I loathe any manufacturer that requires a membership to use their product. Their platform doesn’t look that good and I cannot see me downloading an app just to use a pair of goggles.
Why not just sell them and be done.
Membership is +£200 a year but what happens when your goggles wear out or start leaking? They don’t exactly last a long time do they. You are lumbered with a membership with no working goggles?
Wow, is that really attractive to somebody? Expensive as well, not in a million years for me. Product only, maybe, but I guess thats not possible anymore.
They seem to be selling replacement parts, so I guess you dont get new ones at some intervals.
Just waiting when Garmin, Polar etc. Will also go to this scheisse …
So, a couple of things:
1.) Let’s get disclosures out of the way: yes, they are a partner. Take it for what you will.
2.) I bought my pair at retail at Endurance Exchange 2020 when they were still selling them just as a goggle, without membership.
Now. Moving on to the nitty:
This is the direction that consumer wearables with their own analytics platform is heading into. You see it with, say, Whoop. Or even Strava pulling way back on the free version of things in order to deliver greater value to a premium subscription based model. TrainingPeaks is much the same way.
Now granted, FORM’s membership is pretty exclusive to swimming (for now). And you get all of their structured workouts, which is an admittedly cool feature for some people. (If you’re already a masters swimmer, well, I can’t help you).
Also, keep in mind: you do NOT need to maintain membership in order for the goggles to still work. You still need the app regardless of whether you let your membership lapse. But the goggles will still work for pace in the eye, etc. with or without your membership. It’s why you’re required to maintain a monthly membership for six months – that’s basically the at retail price for the goggle itself.
As for the goggles – they may fit like a set of Vanquishers, but the quality is outstanding. Going on 26 months without them leaking, fogging, etc. I have my own niggle which will come up in the final long-term review of them, but I’m also pretty sure that’s unique to me and having slammed my head very hard into pavement 8 or so years ago.
I’m pretty sure the membership is only if you want access to the workouts. You can use the goggles without the membership
Meh, in the end the 6 month membership is basically what they were charging for retail on goggles only. They likely determined there is a limited audience for the goggles so they are looking at ways to generate revenue within that audience. By making the membership mandatory they are hoping it will be enough of a value add that people will maintain the membership. I’m giving them a try, but plan to cancel at 6 months because I have a coach for my workouts. If I could import my coach’s workouts from TP then I would actually be open to paying a monthly membership fee for the convenience.
So far only 2 issues I’ve had with them:
When I push off the wall they will occasionally pull away slightly allowing water in unless they are fairly tight or my head
This only seems to happen when I’m tired and my head is tipped too far downThe goggles protrude pretty far forward so more surface area to catch the waterThey fog up on me occasionally.
They warn not to touch the inside of the lens, but not sure if that is just to protect the factory anti-fog or if it risks the displayI’ve reached out to find out if I can use Spit in them as that works for my other goggles very well
Meh, in the end the 6 month membership is basically what they were charging for retail on goggles only. They likely determined there is a limited audience for the goggles so they are looking at ways to generate revenue within that audience. By making the membership mandatory they are hoping it will be enough of a value add that people will maintain the membership. I’m giving them a try, but plan to cancel at 6 months because I have a coach for my workouts. If I could import my coach’s workouts from TP then I would actually be open to paying a monthly membership fee for the convenience.
So far only 2 issues I’ve had with them:
When I push off the wall they will occasionally pull away slightly allowing water in unless they are fairly tight or my head
This only seems to happen when I’m tired and my head is tipped too far downThe goggles protrude pretty far forward so more surface area to catch the waterThey fog up on me occasionally.
They warn not to touch the inside of the lens, but not sure if that is just to protect the factory anti-fog or if it risks the displayI’ve reached out to find out if I can use Spit in them as that works for my other goggles very well
And your assessment is why swim goggles are NEVER worth $200. Maybe to someone they would be worth it, but when they are leaking, causing drag, and fogging they are like any other $20 pair of goggles except they have some cool features the $20 goggles don’t have.
Personally I’d rather have a $20 pair that doesn’t leak, drag, or fog like my Roka F1’s. I could even see people going with Magic 5’s to fit their face to prevent leaking, but the Form model doesn’t seem sustainable. It is a niche market and perhaps there are some that would like the offerings, on the other hand a subscription for swim goggles is truly jumping the shark imo.
I have the Form goggles - bought them retail and have no affiliation with them.
As an adult onset swimmer with poor pacing and questionable technique, I found that the real time metrics are pretty useful for figuring out what’s working, what’s not, and when my form is breaking down (even further).
I was able to get a year subscription free because I was an early buyer of the goggles (I think they gave that to all pre-subscription buyers). I’ve used the workouts a few times, they were good and had lots of choice, and would likely really help folks who don’t know how to structure or get swim sets. I’ve been fortunately enough to have been coached for 3 years prior to the pandemic, so I had a good idea, but prior to coaching, I just went out and swam laps, with few intervals, breaks, changes in stroke, etc. These workouts can definitely benefit those people.
But with the pandemic, and things open/shut all the time, swimming has dropped off a cliff for the things I like doing and don’t get interrupted, like biking and running.
I agree that they fog occasionally, and if they’re not tight, they can leak a bit with a strong push off the wall if my head is dipped…but for me it’s a small price to pay for basically a bike head unit in your goggles.
I’ve got them and they are a brilliant idea, especially for a learning swimmer like myself. That said, the membership model leaves a bad taste in my mouth for several reasons.
And your assessment is why swim goggles are NEVER worth $200. Maybe to someone they would be worth it, but when they are leaking, causing drag, and fogging they are like any other $20 pair of goggles except they have some cool features the $20 goggles don’t have.
Personally I’d rather have a $20 pair that doesn’t leak, drag, or fog like my Roka F1’s. I could even see people going with Magic 5’s to fit their face to prevent leaking, but the Form model doesn’t seem sustainable. It is a niche market and perhaps there are some that would like the offerings, on the other hand a subscription for swim goggles is truly jumping the shark imo.
$150 to be able to see real time metrics isn’t much different to me than paying $600+ for a watch/bike computer but also agree that is a fairly limited market. Are they perfect, nope, but the concept has value so hoping they can solve some of their opportunities.
I worked for FORM for a couple of years (but no longer have any affiliation) and for the fogging issues, I’d echo their never touch the inside of the lens. It ruins away the anti-fog coating, and I’ve found that never touching them prolongs the life of them.
If they fog, dip the inside of them in the pool water to help equalize the temperature. The fogging usually happens initially when the temperate of the water, the inside air of the goggles and your face are all different.
If the anti-fog coating is starting to wear out, fill each eye socket with warm water and a drop of dish soap and very carefully rub the inside of the lens with your finger (making sure the lens is fully underwater though, never touch the lens when dry). That always gave me another couple of months of fog-free swimming.
I’d usually get about a year of pool swimming out of a pair of goggles (20-25K per week), but open-water swimming in salt water always accelerated wear. I often would go through 1 extra pair per year when I was doing a couple ocean swims per week. If I paid for the goggles, I would 100% never wear them in the ocean.
EDIT: they will tell you this, but don’t use spit. It may work once or twice, but that will be it and you’ll be looking at having to replace them in the very near future…
I worked for FORM for a couple of years (but no longer have any affiliation) and for the fogging issues, I’d echo their never touch the inside of the lens. It ruins away the anti-fog coating, and I’ve found that never touching them prolongs the life of them.
If they fog, dip the inside of them in the pool water to help equalize the temperature. The fogging usually happens initially when the temperate of the water, the inside air of the goggles and your face are all different.
If the anti-fog coating is starting to wear out, fill each eye socket with warm water and a drop of dish soap and very carefully rub the inside of the lens with your finger (making sure the lens is fully underwater though, never touch the lens when dry). That always gave me another couple of months of fog-free swimming.
I’d usually get about a year of pool swimming out of a pair of goggles (20-25K per week), but open-water swimming in salt water always accelerated wear. I often would go through 1 extra pair per year when I was doing a couple ocean swims per week. If I paid for the goggles, I would 100% never wear them in the ocean.
EDIT: they will tell you this, but don’t use spit. It may work once or twice, but that will be it and you’ll be looking at having to replace them in the very near future…
Is Spit damaging the lens itself or something specific to the display? It hasn’t had any negative impacts on other goggles, so curious why these would be different. Not using for Ocean swims and not being able to use an effective anti-fog (because the factor coating is basically useless) def is making me think I need to return them within the 30 day window.
I guarantee that spit will be more harmful for the anti-fog coating than helpful. That said, the display is all internal so it won’t damage that.
I bought them when I think there was a 20% off sale during Black Friday one year. I haven’t dealt w the membership side at all.
I do NOT use them in the pool and I found I didn’t need them with the pace clock and/or Garmin watch. Just too much going on for me. I also felt like they simply weren’t great goggles. Fogging and falling off my face unless REALLY tight.
Where I DO like this is in 2 different situations:
Open Water swim training and the stroke rate feature. That is really good and the seeing the time in the google is great for time-based workouts in open water. I did recently get a Garmin 945 so I will see how the pace goes this summer as that watch can connect to the Form goggles I believe.
Tethered swimming during Covid. When all the pools were closed I tied my ankles to a tether and tied the tether to a table and did time-based swims in my own backyard pool. Having the time right there in the google was great.
Just my experience…
I loathe any manufacturer that requires a membership to use their product. Their platform doesn’t look that good and I cannot see me downloading an app just to use a pair of goggles.
Why not just sell them and be done.
Membership is +£200 a year but what happens when your goggles wear out or start leaking? They don’t exactly last a long time do they. You are lumbered with a membership with no working goggles?
Agreed. Memberships are the WORST. Every time I think of memberships, I remember this fun scenario where everone’s juicer stopped working the day the company shut off their servers as the juicer was unable to reach out to the home unit and validate the QR code.
https://www.failory.com/cemetery/juicero
While not quite the same as a membership, you did have to buy the company’s pods and only use those ones.
I own and have been using mine for over a year.
Ive never subscribed to any memberships.
The fit is good for my face and they don’t leak. I have also not have any issues with fogging.
They are expensive generally but I really like having the convenience of really time lap times and knowing exactly where I am on a long set so I don’t have to remember what lap I’m on. I also like not having to rely on the pool clock.
These are small conveniences so I can see why some may not find the higher cost worth it; so I wont argue it is. Thats really up to your budget and wants/needs.
No one needs these in my opinion. They wont make you faster. They are expensive. Having said that I’m happy I have them and feel I’ve gotten my value out of them.
The goggles are worth it IMHO, I have dropped 2 min in my 1km time thanks to them. I don’t use the membership. Just got the minimum 3 months. Only issue is I can’t to dive in pool starts to do a fast fly, but we don’t do fly in triathlons 
. You can program workouts in your head, cause the goggles auto pause when you stop anyways
I loathe any manufacturer that requires a membership to use their product. Their platform doesn’t look that good and I cannot see me downloading an app just to use a pair of goggles.
**Why not just sell them and be done. **
Membership is +£200 a year but what happens when your goggles wear out or start leaking? They don’t exactly last a long time do they. You are lumbered with a membership with no working goggles?
Because the membership fees cover the retail cost after a certain number of months, that’s why they have the 6 month minimum. I would guess they have decided this model will work out better for them financially.
I bought them with the 6 month membership, planning on canceling at 6 months. So far I have been happy with the product and still planning to cancel at 6 months.
I loathe any manufacturer that requires a membership to use their product. Their platform doesn’t look that good and I cannot see me downloading an app just to use a pair of goggles.
Why not just sell them and be done.
Membership is +£200 a year but what happens when your goggles wear out or start leaking? They don’t exactly last a long time do they. You are lumbered with a membership with no working goggles?
I don’t know any inside detail about the company, but pretty clear they are using this kind of revenue model because, I would reckon, they raised money (around $9-10 Million?) not as a goggle manufacturer but as a technology platform. This recurring revenue SAAS-like model the typical one for this sort of thing.
Wouldn’t really seem like their addressable market is large enough to really scale - through swimming goggles -… but again, I don’t know anything about the company, maybe swim goggles just a beachhead strategy.
If anything, all internet products/marketing have gone subscription based
.
Perhaps this might intrigue some people on the membership front more. https://www.slowtwitch.com/Products/FORM_Launches_Training_Plans_8333.html