Question:I was looking for a new watch to help me during training, the last one i see
is the nike triak elite hrm/sdm but i'm not sure if it will do fine or not
as the reviews i'm reading are not so convincing.
I don't want to go for the polar 625x as too expensive,
now i have a nike 50laps who does his job very
nice What is your advice on the nike? Is it worth the pain or better leave
everything like it is
Answer:
I got an RS200sd about 6 weeks ago. It's fantastic. I was concerned
about the footpod bugging me, but I don't notice it at all. The
spped/distance is at least 99% accurate without calibration. Unlike GPS
units, it doesn't mind bridges, tall buildings, trees, mountains, etc
(this can be a problem here in Calgary at least because there aren't
all that many satellites around). Also, it comes with the new WearLink
fabric chest strap which is way better than the old plastic ones. It
does up/download to a PC via SonicLink, and it's a nice-looking watch
too. Totally recommended. Plus, it only cost CDN$260 (under US$200 I
should think).
How does it do with drastic stride length changes...steep uphills, long
downhills, flats and rocky areas (choppy steps)?
My impression is that it handles it well. The only thing I've noticed
is that the instantaneous readout fluctuates a little with sharp
corners (like more than 90 degrees), perhaps because of the direction
of movement. As long as your feet are going in a straight line, I think
it works perfectly. According to the local marathon's km-markers, it is
within 20 m on each km split, and usually within 10 m.
My guess is that it measures acceleration/deceleration along the axis
of the foot with a MEMS accelerometer. It is not measuring distance
directly, so it doesn't matter how long/short the strides are, only
what direction they go in. I have read on the net that it measures in
3D, but that seems unlikely, based on how big the pod is.
You can calibrate it for different terrain, running track, roads, etc.
If you note down the calibration factor for each type, I guess you
could set it for each one, or use an average. Depends how much accuracy
you want/need.
By the way, if you don't want to splash out on a watch for distance
measurement, check this out...
I've got an S625x which uses the same footpod. I'm basically happy with
it. If you're considering any of these footpod based computers.
