Garmin 310XT/Quarq Cinqo review - This MOPer's experience

Triathlon Forum
1

So now that I’ve had it for almost a month I wanted to follow up about my experiences with the Forerunner 310XT and the Quarq Cinqo since not many people are out there using it. Here’s my personal experience…

  1. Fit/Finish

A definite improvement over the 305 I think. Form factor is nice, the buttons have a much better feel, the display is bigger. There have been some complaints about its “huge” size, but it’s no bigger than the 305 from what I can tell.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/dr_pete177/DSC01052.jpg

I’m also using the Quick Release kit, which includes a separate band and a bar/stem mounting bracket and a plastic watch band. At first I was a little disappointed because I loved the nylon band in the 305’s quick release kit, but I realized that the design of the 305’s band would rip many a wetsuit. The 310XT’s quick release band is a much lower profile and is easy to slide a wetsuit sleeve over… the 310XT snaps in and out of the band and the bike mount with a 90-degree turn and a very positive-feeling click–more secure than the 305 setup.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/dr_pete177/DSC01053.jpg

The QR kit also makes for easy bike mounting. I used a Profile Universal Computer Mount to mount the 310XT where I can see it, right between the extensions. Seems aero enough since the airflow between my hands couldn’t have been that smooth anyway. So far the location hasn’t been a problem in terms of data drops, etc. (more on that later).

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/dr_pete177/DSC01054.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/dr_pete177/DSC01055.jpg

  1. Menus/Settings: It’s a bit more user friendly, with a nice backlight and animated scrolling between screens. The menus are a little more intuitive, and the ANT+ settings for each sport can be brought up separately. Works well.

  2. Swimming: I know it’s a vagary of the GPS system, but there’s no GPS in the water. I have found, though, that programming my swim workouts into Garmin Training Center and using the watch for intervals, etc. has been nice. For OWS you might not lose your signal but the distance measurements are waaaay off, to the tune of 20-30% per some reports.

  3. Running: Basically the same as the 305. I do think the new HR strap slips around a bit less, so that’s a plus. Otherwise the functionality is the same as the 305.

As an added bonus, the new Foot Pod fits in the midsole of Nike + shoes, which I own, so that’s nice.

  1. Cycling with power: This really couldn’t have been any simpler. The Quarq Cinqo was a breeze to install, mainly because I had a SRAM GXP bottom bracket already. The only “trick” is installing the cadence magnet. I used the epoxy putty that was included because it worked a little better with my frame’s shape. Total installation time for the Quarq, magnet installation included, was about 20 minutes. I didn’t even have to adjust the front derailleur when I went from the Force crankset. Aesthetically the S900 crankset is a nice fit with the rest of the Force group.

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/dr_pete177/DSC01057.jpg

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/dr_pete177/DSC01058.jpg

Pairing with the Cinqo took all of 30 seconds. No problems at all. Just go to the “ANT+ Power Meter” submenu under bike settings and change “do you have a power meter?” to “Yes.” The 310XT picked up the Quarq right away.

There’s been a lot of talk about data sampling with the unchangeable “Smart Recording” scheme. I was assured by the folks at Garmin that the power data would sample at 1 second intervals and that has, in fact, been the case. I did notice one funky thing in the data files, though–more on that in a sec.

There was some talk that if the 310XT is too far from the Cinqo that it wouldn’t pair or gather data, and that hasn’t been the case for me–for the most part. The only time I had an issue was while riding on the trainer and watching a movie that was being streamed from my Wifi network. No issues on the road so far.

  1. Data Processing: This is the only place where I’ve been a little annoyed, but it’s minor stuff. Keep in mind that I’m using a Mac.

    The ANT Agent does seem to work pretty well, but if you don’t want to send directly to Garmin Connect and you don’t want to use Garmin Training Center, the process is painful. The ANT agent dumps the .tcx files directly into a folder that’s buried deep in the Library. Once I figured out where it was, I made an alias to the folder and stuck it on my desktop–Voila. Instant access to all the downloaded .tcx files so I can send them to trainingpeaks.com. The TP device agent will not send 310XT files directly. Hopefully there’ll be a way to do that with a future software update.

    As I mentioned, the data files do sample at 1 second intervals, but the speed, cadence, and HR are “smart” recorded. So it fills in the blanks between speed/cadence/HR measurements by repeating the last measurement with a new value for power output.

One weird thing, though: The speed data (as measured by GPS in my setup) seems a bit wacky. Every 3-5 seconds there’s a weird data drop that’s apparent here…

http://i126.photobucket.com/albums/p85/dr_pete177/WKO310xtscreengrab.jpg

If you look closely, every 4th-5th speed measurement dropped the speed from 25-26 on that interval down to 6! Needless to say that screwed with the average speed in WKO+. When viewing in TrainingPeaks or GTC the average speed is correct but in WKO+ it’s much lower. So I guess it’s just a WKO+ thing, but it’s still irritating.

Overall, though, I’m very pleased with the 310XT and the Cinqo. The only big minus in my eyes is the lack of accurate GPS functionality in the water. Best idea I can come up with is a ANT+ GPS receiver that clips onto the goggles or is integrated into a swim cap, but that may not work either. Who knows.

The other gripes are thankfully software/firmware problems that are easily addressable, so I’m encouraged. Overall a very good product.

2

Nice review, thanks for posting your experience. But dude, you’re in the little ring!? You gotta fix that pic, man.

3

Haha… my apologies. I didn’t pose the bike too much for these.

4

Thanks for the review. I have had mine for a couple weeks now and am happy with it thus far. Have not yet updated my PT wheel to ant+ so will have to reserve judgment on that part of it for a few more days. Overall an improvement to my 205 and better than the 405 which was a disappointment in every way but size.

5

The speed drop outs look to correspond to altitude updates. I’d assume this is an issue the firmware and should be easily fixable on future updates. I’d probably send an email with attached file to Garmin so that they are aware of it.

6

TomA reported problems with the distance between CinQo and Garmin 310xt. He had to wear the 310xt on his right wrist to get data.

7

TomA reported problems with the distance between CinQo and Garmin 310xt. He had to wear the 310xt on his right wrist to get data.

Correction…I relayed the experience of another person. I have no direct experience with a 310XT yet.

8

thanks for sharing! Good stuff

9

Thanks for the review. First pics I’ve seen of the quick release.

-Jot

10

Great post DrPete - very helpful!

I’ve posted the following on a couple of other forums but have yet to find a solution to the following issue - keen to hear if you have had the same problems. Also, what directory on your Mac did you find the Garmin files?

Hi guys

I’ve just bought one of these. Works great…well, sort of.

Only issue that I’m having is that when I use Garmin Training Centre (the off-line software that allows you to look at your data) I cannot successfully update my manually entered speed zones.

So for example, if I create a new workout, I might reference Zone 4 to run in. I’ve reconfigured Zone 4 to be ‘x’ mins/km in the User Profile section, but when I upload the session to the device, the session comes across fine, but the zones are still set to ‘y’ mins/km (as the default settings that came with the watch).

For some reason the ANT device is not sending my updated User Profile across. Anyone else had these problems? I’d be really keen if anyone could try this same action and let me know if they have success or whether this might be a bug in either the unit or the software.

Cheers

Paul

Follow up:

I contacted Garmin Australia and they have also been able to reproduce this fault as both mine (and their units) were set up with the latest firmware. They are escalating this bug with Garmin USA as we speak.

I’d be really keen to hear if anyone has managed to do this successfully on their unit?

Again, the issue is:

  1. In Garmin Training Centre you can update your profile by editing the default pace and HR zones to your own*. Edit > Edit User Profile.

  2. You can then create a new workout as normal. File > New Workout. This references your updated training zones (1 to 10) from the user profile and here you will see that the pace zone is reflective of the changes you made in step 1.

  3. When transferring the workout to your device with the ANT+ Device, the workout format comes across perfectly, but your zones are still set to the default (as indicated in small digits within the pace box).

  4. The issue then arises in that if you have defined these zones so as to help you pace your effort - the zone alarm will respond to the default zones and not your updated profile making for a very noisy session with alarms going off left, right and centre despite you running at the correct pace (for you and your target).

  • I am yet to find how to do this for Power though! Anyone?!

Please let me know if you can do this successfully. I cannot find reference to this issue anywhere on the web but would assume that others have tried to set up custom workouts in this manner?

Cheers

Paul

11

Good report on the two. I have been using the 310 for couple of weeks and love it compaired to the 405. I want to now sell my SRM and move to the Cinqo, so great info here.
One question to the OP. Do you need to “zero” the Cinqo? Coming from SRM land you do this few mins into a ride to reset the stain guages for Temp offset. Just wondering if you do the same for this setup?

Thanks
-mb

12

I’m very tempted to sell my used about 5 times 405 and get the 310.

Regarding the ‘zeroing’ of the Cinqo. I believe that it is supposed to calibrate automagically. But, on one of my first 5 or so rides on it, I had some really weird power numbers and went in an calibrated it manually. Since that time, I manually calibrate it by going through the Garmin 705 menus. There are a few more steps than with the SRM, but since I was used to doing it with the SRM, I don’t find it too annoying.

I usually just calibrate at the beginning of each ride…maybe mid-way through also if the temp has changed appreciably. I have been more than happy w/ the Cinqo.

13

Good report on the two. I have been using the 310 for couple of weeks and love it compaired to the 405. I want to now sell my SRM and move to the Cinqo, so great info here.
One question to the OP. Do you need to “zero” the Cinqo? Coming from SRM land you do this few mins into a ride to reset the stain guages for Temp offset. Just wondering if you do the same for this setup?

Thanks
-mb
There’s a “hard” zeroing option you do on the Garmin side of things, but Quarq recommends using the very complex method of pedaling backwards 4 times. I typically just backpedal by hand as I’m getting my bike ready, which wakes up the Cinqo, zeroes it, and lets it pair with the 310XT. As long as I do that every time I ride temperature, etc. are not an issue. You can do it at any point in the ride, too–just backpedal 4 revolutions.

14

Great post DrPete - very helpful!

I’ve posted the following on a couple of other forums but have yet to find a solution to the following issue - keen to hear if you have had the same problems. Also, what directory on your Mac did you find the Garmin files?

OK, here goes… (Your Mac HD)/Users/(your username)/Library/Application Support/Garmin/Devices/(the device ID)/History. Very straightforward. :slight_smile:

As for the speed zone issue, I don’t know because I only use HR and Power zones, and those work fine. Sorry…

15

Thanks for posting your review, DrPete. I have neither the Cinqo nor the 310XT but am looking to get both in the near future so your posting was quite useful to me.

16

D’oh! one thing I forgot to add in the review above–

Vibrating alarms–I thought it would be gimmicky, but I find them quite nice when running/riding in a loud area, and if you’re using timers while swimming (where you really can’t see the screen very well) it’s a nice feature.

17

I assume you start the Triathlon with the 310 attached to the bike which is sitting in transition, and then switch the 310 over your wrist in T2.

I have a 405, and I always wait a minute or two before a workout to let it sync with the satellites (I’m told this improves the results of the entire session). But if you don’t start the stopwatch, the 405 will revert back to the time display after about 5 minutes, and the satellites need to be resynced.

Obviously you are not going to wait around for a minute or so in T1 before heading out on the bike. So my question is, when you do start the stopwatch on the 305 (before the race or in T1), and is it accurate during the first mile of the bike ride.

18

I assume you start the Triathlon with the 310 attached to the bike which is sitting in transition, and then switch the 310 over your wrist in T2.

I have a 405, and I always wait a minute or two before a workout to let it sync with the satellites (I’m told this improves the results of the entire session). But if you don’t start the stopwatch, the 405 will revert back to the time display after about 5 minutes, and the satellites need to be resynced.

Obviously you are not going to wait around for a minute or so in T1 before heading out on the bike. So my question is, when you do start the stopwatch on the 305 (before the race or in T1), and is it accurate during the first mile of the bike ride.
Start with it on your wrist.

Do the swim, hit Lap, pop it off your wrist on your way to T1, hold it in your hand as you take off the sleeves of your wetsuit. Pop it on the bars in T1. By then you’re already tracking satellites. With the Quarq, it’ll take 4 pedal revolutions (and a few extra seconds in my experience) to start talking to the 310xt, so you’ll lose a half a minute or so of the power data for the start of your ride, not GPS/HR/time though.

Coming off the bike, pop the 310xt off the bar mount and back onto your wristband, which you’ve been wearing the whole time on the bike.

In the “Auto Multisport” mode, you can include transitions or not. If you do, just hit Lap when you get to t1, then Lap again when you start riding, and it’ll switch sports for you. Same thing in T2-Lap once when you come back, once when you leave, then Lap again at the finish.

Without transitions, you can just hit lap once in T1, once in T2, and once at the finish.

19

I played with the 310xt this morning to determine how well it transmits. I could pick up signal on either my left or right wrist pretty well when on the base bars. The right worked better for the aerobar position, but left also worked–it just had some dropouts. The position between the aerobars was actually the worst position for me, but again it worked just with some dropouts.

With the amount of wrist movement during a race, I assume that you would probably have a number of dropouts. I have a sprint this weekend so I’ll see how it goes and report back.

20

Thanks for this. I recently lost my 705 in a terribly stupid way and was considering a 310, although Im mostly a bike racer / TTer. Look forward to seeing more people’s experience with power dropouts on the bike. I had my fair share with the 705/Quarq combo until building a mount that placed the computer low enough to have a clear line of sight to the PM.