Home› General Training Discussions

Garmin 310xt for sole running & biking???

Bob IrwinBob Irwin
in General Training Discussions

Getting a new bike, and moving to power.  I've always used two polars - a 625 on my wrist and a cs200 on my handlebars.  Worked great.  I never wanted to move the watch after the swim and bike.  I think the Garmin equivalent would be an edge 500 on the bike and a 310xt for my wrist.  Does anyone just use the 310?  Do you move it around during a race?  Are you missing any features by not having the 500?  Too bad polar doesn't use ant+.

Comments

  • Nemo BrauchNemo Brauch

     Bob- There's lots of pro's/cons right now with using the 310XT as your power meter computer.  Do a search on the forum for 310xt and start doing your research.  Sorry- but this isn't going to be a cut & dry answer- you really should do the research so you make an educated decision.  Here are a few links to threads that would be useful:

    http://endurancenation.us.dnnmax.co...fault.aspx

    http://endurancenation.us.dnnmax.co...fault.aspx

    http://endurancenation.us.dnnmax.co...fault.aspx

     

    With that said- I have the Garmin 310XT and have gone through much of the growing pains with it.  I used it last year in a Tri (but used the Saris LYC on the bike to monitor power) and loved the fact that I could put it on at the beginning of the race and just be done with it.  No longer do I need to find the watch in T1 or T2 and put it on and wait for it to find a satellite.   I'm fairly happy with the solution now (but it was painful getting here).  If you read the above threads you'll get the rest of my thoughts so I won't repeat them here.

  • Cary BlancoCary Blanco
    I have had a bunch of Garmins - the Edge 305, then the Edge 705, when I started running I got a FR305 promptly lost it and replaced it with the 310xt.

    The nice thing about the 310xt is being able to have your race time at your fingers. When I was using the FR305 I wore a watch for race timing and put the FR305 on for the run (I was running with pace before I knew that it was right thing to do). So I was Dork Boy with a watch on each wrist, the 310xt eliminates the need for that.

    That being said, I was a roadie before tri, so i already had a Edge 305 and 705 with nice large displays and I don't need to worry about moving them from my wrist to my bike and back to my wrist again.

    Does any of that help?
  • charrischarris

    It wouldn't be a 310XT thread if I didn't plug my FAQ:


     

    I like to think it covers most of the questions someone in your situation would ask - and tries to distill some of the threads from hell out there - but you tell me!

     

    I've been meaning to add some stuff (e.g. main differences between 500 and 310XT, in-race workflow, post workout workflow), which posts like this sometimes motivate me to do, so thanks.

     

    It's worth adding that the FAQ assumes PowerTap - but Cinqo looks like an increasingly attractive option for some.
  • Nemo BrauchNemo Brauch
    Craig's FAQ is a good read. It's referenced in one of the threads I posted above. But if you read nothing else, at least read his FAQ.
  • Cary BlancoCary Blanco
    Ditto on Craig's power page page.
  • charrischarris

    Thanks guys - appreciate the kind words (and thanks Nemo for the shout out in the other thread, which I initially missed).

Sign In or Register to comment.