I’d like-

Ability to upload rides to Strava, with better accuracy than my phone.
Option to run a bike mount (preferably a stem mount rather than out in front style)
HRM function for treadmill/running

Edge 130 is around £100 just now but still think a watch style might be more versatile for non-bike duties.

Recommendation for mounts handy too..

I think a wrist fit HRM would suffice so would rather that element was reliable rather than relying on a chest strap. It’s more for basic info than geeky analysis

The bike mount bit might be the biggest issue if you want a watch based one. For £100 you’d probably get the Garmin forerunner 35 which is fairly basic but should do the job. Going up £50 in budget gets you something newer / a bit nicer like a forerunner 45.

Cheap wise I had some kind of Lezyne watch which had basic graphics and was clunky, but had lots of additional functionality but no hrm. That came with an adapter to allow you to strap it round a handlebar. Maybe worth looking to see what Lezyne have put now – although it definitely took longer to acquire satellite than the Garmin.

Suunto might be worth looking at as they have some budget options but I didn’t ever look that hard at them.

Bryton are good and well worth a look.

Garmim seem to do a bar mount for watch style, not sure how good it is though and obviously no HRM functionality using that.

https://www.halfords.com/cycling/cycling-technology/cycle-computer-gps-mounts/garmin-handlebar-mount-kit-431612.html

I don’t actually like wearing watches around my wrist so bike mount is the priotity as I may not get on with it during runs.

Thanks for other suggestions..

Bryton are good and well worth a look.

I would disagree, Bryton devices have some awesome specs and features for the prices, however the apps/software/web services that sit behind them are sadly toss…

If you’re looking for one device to use across different activities, talk to sensors and reliably be able to upload to connect/strava you could do worse than a Forerunner in whatever flavour suits your budget… you might just have to forgo the neat bar mount requirement, is it a real need?
Garmin are far from perfect but there’s still not that much competition for them down at the “Budget” sub £100 end…

I’ve got the Edge, it’s ace, it does exactly what i want, which is to log my rides, simple as that. I don’t care about maps etc… Just logging the rides into Strava. It does that perfectly well.

Garmim seem to do a bar mount for watch style, not sure how good it is though and obviously no HRM functionality using that.

I’ve used that mount with a Garmin Fenix and it’s fine. It relies on the watch strap to hold the mount in place on the bars – it just sits over them in a basic but effective way – so I guess, if the strap broke, you’d risk losing the watch, but that’s watches for you. Mostly it’s great, simple and robust, maybe a bit expensive for what it is, but chunky rubber so it should last for ages.

If you can find one of the Tom Tom watches in new condition, they have a bar mount that again works ok, though they’ve stopped making the watches I think, so once it’s gone it’s gone, the battery isn’t user servicable afaik, so it’s slightly disposable. I like the Tom Tom ones. They’re just simple and easy to use either on wrist or bars.

Edit: seems like you can replace the battery if you want:

https://www.ifixit.com/Guide/TomTom+Runner+Battery++Replacement+Guide/87059

Can make a handlebar mount with a bit of pipe lagging and a couple of zip ties. Then just strap on the watch.
Or the proper Garmin mount also works fine.

In my experience, Garmin wrist heart rate is pretty good for running, but not very reliable for cycling. So worth using a separate chest strap / upper arm strap for cycling anyway.

Oh and always check the https://www.dcrainmaker.com for any device you’re looking at.

Agree with the comment above about wrist based optical HRM. I have a TomTom Spark GPS watch. Measures HRM fine when running, but on the bike it’s really hit or miss. I’ll be blowing out my arse cycling up a steep hill, barely able to talk, and my watch says my heart is doing 70bpm, which is wildly on the low side. That being said I’ve never been bothered enough to dig out the chest strap HRM for cycling.

I used to use my Fenix 5 on the bike, but finally got round to getting an Edge 130 – and it’s a lot nicer to use on the bike. A watch will do the job but the buttons are smaller and harder to operate with gloves on, the screen’s less clear, just generally a poorer experience.

Obviously if you don’t want to spend too much and you’re interested in activity monitoring etc then a watch would the correct choice. One thing to bear in mind is that while the wrist based HR monitoring is fine for daily use, it’s not that accurate when you’re doing sport.

In my experience, Garmin wrist heart rate is pretty good for running,

Na, it’s dung for running too, just a little less dung than it is for cycling.

But, defo get a garmin watch, 35, 235, whatever, the only need I can see for a bike specific garmin is for mapping if you have no sense of direction, or if you are one of these OCD folk that really need to see what speed they’re doing, all the time.

I have an edge 130 and forerunner 35,both brilliant little devices in my opinion.

You want something with 1 second recording mode or else your twisty trails in the woods turn into straight lines…

Bryton 330 here, the software is fine although I never use it as it uploads directly to Strava via WiFi/phone. A 35 hour battery life, uses a Garmin mount on the bars/stem. It was £70 new…

You want something with 1 second recording mode or else your twisty trails in the woods turn into straight lines…

Still Garmin, I think it’s set at 10 secs but you can change it in the menu to 1 second intervals, and makes no difference to battery life

I use a Bryton rider 10 on the gravel bike and I find it really useful. Only cost me £30 from Amazon warehouse, pretty much matches the readings on my Galaxy watch and I’m not going to be too bothered if it breaks if I crash.
Yes, it’s really basic, but that’s all I was looking for.
Also uploads directly to Strava so the bundled software doesn’t really worry me (although the phone app isn’t that bad)

Had a Decathlon watch style one a few years ago worked well had more features than I expected current one is under budget leaving money for HRM strap for when using on handlebars possibly they do a mount mine came with one way back
…and the black one gets better reviews than the white one https://www.decathlon.co.uk/kiprun-gps-550-black-id_8527652.html