so I was thinking about buying a watch I can use for my triathlons and trying, I want something I can swim in (ie waterproof) to time myself but also something that will time me whislt out running and give me distance,possibly beep and tell me how fast my miles are or something like that. do these things exist? or am I looking at 2 completely different things?

Mrs S recently went for a forerunner 405cx (was on super discount at amazon)
Its not specifically a triathlon watch, but is waterproof* and works with her HR monitor, footpod and cadence pod for the bike.

Previously she had 305 forerunners.

* scratch that, its only water resistant.

Garmin 305xt or 910xt would be your best bet I think

wot woffle sed – 310xt not that good in water though – it’s waterproof but doesn’t pick up GPS I think. Dunno if that was addressed with the 910xt. I have the 310xt – it’s a lovely piece of kit.

Woffle they look good but wasn’t thinking that kind of money …mmm maybe I need to re- think then!

What’s difference between 310xt and 305xt then?

Try looking at:

DC Rainmaker

Best place for advice I’ve seen.

Another +1 for DC Rainmaker; lots of helpful info

Bryton cardio 35

O that Byrton Cardio 35 looks a better price, have you got one iDave? Are they easy to use?

I have one coming next week, I’ve used one of their bike versions before and was impressed.

Liking the look of Garmin 910xt but not the price … I mean I’m not a pro 😉

Polar HRM for swimming and running.
Strava app for distance measurement on the run

timex cardio trainer or whatever its called, supposed to be good and is waterproof, only reason i didnt get it was that i couldnt find many reviews/users good or bad.. also its less well supported than garmin devices, ie strava may not directly support it like garmin, may not be a problem for you.

also the garmin fr60 and fr70 are waterproof but not gps, but use foot pod, they do track distance fairly accurately though

also the garmin fr60 and fr70 are waterproof but not gps, but use foot pod, they do track distance fairly accurately though

no good for swimming tho…

I use a Garmin 310xt. Now that the 910 is out, 310 price is falling. An you can set it to multisport mode with transition time your full event.

+1 fro DC Rainmaker’s site.

I got the 310xt to make myself extra awesome.

It’s working.

Albeit a bit more slowly than expected. I’m expecting to reach 75% awesome by September 29th.

They are all just a mot of money which I am wondering if I can justify, just saw Timex 150lap tapscreen watch anyone got one of these? Looks ok as mentions you can set pace better alarm?? Mmmmm decision….

As an idea, you could get a cheapo Garmin GPS watch and use that for running/cycling etc, and then use the cheapest waterproof watch you can find i.e. under a fiver, for timing your swim.

For a tri, have the GPS mounted on the bike ready for coming out of the swim. You could get one with a QR mount to swap from bike to run for the tri.

GPS doesn’t track open water swims very well at all, some folk put their GPS in the swim cap to get a better fix, but I’d be worried about getting my cap knocked off in the biff and losing 300 quids worth of technology.

I think the beauty of the xt (t for triathlon…erm, I think) is the ease of use for triathlons. It’s set up for multisport use.

Can’t you swing a bribe from a crim or something this weekend? 🙂

Look at the 910XT @ Chain Reaction Cycles – they’re 10% off RRP already + another 10% with the YES code (with free shipping) so still £££ but £315 is better than £390 odd for the Heart Rate Monitor version…

For what it’s worth I’ve gone from a FR60 to the 910XT specifically because of the swimming. It’s got piles of extra functionality that I may use over the next 6 months or so also but, as said ^^ already, I think it’s the best ‘multi-sport’ GPS that Garmin do at the moment…

woffle, has it made you more awesome too? 🙂

woffle, has it made you more awesome too?

I’d have to open up Rubitrack to work out exactly how much more awesome it’s made me but tracking data and performance is certainly a motivator towards achieving full awesomeness. Right now I’m some way short of even the 75% you refer to…

(I also think my gym and PT instructor might have something to say about attributing all my awesomeness to a geeky GPS watch and data mine)

Ok without GPS function but what about those Timex 150 lap watches it mentions there is has a paced function? Not necessarily bothered about measuring distance as I guess I have phone that can do that. the watch is considerably less at £74 ish thanks for CR advice but mmmmm still tons of money …… Argghhhhh….