Forerunner 305 Vs. Polar 625x
115
Member
733 days
flaniganrj posted 1 year ago.
I purchased the Forerunner 305 back in November and must say it was the best investment in my training I was able to make. I do 95% of my training alone and the features the 305 has makes it very easy to keep tabs on all the important areas of focus while your training (HR, Pace, Speed, and so on). It is very accurate and I have had little to no issues with reception. The ability to download all the data after your workout gives you a great look at your preformance after the fact. I would say the 305 is a no brainer....except for the price. It is an expensive gadget.
558
Member
1397 days
vanjames posted 1 year ago.
Gotta go with the Polar.
Apart from the fact I am a loyal Polar user (graduated from A3 to S210 to S625X in the last 6years). You can swim with it and wear it as a watch. The software is great and there are enough records, etc in the watch to feed your technical side with feedback for hours. The footpod is surprisingly accurate and barely noticeable. I'd go with the Polar, especially if you plan to swim with it.
257
Member
967 days
fittycent posted 1 year ago.
I second everything Flanigan said. I have a Garmin and I love it. I was hesitant at first about the price, but knowing what I know now, I'd be willing to pay MUCH more than what I did pay for such a sweet training tool.
494
Member
1693 days
trainDaBrain posted 1 year ago.
I have a basic garmin (the old gecko model) and even tho it's not geared toward biking, I can still get route info, elevation profiles (if I build it with Topo), and I can set waypoints for critical areas of the ride (i.e. that crazy hill is only 3 miles away! drink up!)
It's a great tool, when you're not under a canopy of trees. There is some loss of information in those situations, and it's a characteristic of most GPS systems, unless you're in the military and you have a slightly better device, but the problems are still there for the most part.
Now, I have an adventure racing buddy who uses the polar 625 and LOVES it. Since it's not a GPS it's legal to race with in adventure races (no nav component). He also claims it's highly accurate and he had zero calibration to do.
I love gps. I love the gadgets. But I am looking at the 625. Haven't done it yet, but it would be nice to have a distance factor when I do those long tunnel runs ;) (kidding). The 625 is cool, and I hear the software is great too.
Hope that helps,
-Brandon
3354
Member
1414 days
RV posted 1 year ago.
Another vote for the 305. It is a great tool. And a good deal can be had if you look hard enough.
RV
It takes a long time to get good. - Scott Molina
Slow is smooth; smooth is fast. - Rich Strauss
205
Member
727 days
TriOnLife posted 1 year ago.
You have to decide if mapping is important. If you don't care about mapping your route and looking at it on GoogleEarth then the Polar seems better because you can swim with it. If you like the GPS stuff you need the Garmin.
I'm totally addicted to the GPS features of Garmin (I have a 201) but if it died I would be inclined to go with the Polar so that I could use it on all 3 legs of a tri. You can swim with a Garmin under your cap but it is lumpy, not hydrodynamic and you then have to take time to fetch it out of your cap, out of the ziploc you put it in because it isn't really all that waterproof and then put it on your wrist. Very cumbersome. I also split a silicone cap last time I tried it (grrr..)
- A 21st Century Mom who is tri-ing to get better instead of just getting older
www.breakingthetape.com/21stcenturymom
2
Member
623 days
miret posted 1 year ago.
Thank you all, a lot of great and productive info!
Another quick one, I noticed that the Forerunner 305 bike mounting is not included with the purchase, other than the speed/cadence I coudn’t find the mounting piece
at Garmin.com – please advise what are you using? or where to get the mounting accessory?
Thanks,
Miret
169
Member
749 days
solidad posted 1 year ago.
305 - I got it for Christmas and I have loved it! Integrates well with trainingpeaks and the course feature (allowing you to run or ride against a past performance) is great.
As for the swim comments, I wish I could swim in it, but I actually do not use HR for swim intensity rather proposrtions of my 1000M T-pace. This has been very effective for me.
Also, I just read on the Garmin site that they are selling a mount for the bike so you can clip from your wrist to your bike and back for faster transition. I did not use mine in my last race, left it on the bike. For my HIM in May, this will be great.
257
Member
967 days
fittycent posted 1 year ago.
miret;64705 wrote:
Another quick one, I noticed that the Forerunner 305 bike mounting is not included with the purchase, other than the speed/cadence I coudn’t find the mounting piece
at Garmin.com – please advise what are you using? or where to get the mounting accessory?
No mounting needed - I just wear it on my wrist.
Is time for me to replace my old and broken Polar 610 and I'm considering one of the above. Including all the including the bike sensors (cadence, mounting, etc...) Garmin is cheaper for around $80-100.
BTW to all the current Polar users, Polar will trade-in your old watch and apply 30% off toward a new purchase!
Does anybody have experience with any of the above watches?
Thanks,
Miret