Anyone have any feedback they could provide? Pros and Cons. Looking at this watch and the Suunto T6. Thanks
http://lmgtfy.com/?q=Polar+RCX5+review
first link: The infamous DC Rainmaker. Also posts on this board btw.
I am a little biased but I like my Polar watches as they are reliable, look good on a night out and customer service is second to none. You could look at it a few ways. As it is not a all in one watch in which everything is in one watch. It would have to be a very big watch and not stylish, light weight and slim like the rcx5 is. But a upside of having a foot pod, GPS and bike speed/cadence unit is if one goes wrong then there is a back up. Battery life is very good in the RCX5 and accessories. I have only had to change HR monitor belt battery once in a year and I used it just about everyday take maybe three four days. Need to change battery on RCX5 now after 498 hours of working out and wearing everyday for a year!! Gps is very accurate and finds signal quickly and like I said if you do a big city tri with buildings (central park) the foot pod takes over and works flawlessly :0) hope I helped sway you a bit.
Thanks for the info guys. Probably going with the Polar. I saw the DC Rainmaker link and thought it was a legal blog. That is an epic product review.
DC Rain Maker lays it out and let’s the reader decide. Personally I like the RCX5 because it is, at the core, a HRM, which is most useful in training and racing. If you really need GPS (And I struggle to see why people do) you can add it and still be below most of the Garmin devices. As BMannes also said, you can wear it as a daily watch too.
Bob
I generally like the rcx5 except for 1 thing: all the parts. It’s a mixed blessing. BC the watch doesn’t have integrated GPS, it has a good battery life, but the GPS box is just another thing to loose or forget.
Also kinda upset that the RCX5 doesn’t track altitude changes 
My opinion is that the Polar RCX5 and the Garmin 910 XT combined would be the perfect watch.
The Garmin is lacking the swimming heart rate capabilities, the stylish looks and every day battery life (which the RCX5 has)
and conversely the RCX5 lacks the swimming features and the compatibility to all the ANT+ power meters.
Why can’t those people just agree on one open wireless signal transfer standard that supports under water use?
Firstly, I’m a Polar user. I tried Suunto and Garmin and have since returned to Polar - it just seems more polished to me.
The RCX5 suits my needs. The G5 GPS receiver is a huge improvement on the old G3 in terms of both battery life and functionality. The old G3 did not give me reliable pace readings in my local forest - the G5 does.
Love the display - you can have 2,3 or 4 different metrics shown at one time and up to 6 screens. I challenge anyone to say that this is not sufficient. Because of the vast amount of metrics available it’s a good idea to sit and plan what you actually ‘need’ each screen for and then create them.
www.polarpersonaltrainer.com and Mac compatibility is one of the main reasons I got the watch. Storing training files on one computer lacks portability. In an age where people have multiple computers, cloud storage is the only way to go. You can access your training data from any computer anytime.
I like their training load feature - somewhat like TRIMP: a HR based stress score.
See:
http://www.radlabor.de/fileadmin/Radlabor/forschung/projekte/dateien/Polar_Training_Load_HP_doc.pdf
The site does need a few minor updates (for example there is a bug in the ‘edit laps’ feature) but it seems that they are constantly working on it - it should be great some day soon.
I also miss the altitude functionality - but the size and shape of the watch probably compensates for that.
In summary, it’s not perfect, but it’s the best (single) watch on the market for my needs.
Not to mention If it s true with a software update the rcx5 will work with the power pedals.
If you import your RCX5 GPX file into MAPMYRUN, you will elevation. We have made Polar Finland aware of this 
If you import your RCX5 GPX file into MAPMYRUN, you will elevation. We have made Polar Finland aware of this
I use trainingpeaks.com… would the same elevation data be there? Or would i have to import to mapmyrun, then export that (if possible) to trainingpeaks?
I am not well versed on Training Peaks. On the RCX5 via WEBSYNC, you click on the TRAINING COMPUTER option. One of the options will be TRAINING DATA. Here is where you will have access to EXPORT a specific days file and if you train with the G5 GPS, the .HRM and .GPX files will be exported. I do not know how TP views the .GPX files, MAPMYRUN will show an altitude curve.
I’ve been quite happy with my RCX5 for some months now. Has a lot going for it. Also great customer service.
It has very few weaknesses, but two things that annoy me a bit and which I don’t think is covered in DC Rainmakers otherwise amazing review:
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You can only see the data when the watch is recording. When you pause the watch (between intervals or waiting for a green light), you get a screen showing the connection to the units paired to the watch - but it would be far more useful to be able to see the last interval, or your current heart rate or whatever.
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The multisport-function takes several button clicks and you need to look at the display to confirm you’re scrolling to the appropriate sport of the next leg - on Garmins you just push the lap-button and it automatically moves on to the next sport in your preselected sequence.
/Søren
If you import your RCX5 GPX file into MAPMYRUN, you will elevation…
Just tried this - works a treat.
Thanks for the info guys. Probably going with the Polar. I saw the DC Rainmaker link and thought it was a legal blog. That is an epic product review.
Anyone who follows my legal advice would be in for a world of hurt…unless I stayed at a Holiday Inn last night (but I didn’t, was/is a Hilton).
Actually, there’s a tiny legal firm called DC Rainmaker LLC, but usually they don’t rank well in searches.