Suunto T6c

Any thoughts on this device? How does the EPOC work? I found some other posts regarding the previous models but nothing on the new T6c. I am considering getting one to replace my Forerunner 305. I want one device that I can do all 3 with. I am not so concerned about GPS. I only really need it when I am running a place that I have not ran before and that is not marked. When I race, I don’t wear my 305 on the run. I would like to get one device that goes to once piece of software where I can track things.

And if anyone knows where I can beat ebay prices let me know.

Rumor has it that in a few weeks garmin will be unveiling a new version of the wrist mounted gps system. If I were you I would put off the purchase until the middle/end of April just to be sure you don’t get buyers remorse when the new unit hits the showroom floor.

T6c has major improvements over the t6 here are the key ones that now make it a great multisport / tri device

  1. comfort soft belt
  2. your can customize the displays to what you want. 2 different displays and 3 fields in each display. 1st 2 fields of each display can choose from 22 diff things
  3. automatic recording once new pods are in zone. old T6 had to stop and then connect with each new pod. Makes T6c now a race watch for multisport. also does mid exercise start
  4. can set speed for each pod. km or miles per hr for bike pod and min/km or m/km for foot pod
  5. can pair 2 heart rate belts to wristop. old one only one. Why 2? can get the memory belt to use in the swimming pool plus use comfort belt
  6. can build a system over time or buy all at once. talks to foot pod, bike pod, cadence pod, GPS pod, memory pod. Not stuck with only GPS. on that note if want to run on pace the foot pod technology is best and more accurate for running on pace.
  7. auto pause setting for speed pods
  8. delete all log function
  9. simplified button lock
  10. now can show max speed in logs
  11. 2 year warranty
  12. can swim with it

and last but not least many top pros are now using it. And yes not all that are using it are paid to use it!!!

PS: epoc is very useful. the short point about epoc is it can show you where during your workout you hit your peak effort. ever done a bunch of 1 mile repeats and did the first one to fast and the rest hurt. your epoc graph would show you that you did the first one to hard. Epoc builds with effort and time. Ideally you want epoc to peak in the 2nd half or even last quarter of any workout of race.

Minor question about the T6C… my Polar has a feature I use all the time where the backlight is activated just by bringing the watch near the chest strap. (I run early morning/late night a lot.) Is there anything similar on the T6C? In general, how is the backlight?

Someone had posted a pic of it on here already. The form factor of it is still too big to swim in even if it’s waterproof.

On T6c if push bottom right hand button in any field the back light comes on for 6 seconds
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Well I recieved the device today and I like it. I am a little lost on the EPOC though and reading it. I went out for an easy 45 minute trail run and my EPOC on the chart peaks at 136 ml/kg at the 34:10 mark. This is right about the top of the 2nd loop 200ft climb. Then there are 3 zones listed, Improving training, Maintaining training, and minor training. How do I use these when I actually workout? Should I be doing some all outs to set EPOC zones like thresholds?

I really enjoy my T6c. I just regret compared to the Polar RS800sd the lack of running cadence with the food pod. Why isn’t it available as information on the watch as the footpod inevitably “knows” it ?

I’ll tell you what I know about it.

First, set your activity level accurately, the monitor will later adjust them based on data it gets but the better your first guess the better the results will be.

The epoc number is based off of your heart rate variability, if you’re an engineering type then you’ll most properly realize it as the taking the fourier transform of your hr data series and then looking at certain frequency bands which have been established as relevant. If you’re not th emath type then think of it this way, a steady hr is not exactly steady, there is always some variation up or down. The hr may ride and fall slowly, or quickly or both slowly and quickly and they kinda lay one on top of the other and it adds up to a ver complex pattern. All that rising and falling has been hypothesized to mean something.

Specifically these guys have some data that shows that if you take the right frequency of rising and falling, do some math on it and add it all up, it will give the current value of your post exercise oxygen consumption. If you were to stop exercising at that very minute, how much EXTRA oxygen will you burn above your normal resting level between the point you stop exercising and the point your metabolism gets back to normal.

The biggest weakness of their system is that it doesn’t take into account lactate threshold, it turn out that lactate threshold hr is a rather important number if you want to predict epoc from hr data. So what they do is they estimate your lactate threshold based on your activity class. Based on how much exercise you get they take a stab at what your lactate threshold will be compared to your max hr. As I said, after you build up some data the softare will automatically adjust it for you.

Now, here’s where the levels come into it. Each epoc number is classified as maintaining, gaining, or overreaching for an activity class. You can check as you go to see where you are on that scale so as to A make sure you are getting something out of the workout or B make sure you are not overdoing it.

In practice there are two funny things about it that mean you can’t just live and die by the epoc number. First is that it nly records the highest number for the session, if you start the workout with some hard intervals get your epoc number up to say 100 and then ride easy for another 2 hours, it will still show 100 as the epoc number for that ride. In effect according to that number, the last two hours of riding didn’t count, we both know it actually does count for something.

The other thing is that the epoc method really favors intensity over volume. Now there is some wisdom to this and depending on the specifics you could easily make the case that this is the way to go for some people. However, you have to use your noodle and not go all hard all the time even if the epoc number stays low for your long workouts. This is in the training with epoc book as well.

I have the older t6, so it calculates the epoc afterward, not during the workouts. It’s an interesting number and I do look at it but it has never really told me anything I didn’t already know.

All in all it is a decent non-linear training quantification method, not particularly outstanding in any way in my opinion. One big drag about it is that in contrast to trimps or even tss and govss, it is harder to guess at the epoc number of a workout you did without the watch on. In case you did a workout and didn’t remember your watch.

NOTE: If you want to get hr while swimming, get yourself a suunto memory belt to go with your watch. It is a heart rate belt with an internal memory that also will display on your watch when you have it on. So you can get post hoc hr data after the swim. Nice for a tri race where you want to know what sort of hr you had for the swim.

Good luck with your Suunto. Hope it is more durable for you than mine was for me. Bought a Suunto X6HR summer 2007. When it worked it was useful. Used it on a more or less daily basis, but other than maybe 10-12 hikes/skis in the 4-6 hour range it was all 60-90 minutes. Had to replace the battery in the chest strap every 2-3 months. The watch stopped working after about 13 months. Sent it back to Suunto for service. When returned to me it worked great for about 3 months then the heart rate function stopped reading accurately. 7 months after getting it back from their service department it died again. Contacted their CS department and they said it was out of warranty. 19 month old watch. I’m back to my 7 year old Timex.