New and improved Gary required..

[ju-ju-]

I have decided to treat myself to a new Garmin for my very late birthday present ( long story!!). Gary is dying ( my current Garmin) as he has big issues:

Lost me 1 mile on a run

Stopped tracking distance and carried on with time on another

Strap broken so he is safety pinned to my waist

Doesnt look as pretty as when I first hooked up with him and hes a bit past it

SO- I have been researching and I want one with a HRM. You can get one where you dont have to strap a thong round your chest but Im not convinced of reliability and Id like one that I can set my 30,20,10 beeps to it. It also needs to last at least 5 hours as when Gary died on me in the Paris marathon I wanted to die with him!!And I want it black and very pretty.

Any recommendations ????

Thankyou

Juicyju

[OldNed]

This won't be the answer you want to hear but I've never been convinced by these Garmins. Expensive, good when they work but lots of people report failure to pick up signals and dropping time or distance, and not as durable as you'd expect an expensive item to be. I take the lower-tech route of using Endomondo on my phone. But then, I haven't been seduced by iPhone or Android either and still use a Blackberry. If it works...! Hope you get something which meets your needs.

[ju-ju- Graduate10 in reply to OldNed]

Sounds like it does the job well... !!

[misswobble Graduate10]

I was reading reviews of these yesters on Techradar, which was very helpful. Apparently they love the Forerunner 10, which is what we have. I read a review of the year's best watches in 2015 (running that is) and they like the Garmin Forerunner 15, which has a heart rate monitor. Techradar love the Garmin 620, but apparently that is about to be replaced with a new model. I like to read reviews before buying anything, specially at these prices, although we can't complain about the F10, and the F15 is not that dear

[ju-ju- Graduate10 in reply to misswobble]

Me too!! And I cannot decide now!!!

[MarkyD Graduate10]

Everything that you need is here

dcrainmaker.com/product-rev...

dcrainmaker.com/2015/10/gar...

'Sprinkles pixie-dust and intones: "fr235, fr235" in a kind-of hypnotic voice.'

[ju-ju- Graduate10 in reply to MarkyD]

That's really helpful, Thankyou!!

[Steve_L Graduate10]

I've got a Forerunner 15, which connects to the Mio Link wrist HRM I have. For me, it all works perfectly. The only faff is having to connect it by USB cable to a PC to upload runs. The Forerunner 25 is an improved version of the 15 which connects by Bluetooth, so it can be used with smart phone or tablet. I want one.

[Bazza1234 Graduate10 in reply to Steve_L]

How does the MIO link wrist HRM connect to the Garmin -- some kind of Bluetooth??

[MarkyD Graduate10 in reply to Bazza1234]

It has both ANT+ and Bluetooth smart (Bluetooth Low Energy).

[Steve_L Graduate10 in reply to Bazza1234]

Think so, Baz, as my tablet can connect to it, too.

[Hidden in reply to Bazza1234]

yes it auto detects the Mio

[ju-ju- Graduate10 in reply to Steve_L]

Now you've said all that I want one of those too!!!

[John_W Graduate10]

The Garmin FR 225 was/is the competitor to my TomTom Cardio Runner - they both have built-in optical HRMs. I went with the TomTom on price, but a colleague of mine has just ordered the 225 for £160 ... Worth thinking about!

DC Rainmaker's review from the summer: dcrainmaker.com/2015/08/gar...

Especially today ... Bl*ck Fr*d*y and all that

Happy hunting!

[ju-ju- Graduate10 in reply to John_W]

That's a good price, where did they order from, was that Wiggle??

[John_W Graduate10 in reply to ju-ju-]

I'll try and find out tomorrow.

[ju-ju- Graduate10 in reply to John_W]

Coolio thanks 😺

[John_W Graduate10 in reply to ju-ju-]

Yes, it was Wiggle and still £160!

wiggle.co.uk/garmin-forerun...

Good luck!

[Hidden]

I have the 225, I would recommend it, if there is a downside, in the winter, you may want to fasten the watch over a jacket, in which case the heart rate monitor won't work. I have a Mio link which I use when I do this.

[ju-ju- Graduate10 in reply to Hidden]

Does it work OK otherwise? I think this is the one I want 👌🏽

[Hidden in reply to ju-ju-]

Yes it works fine, I use the Mio in the cold days, because I can put that under my clothing and then strap the Garmin over the top. You don't need both, its just I bought the Mio first. I can't really find fault with the 225, funny enough, the heart rate monitor built into the 225 is in actual fact the Mio. You can get it for £159 in John Lewis at present

[misswobble Graduate10]

All this tech seems to take precedence over the running ☺ it's a tyrrany! Worse than any treadmill 😊

[Stevetheb]

I have a Forerunner 110 which I've had for agessss. I hate carrying my phone with me, so upload from Garmin to Strava. I went down the Sony Smartwatch route, but that was so useless I went back to my Garmin.

If I bought a new watch one day I think it stick to Garmin, it's always worked when needed (Apart from once when I'd not charged it!)

[ju-ju- Graduate10 in reply to Stevetheb]

I've always liked Garmin and I love our forum on there too...

[dagshar]

I bought a Garmin 210 in early summer when it was on offer at amazon. I think there is a later model of it (which is why it was on offer). I think it is a mid range Garmin, has got the HR strap and you can set basic intervals (not sure whether you could programme 10, 20, 30). I am so glad I bought it when I did, as I love looking at stats!!

[ju-ju- Graduate10 in reply to dagshar]

Sounds really good, Thankyou...

[Bazza1234 Graduate10]

I think that I now want the MIO too!!! I recently bought a Wahoo Tickr HRM which connects to my Android phone and Runkeeper. It all works quite well and I can set Runkeeper to call out my average or actual heart rate at various intervals. However these are set intervals and therefore , I can't just simply look at a watch of some kind and instantly see what my HR is ( say when doing shortish intervals) . The MIO would allow me to see instantaneous readings whenever I want to plus have Runkeeper to remind me every now and then to stay "in the zone"