I have a Garmin 305 which has been a great training device. Also have used it in trail races and marathons and it perfomed admirably. However due to its lack of water resistance have never used it in a Tri.
Have used the Garmin as a bike computer in a race or two but to be honest it was a bit ‘clunky’ to take off and change from bike to run on the fly.
Was wondering in ayone has used the 800CX as a stand alone device to read speed on the bike plus pace and distance on the run. The advantage of having one device starting at the swim all the way through the race is what I am looking for and was looking for feedback if the Poar 800 would fit the bill.
Thanks in advance
I recently got my RS800cx. I have not raced with it.
Swimfan is correct, i can’t get it to work properly in the water when i am wearing a wetsuit, haven’t tried it w/out.
The GPS works well and is about as bulky as an Ipod on the arm. It doesn’t bother me when i run, others it might. I have not ridden with it since i am in Iraq, but i think it will work well.
The watch itself is light and comfortable, band seems to be high quality and i like the way it looks also.
It is pricey but i like gadgets. Based on my limited experience with it i’d still recommend it, but get more opinions.
I’ve had one for about a week. I went with the foot pod option for now. Seems to work well so far.
I based part of my decision on which unit to buy from the blog at runtotri.blogspot.com. He has detailed posts about the 800CX from about September forward. He has also owned the Garmin 405 and Suunto T6 so he does some comparisons between the major competitors. In one of the most recent posts he says the Suunto is his favorite for racing because the sensors become enabled when you get close to them, you don’t have to fiddle with them in the transition area. The Polar is his favorite for training.
Ideally for racing or bricks with the G3(Multi), hold the top left button(light), you get a quick menu, switch SPEED VIEW from MPH to MIN/MILE. This does not pause the watch, you get one file for the workout
Hello Mr Macho, Happy New Year.
The RS800 and the RS800CX can use either device, G3 or S3. The RS800CX has a few new features, Google Earth mapping and the change speed view feature as I mentioned earlier.
I have the RS800CX and I used it in Beach 2 Battleship Half last November. It does allow you to change the speed view without pausing, but it is not the most natural hand position while reiding a bike. I still think for calling it a multisport watch, they need to make it possible to pre-program multisport workouts, as opposed to just combining them, but I still really like the watch. The polar software is pretty good, but I can always find another chart or graph I would like. If you go into the report properties, it is actually pretty flexible as long as you don’t mind setting them up yourself.