Beacon vs new IM Tracker

Triathlon Forum
1

I haven’t had a chance to use the new IM tracker yet but have heard positive things for someone who is simply using it to track a few friends. I am headed to MT in a few weeks and am curious if it’s necessary to rent a Beacon tracker like I did for IMLou last year? Beacon worked flawlessly for us and my wife said it made it much easier for her to track me, but the 5 other people I know who used it all had problems which is why I hesitate to shell out the extra cash if the new IM tracker works.

Thoughts?

2

Beacon is a gps device. IM tracker is just time stamps when you go over the timing mats plus some algorithms.

GPS all the way IMO.

I don’t know why more people don’t use it but the quarq qollector is quite good. If you race enough (a few halfs plus one IM per year) it’s definitely worth buying it to have for training and racing. For racing, quarq overlays the race map/route onto the gps map and your family can see where you are and how much is left. My wife loves it as she knows exactly where I am and when to expect me.

3

Beacon is a gps device. IM tracker is just time stamps when you go over the timing mats plus some algorithms.

GPS all the way IMO.

I don’t know why more people don’t use it but the quarq qollector is quite good. If you race enough (a few halfs plus one IM per year) it’s definitely worth buying it to have for training and racing. For racing, quarq overlays the race map/route onto the gps map and your family can see where you are and how much is left. My wife loves it as she knows exactly where I am and when to expect me.

That is pretty expensive. MyAthlete was a great deal compared to that.

4

If you use it for training and multiple times a year for racing, for 2-3 years, I think it’s totally worth it. My wife loves it and friends/family/coach all like watching the data during the race. I think one thing the qollector does that none of the others do is collect hr and power data. My coach likes seeing that mid race.

How much does beacon cost to rent for 1 race? What’s myathlete and how much did it cost? Was it a gps device?

5

If you use it for training and multiple times a year for racing, for 2-3 years, I think it’s totally worth it. My wife loves it and friends/family/coach all like watching the data during the race. I think one thing the qollector does that none of the others do is collect hr and power data. My coach likes seeing that mid race.

How much does beacon cost to rent for 1 race? What’s myathlete and how much did it cost? Was it a gps device?

I use my phone with glympse and the wife loves it.

MyAthlete you rented for like 50 per event. Yep, live GPS. I started using it like 10 years ago. They had them at tons of IM’s including Kona over the years. I used for training and racing all over the world.
but, they could just not make enough money to stay in business.

I just do not like things with monthly/yearly fees if I can avoid.

Now when I get my kickstarter video based camera, it shall be fun to see how much suds, etc it takes to live stream to FB. I got an extra battery also.

Love the techno toys. If I was not using glympse, I might look at it more.

6

If you use it for training and multiple times a year for racing, for 2-3 years, I think it’s totally worth it. My wife loves it and friends/family/coach all like watching the data during the race. I think one thing the qollector does that none of the others do is collect hr and power data. My coach likes seeing that mid race.

How much does beacon cost to rent for 1 race? What’s myathlete and how much did it cost? Was it a gps device?

I use my phone with glympse and the wife loves it.

MyAthlete you rented for like 50 per event. Yep, live GPS. I started using it like 10 years ago. They had them at tons of IM’s including Kona over the years. I used for training and racing all over the world.
but, they could just not make enough money to stay in business.

I just do not like things with monthly/yearly fees if I can avoid.

Now when I get my kickstarter video based camera, it shall be fun to see how much suds, etc it takes to live stream to FB. I got an extra battery also.

Love the techno toys. If I was not using glympse, I might look at it more.

What is MyAthlete? Do you need a phone?

I don’t own a Qollector but got to use one for free at Cedar Point last year. No idea why these aren’t more popular at races. My wife liked tracking in real time. With a little one it’s nice to know exactly where I am as opposed to when I should be somewhere. I do 99% of my riding on a Kickr, but if I rode outside more I’d buy one in a heart beat.

7

If you use it for training and multiple times a year for racing, for 2-3 years, I think it’s totally worth it. My wife loves it and friends/family/coach all like watching the data during the race. I think one thing the qollector does that none of the others do is collect hr and power data. My coach likes seeing that mid race.

How much does beacon cost to rent for 1 race? What’s myathlete and how much did it cost? Was it a gps device?

I use my phone with glympse and the wife loves it.

MyAthlete you rented for like 50 per event. Yep, live GPS. I started using it like 10 years ago. They had them at tons of IM’s including Kona over the years. I used for training and racing all over the world.
but, they could just not make enough money to stay in business.

I just do not like things with monthly/yearly fees if I can avoid.

Now when I get my kickstarter video based camera, it shall be fun to see how much suds, etc it takes to live stream to FB. I got an extra battery also.

Love the techno toys. If I was not using glympse, I might look at it more.

What is MyAthlete? Do you need a phone?

I don’t own a Qollector but got to use one for free at Cedar Point last year. No idea why these aren’t more popular at races. My wife liked tracking in real time. With a little one it’s nice to know exactly where I am as opposed to when I should be somewhere. I do 99% of my riding on a Kickr, but if I rode outside more I’d buy one in a heart beat.

Myathlete may have been the first GPS tracking solution for IM racing, marathons, etc. It needed no phone and was super small. But they are gone now.

My wife has always loved when she could track me live via GPS, not timing mats, when I raced or trained. Since I can use my phone now with Glympse in training,
do not need it there. And from the bike, I could still have it in my spare parts bag. I guess I could even carry it in a pouch for the run out of sight.

No question the Qollector is state of the art.