Fitbit is another decent smart/fitness watch.

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Cannondale Slice 08
look keo pedals
fizik k3 arione saddle

Only 2.5 years. Great time to bring it back:).

I actually just bought a Series 3 a few days ago and look forward to testing out what it can do. I know it's not a Garmin, but the notifications and cost difference eventually swayed me this way. That, and I'm solidly BOP so day to day requirements will outdo the racing requirements.

I order to make it through a HIM, I'm hoping to use a heart rate strap while on the bike and run.

My wife has one and quite likes it. She uses it for running and it mostly seems to do the job. No way could I go from a Garmin to an Apple watch for triathlon though. I think as a basic sports watch it's fine.

Quick question here. Can you use Training Peaks structured workouts with the Apple Watch 3?

JC

Not with Apple Watch's native Workout app. But, there may be another third party app that can load a TP structured workout. TP does not have an AW app.

Not sure you can connect an external heart rate strap to an Apple Watch.

I have a 935 and an AW3. While the AW3 is a great smartwatch, it's not a sports watch.

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

I use a bluetooth wahoo tickr with my apple watch 3

I'm really enjoying using the apple watch for running and swimming, I'm sticking with garmin for the bike.
The strava app is perfectly fine for running if you want to track the basics, but if you unnecessarily ;) worry about ground contact time or other crazy metrics, then I'd steer clear of apple for now. Same with swimming, its good, but you don't get the same amount data as a garmin would give you

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http://www.thetrinerd.com

I got a series 3 sport in December so I’ve got about 6 months use in it so far. Here’s my impression:

It’s very good for open water and pool workouts. The distance and pace readings are very accurate for me, as is the heart rate. It’s fine for outdoor cycling, but doesn’t auto pause when you come to a stoplight as my bike computer does, so it gives an avg speed reading a little lower than in actuality. For indoor cycling, it’s fine. Heart rate is accurate enough to train with zones. Running is pretty useless. It’s way off on distance (I’ve had it be .5 mile short for 10k in a race and almost a mile short for a half marathon) so the avg pace is also off.

For all the non training features it’s a good purchase, but if I did it again I’d definitely go with a proper garmin

I went to a series 3 a month ago. I have to go on call for work and for some reason my garmins kept dropping bluetooth connection to my phone. Having the cell reception was something I was willing to pay for to give me the peace of mind I wouldn't miss an alert in the middle of a workout.

Swimming- I never really used my 920 for swimming besides just watching the average pace this had. The apple watch does a good job of auto breaking up my sets when I go to look at it later. So far it's given me an alert if a text comes in too.

Biking- As the previous posters said. I wouldn't use.

Running- One function I really was looking forward to was the apple music streaming when running. From reviews I should be able to use the GPS/HR/stream apple music to headphones/receive calls and text without having my phone around. The GPS is all over the place compared to my garmin and due to the touch screen it isn't easy to pause. The watch continues to try to connect to wifi networks when I run past them and when it does, it causes the streaming to pause. This gets annoying because when you are sweating it is a PITA to un-pause. It does meet the need I bought it for, but some of the other functions aren't close to what garmin had.

It is not a sport watch. It is a "smart watch".

No built in GPS (must have phone with you) and it is not fully waterproof.


Agree with Mikal here.

If you want a bomb-proof sport watch - that will deliver the key data metrics that you need, when you want them - GPS, Heart Rate, and Power - then look to the offerings from Polar and Suunto - these are the two brands and products in the market renowned for this!

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

Polar and Suunto have nothing on Garmin. Who buys those brands?

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

Allegedly, supposedly, new Apple Watch coming next month with more features.

I see more and more people using the Apple Watch in sport and I'll admit I was pretty impressed with a swimmer the other day who showed me some features of the watch. Now granted I just broke my 735xt for the 2nd time and I so I may have been a little more open-minded about a company (Apple) that I usually have a love-hate relationship. I think Garmin has a serious threat on their hands with the Apple Watch because of the sheer size of the Apple user base. Although the analogy is somewhat different, I think this is going to turn out to be like big point-and-shoot cameras... designed to do one thing really well but the best camera is still the one you have with you (i.e. your phone). I have another 735xt on the way but I may throw in the towel on Garmin at least for running and swimming.

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Wahoo tri watch will be more of a Garmin competitor than an Apple Watch

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Make Inside Out Sports your next online tri shop! http://www.insideoutsports.com/

AW3 does have built in GPS. You don't need a phone. The AW3 is also fully waterproof and perfectly usable for pool and open water swimming.

But that still does not make it a substitute for a 'proper' sports watch.

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

Apple sold 17.7 million Apple Watches in 2017.

Who’s competing with whom?

As Garmin keeps adding more useless features and relentlessly increasing its retail prices, the Apple Watch gets more and more attractive, to me at least.

This^^^ The Apple Watch is a great smart watch but for triathlon and swimming pretty much useless. I recently got a Fenix 5x and couldn’t be happier-it does the sports and triathlon part perfectly and the fact you can get sms notifications etc is a real bonus.

Sold my Apple Watch

When the Apple Watch outputs a .fit file, or at the very least something that can worked on outside of the Apple ecosystem, then it might be a competitor for a 'proper' sports watch.

Apple sells millions of smart watches. Garmin, Polar sell million of sports watches into a very different market. My only beef with Garmin is that they are adding too much 'fluff', perhaps in an attempt to capture some of the smart watch market. In the process, the sports watch side is getting very buggy.

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Trust me I’m a doctor!
Well, I have a PhD :-)

Who buys those brands?


What do you mean, Bryan?

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Steve Fleck @stevefleck | Blog

But the 'People' want the features...

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Washed up footy player turned Triathlete.

There’s an app called HealthFit that can export the workout from the iPhone. You can then import into whatever you want. I import to Garmin connect which then syncs to training peaks. Works fine, just not automated.

I still use my Garmin most of the time though.

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--Chris

The Apple does have built in GPS and you do not need your phone.