Its my mates 40th very soon. A group of us a grouping together to get a GPS watch for him. He does a lot of off road running to a very high level. He has recently bought a CX bike, but isnt so concerned about that so long as it can record the route etc.

Which is best at the price bracket?

So far I am thinking Garmin Forerunner 220?

Ta

The 220 would be an excellent choice.

The 310XT, with HRM, could be an left-field option for £125.

Don’t limit yourself just to Garmin, as Polar do some decent watches finally.

I have the FR220 and it’s been a very easy watch to use with all info I could need. Previously had a Suunto and the Garmin made it look clunky and awkward.
DC rainmaker rates the Polar 400 as a better watchso may be worth checking that out too.

Im put off by the 310 as it looks more bulky?

Had looked at the Forerunner 15, but that looks out dated and out classed by the 220.

Is Handtec still the cheapest place to buy too?

I think Handtec are a similar price to Amazon, when postage is factored in.

Craig I saw the review of the Polar. I spoke to one of his running club mates (who is contributing) and he said no one in the club uses a Polar. I got the impression he didnt want his contribution going to the Polar….regardless of how good it was…

I looked at this a year or so ago, and bought the Forerunner 220 (before the new Polar came out). After an initial glitch where the watch failed (and was replaced under warranty by Wiggle), it’s been great. He could easily a a heart rate chest or wrist strap in future.

No problem to record rides, you just need to change the activity type in Garmin Connect after it’s uploaded.

Polar fell behind Garmin in a big big way. They seem to be on a bit of a comeback. I’ve got an M400 which seems fairly good. It’s a bit slow to update actual pace whilst running. I think it’s just a bit over keen on the smoothing algorithm. Looking at the data after the session it seems as accurate as any other gps I see from my mates.

What about suunto ambit 2r, works better as a fell runners / cyclists watch I’d have thought. Garmin 220 probably better for pure running though and getting your run on strava dead quick with Bluetooth.