Oregon Velo � Blog Archive » Photos: Cross Crusade’s Hillsboro Stadium  It was a muddy and cold weekend in Portland… so why not join in on a bike race!  After looking at the photos at the link above I am not quite sure why I do this (I acutally pay people to enter these things), other than it begets the worst and best feelings  I have each week… more so the latter.  Cyclocross racing in the mud, rain, and even snow in the fall is similar to what the winter’s snow is to me, fun (although there is no comparison to snow).  The other cool part is it’s a chance to meet more crazy and fun people.

So I am kind of in the market for a new watch. I currently have the Polar S720i and Garmin Foretrex 101 (for “big” open ocean kayaking inter-island trips and long backpacking trips) watch which has most of the features I want EXCEPT speed/distance measurement via a “pod” and/or a GPS functionality. The sports this thing will have to support are biking, kayaking, skiing, blading, mountaineering, and running (trail < -- important consideration when using GPS based systems). After some initial research I narrowed my search down to three vendors (the "short list") - Polar, Suunto, and Garmin. The watch requirements were of course in conflict, so it came down to balancing/weightings for what would be best. No, I didn't create an xls for this one, I managed most of the weightings and scores in my head.

The Polar S625x or S725x is probably the one to upgrade too if I had to right now, but I think I will wait until the "next" thing comes out in this space as most of these watches have been out a while now. The Garmin 305 would have won, but the battery life (only 10 hrs then requires a recharge) knocked it out of the running. The Suunto T6 was knocked out because the foot pod sensor isn't waterproof/resistant, even though they supply a case for it (for another $10 of course, which is cheap considering the whole setup goes for $500+). Not too mention the Suunto software wasn't as good for analytical purposes as the Polar software (Garmin wasn't so strong in the software category either). None of these watches are that far off for what I am looking for, but when it comes to dropping $500 and the fact that I already have a decent watch, these "little" things kill the deal for now.

The summary is I am going to hold out for a watch that has:

1. decent profile (not too heavy or large on the wrist)
2. heart rate monitor (for training, albeit, I don’t like that word much)
3. distance/speed measurements (this will help me nail down my pace in my head so during AR’s I can accurately estimate the team’s pace, and thus distance – useful for navigating with a compass)
4. altimeter (required for AR’s, unless banned of course)
5. waterproof (including all accessories – e.g. bike mount/measurements and speed/distance pods)
6. bike integration (need one watch for my tri’s and AR’s)
7. ideally a GPS option with the foot pod option too (like the Garmin 305 Forerunner) – that way I can use the foot pod if training/racing in the woods and the GPS for open water/trail use
8. good coding technology (so the sensors – e.g. bike, heart rate, and speed/distance pod send data without error to the watch)
9. Infrared/cable (USB) PC and software integration for tracking/analysis purposes
10. Battery life of at least 10 days (required for multi-day expedition trips and/or races)

As I was researching the latest in waterproof materials I found that there’s a good alternative, perhaps better alternative, to Goretex and it’s called Sympatex. I have heard of this material before, but was glad I made a few minutes to look more into it. I found this article which explains the difference between the two fabrics in a simple, but effective fashion (ALPINE PRO – FAQ). Sympatex is non-porous and requires less maintenance, while Goretex is porous and requires more maintenance. The only down side I can see to Sympatex is perhaps weight since it is consists of layers vs. Goretex which can just be one “sheet” of material.