Thinking of getting a new watch, and I saw the suggestion of getting a Garmin fr70 with foot pod and speed/cadence sensor inlieu of a gps version - 310/910…
I have never ran with the foot pod… how is it compared to gps? I’m sure id be fine with the cycling sensors.
Thoughts?
Just looking at the price spread between a FR70 and 310xt (seems to be $60-ish before purchasing the footpod), you’ll probably be happier with the 310xt. I use the footpod on the treadmill and sometimes use it on the track (to check for accuracy) and it seems to work realtively well, but I would go with the 310xt if you are cycling too. My $0.02
Just looking at the price spread between a FR70 and 310xt (seems to be $60-ish before purchasing the footpod), you’ll probably be happier with the 310xt. I use the footpod on the treadmill and sometimes use it on the track (to check for accuracy) and it seems to work realtively well, but I would go with the 310xt if you are cycling too. My $0.02
+1 - Go GPS
You can also get a 210 - which come with footpod and HR strap. It’s about $239 in Canada. The 210 is pretty pared down but it has the basic features you will need and you can use the footpod on the tready.
I have an FR60 with a foot pod and a 310xt. The foot pod seems to work well if I run relatively close to the same pace that I ran when I calibrated it. I used it to run a race and the pace/distance was way off. For the next race, I reacalibrated the foot pod for another race the day before at race pace and then it was much better.
Some people seem to have great luck with their footpods, and others don’t. I tried footpods a couple of times, and I was never impressed. Don’t batten the laces down tight; weird results. Calibrate on a track but run a hilly course can also give weird results. Plus, part of what I really like about GPS is that you can get (generally) a map of where you were…I really like this for cycling, and running in new places. The only thing I’ve heard people say a footpod does better than a GPS is instanteous pace, but that is getting much better (my Polar RC3 does pretty well) with newer devices; plus, if the footpod has the distance run all out of whack, the pace will be too, so distance accuracy directly affects pace. I could tell when my footpods were jacked up because it would be telling me I was running way faster or slower than I actually was.
Spot
The FR70 is much smaller and lighter and quite a bit cheaper.
The 310 is more accurate and less likely to make you want to upgrade too soon. GPS also opens the door to stuff like strava and route navigation.
They both have way better battery life that what you get for the low end gps watches, but you will still need to charge up the 310 every few workouts. (The FR70 goes a year)
Go polar rcx5 and a foot pod.
Battery last forever. No charging. No waiting time to find satellites.
I’m impatient.
From my experience with a foot pod and a Garmin 405, the foot pod is amazingly accurate. However, you need to calibrate it for pace you intend to work at. For example if you calibrate it while doing a 9:00/mi long run, it probably won’t be very accurate for a tempo run or speed work.
I don’t like the 310 based on size/ looks but I am confident it’s a fine unit. I saw a 405 on Craigslist with a HRM and USB stick for $65 the other week. Deal of the century. You may check around for used.
I’d go with the 310…and foot pod. As others have said, it is more accurate if you run at a similar pace as calibrated. But even 1 mpm slower doesn’t change it that much. With the 310, you can turn off the gps when you want to run with better accuracy like on a track or a known course. I also typically keep the foot pod even when I use the gps for cadence.
Love my old Suunto T3C and its footpod.
They are horribly inaccurate on hilly terrain, but otherwise far superior to a GPS, in my opinion.
Hundreds of hours of battery life
Cadence
Better current pace
No losing signal
So , this looks kind of funny even typing it - with the foot pod inaccurate on hills. Does it make sense to use GPS while trail running? It seems like during trail running gpssignal would be more susceptible to drops?
I thin I’ve made up my mind to give the fr70 with foot pod a try. I can use any ant foot pod, and hrm strap right? The bundle comes with the old Garmin hrm1. I feel like I should upgrade to a better hrm. My old 405 hrm seemed to spike a good bit.
any thoughts on hrm and pods?
It depends on the hills. If it’s hills that really slow you down, the footpod will be more inaccurate. But worse than losing a signal? The best thing for me is no charging 
The only footpod I have experience with is the Suunto T3C watch with the pod, so I cannot comment further on the other questions.
+1 - Go GPS
You can also get a 210 - which come with footpod and HR strap. It’s about $239 in Canada. The 210 is pretty pared down but it has the basic features you will need and you can use the footpod on the tready.
Same here. I just bought the 210 without the footpod, but like the option should I feel the GPS signal is inaccurate when I hit the trails. I can’t share my experience with the 210 yet as I just got it yesterday and had to be charged first, but I did use an early model footpod from polar (S1) and didn’t much care for it because of its size. The Garmin footpod seems much smaller, but you might have to calibrate it first on a track. Accuracy of the S1 was not very good (okay, not great), but I suspect that the newer models will be better.
If you’re going to give the footpods concept a try, I can sell you a lightly used Suunto T3C with footpod for an attractive price. This would allow you to try out the concept without dropping a bunch of cash on the front end. If interested you can see my classified.
It all depends on the GPS. I’ve run under very heavy tree cover with Garmin FR305s, 310XT, and a Polar RC3. The Garmins didn’t even seem phased by it; the Polar indicated it was having some issues, but every time it got a little clear, it would figure out where it was and be right back in the game. Post run analysis on the Polar showed that it tracked pretty accurately, even if the instantaneous pace got a little wonky from time to time.
Spot
I’d say 310 + footpod. Whenever I run outside, i use GPS to have my pace and distance, i always works. Yes, you may need to wait a bit to connect to satellites so I often turn my garmin on outside and leave it there while putting on my shoes.
For indoor running, I use the footpod. It’s mainly as a tool to have some data I can use to download and keep my WKO+ charts up to date. I rely on the speed of the treadmill however to drive the workout, not the footpod.
I have both a 910XT and an FR70
The footpod stays on my shoe even when using 910XT so I can track cadence
I deliberately bought the FR70 (and use to have an FR60 before the weak strap broke - FR70 strap does seem better than FR60) to have as my everyday watch and also to use as a back up or alternative to my 910XT if I am going somewhere and cannot be bothered to take the 910XT.
But… if both are on the table in front of me, 95% of the time I reach for the 910XT (i.e. GPS)
As a sideline… if the next version of the 910XT follows the path of the new running GPS (with the footpod technology absorded into the HR belt, and the watch has a shallower profile and extended regular watch capabilites) then the 910XT and FR70 will be traded in without looking back…
Having both watches, have you ever ran with the 910 on GPS and the FR70 with the pod and check the difference?
yeah… done it a few times… have basically tinkered with manually setting the footpod calibration to correspond with what my 910XT says over an 11k loop
but there is still variance from both the GPS or Footpod accuracy… but pretty much within the same boundaries from my perspective which is why I have never bothered going too obsessive about which is more accurate.
and defintely the downside of the footpod from my personal perspective (Strava, mapping memories - love seeing the world map of routes I have taken) means I am a GPS preference guy through and through
there is a new garmin 220 and 620 that comes out in october that embeds the footpod in the watch and hrm strap.
Personally, I’m having to do a lo ton the treadmill and have hoka shoes, the footpod is very unreliable/inaccurate (fluxuating between a 60 min/mile and 6 min mile, ending with an average 2-3x what the treadmill says). On ground it’s very accurate.