Best sports watch for cycling?

Equipment
1

I currently have a polar vantage v2 that I use to track my activities, most of which b is cycling. It doesn’t work with my jetblack victory (it pairs, but doesn’t show power). Polar as a company also doesn’t seem particularly interested in cycling, so metrics like tss, if and np are hard to find or not there at all.

It was a gift so it’s been fine, but I’m looking to move on.

A couple of features I’m looking for

  • maps for hiking

  • All day activity and heart rate tracking, sleep tracking

  • Cycling stats as first class citizens

  • Support for jetblack victory and assioma power meters

  • Colour - I do like a bit of colour - this is not a hard requirement though

I don’t care about smart watch features

I could probably get a Garmin, but their price rises seem crazy (1k for a watch?!?!)

I can wait till Black Friday for sales

Any recommendations?

2

Given your list of requirements, a Garmin is really the only solution. But agree you will pay a big Garmin premium (feels even bigger than the Apple premium these days). If you can wait till Black Friday / Cyber Monday, I would do that - when it gets closer, check the DCRainmaker tracker for deals.

4

If I were you I’d look for a generation or two old garmin fenix or epix.

Couple of places in the UK have the epix pro for under £370 which is a bit of a bargain.

5

Yep as long as you don’t need the newest there are great deals that roll around very often on Garmin watches. I got an Epix gen 2 for $400 USD. It replaced a Fenix 5X that I got a year old (but unused watch) for $368, wore for almost 7 years and then sold for $100.

6

I have an epix gen 2. Got it last year on prime day. I don’t know what else I need out of a watch

7

As mentioned above, I would take a look at https://www.dcrainmaker.com/ where he does very detailed reviews and comparisons of lots of different watches.

8

You could even try tapping him in to the discussion :thinking:

@dcrainmaker

9

Love my Fenix 7 solar