knocking out Fenix 3’s cheap I’d suggest looking at them. Mine has been excellent.

Hey Lunge, not sure if sorted, but i have garmin forerunner 410 for sale, excellent used condition, boxed with everything included, charger, ant stick, standard hr strap.

£120 posted

coxdotrobertatskydotcom

I use a Fenix 3, although it doesn’t have the optical hrm, I don’t mind using hr straps so that’s fine. They don’t work for swimming anyway.

The vivoactive as far as I know doesn’t have a Tri mode. The Fenix 5/5s have serious issues connecting to sensors.

If I was buying another watch, I’d go forerunner 935. But to be honest I’m currently happy with what I have.