I’ve enjoyed 2016 and I hope you all have too.
The overarching stand-out theme for me for 2016 was “Stuff is starting to look good”: Garmin, Polar, Suunto and many others have produced some really pretty bits of kit.
My product highlight of the year has to be the Suunto SPARTAN. I fully appreciate all the ‘issues’ around the product and its release schedule.
It was my highlight as it provided a great source of debate and also an insight into the technical & marketing difficulties around delivering a replacement to a much-respected and technically rich product (AMBIT3).
My wish would have been that it went better for Suunto.
Next would come the new STRYD power meter footpod. I’m looking forward to using power more as a tool for my training as well as querying it’s super-accuracy for footpod-sourced pace/speed.
Then would come Polar’s M600 and A360. Both great for their own markets. Awesome-looking products.
The low point of the year would be my failure to predict the correct release of Garmin’s 930XT/935XT, Fenix 4 and Polar’s V800 replacement. Apologies. Q1.2017 awaits for hopefully two of those! And of course it’s the Fenix 5 not Fenix 4 (ahem). I loved the market-leading feature-set of Garmin’s Edge 820 yet am still not happy with how it’s working (it’s not) nor am I happy with my Garmin 920XT which seems to be playing up as soon as the warranty expired…grrrrr…maybe I’ll buy a 5th replacement next year.
Here were some of my biggest talking points in 2016.
December 2016: Mizuno Waverider 20 – the latest greatest evolution
December 2016: I decide to do an Ironman. As they say…”lol”.
D
ecember 2016: STRYD – ‘power’ for running measurement comes to the foot
November 2016: Garmin Fenix 5 Collection, Previews & Opinions for 2017
November: Polar M600, the best strategic move in 2016.AndroidWear goes endurance.
October 2016: Runscribe PRO, the running ‘form’ tool
October 23016: Suunto SPARTAN Sport, Suunto take on the might of Garmin
October 2016: The Best GPS Running Watch Awards 2016
September 2016: Garmin Edge 820 – ‘Most featured’, best-ever cycling computer?
June 2016: The Best Triathlon Watch Awards 2016
May 2016: 
Garmin Forerunner 735XT the populist tri watch for runners or the populist running watch for triathletes
April 2016: BSX Insight – Muscle Oxygenation & Lactate threshold Estimation
March 2016: ROTOR InPower 3d+ and ROTOR Q-Rings with MAS
February 2016: Polar A360 Activity Tracker
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https://www.amazon.com/Suunto-Spartan-Trainer-Wrist-Blue/dp/B01I05CAAO/254-3754471-2042335?ie=UTF8&*Version*=1&*entries*=0&th=1
It’s up.. hopefully it launches soon.
nice
Battery life up to 8H in training mode, 10 days in time mode
• Wrist hr measurement and 24/7 activity tracking
• Slim & lightweight design with 50 meter water resistance
• Integrated GPS with real-time breadcrumb view
• Sport-specific training modes for triathlon, running, and overall training