Garmin 935: First Run With STRYD

27 June 2017

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My Polar V800 has been having too much fun recently now that is able to natively pair with STRYD

Today it was the turn of the Garmin 935 to partner with the STRYD power footpod. Will it be a gadget match made in heaven or an acrimonious split up?

The setup was a tortuous process. After 2 minutes I was ready to go. 2 whole minutes. eesh (joking…it’s really that quick) 😉

Just pair it to the Garmin as normal for any sensor (optionally and sensibly set STRYD ALWAYS as the source of speed & leave auto calibration enabled)
Make sure you have already downloaded the STRYD data field (not the app)
Stick the data field onto one of your screens (as shown above)
That’s it.

Press Start. Run A Bit. Press Stop.

Go to Garmin connect to admire your data. As shown below in a very interesting steady state run chart 😉

A more interesting run would have yielded more interesting data. You can look at other views of your data on the STRYD app/dashboard, sporttracks, Golden Cheetah or training peaks. If you decide to run or bike with power there are LOTS of data analyses to keep you entertained in the evening.

Review: STRYD is looked at in a **lot** more detail (here).

Getting a little more serious. The point of today’s run was many fold.

Firstly there seems to be a bit of an issue with some of the other new Fenix 5 models (the 935 *is* a Fenix 5). Not all of them are connecting to some third party sensors including connecting to STRYD & STAGES. However as you can see all was Hunky-Dory with STRYD for me; Mr Bowie himself would have been impressed. No dropouts. Just good data. All the time.

STRYD+Garmin 935 looks good to me.

I’d only previously used the Fenix 5X with STRYD and that was OK too…apparently it’s the 5s and 5 models that can be an issue. I’ll be trying those later this week hopefully.

Secondly I had a bit of a debacle with the 5X in general. The review of that is linked to next but, basically, the 5X is REALLY not all it’s cracked up to be. I was disappointed with the accuracy of many of its onboard sensors (oHR, GPS, elevation). So I wanted also to make sure if the 935 was good/bad in those respects (I’m still working on that).

Review: Garmin Fenix 5X and the 5 collection (including 935) looked at in more detail (here).

Thirdly – assessing the 935’s GPS Accuracy again: The 935 scored better than the 5X in terms of GPS accuracy but still really only in the ‘meh‘ category. Ie perfectly fine for normal-Jo-average usage, but I just expected better from the most expensive tri-watch ever. Its GPS is not as good as the SPARTAN SPORT and neither is it as good as the V800’s GPS…in fact it scored the same as the GPS on the Garmin 305…sigh.

For those of you that run by pace I again draw your attention to STRYD. The instant pace that is shown on the watch via STRYD is VERY GOOD. I would use some superlative but then someone will have a go at me so I won’t.

IT’S AWESOME

Sorry couldn’t resist 😉 It’s WAY better than just relying on GPS. WAY WAY WAY better. With the 935 I was glancing at the pace figures periodically and generally it looked very stable, although there may have been a few fluctuations but certainly nothing anywhere like those experienced with GPS+TREE/BUILDING COVER . NB many other footpods will give a significant improvement in instant pace accuracy when compared to GPS eg a Garmin footpod or the super cheap milestone footpod (see below).

In other news: I’ve almost decided to promote the 935 to my “Ironman watch” in a few weeks time. It’s been a very good boy so far. We’ll see if it continues to behave itself. I’ll be wearing a HRM-TRI and using an EDGE as well though…just in case. 😉 Oh yes, STRYD too, that’s doing the full 26.2 miles.

Bad news for you/us 920XT fans, maybe? You might have to upgrade after all #expensive.

STRYD Info

I partner directly with STRYD in the USA and their distributor New Running Gear in the EU.

Best REI/Wiggle/PMC price is linked to. Prices typically $/£/Eu25 and UNlikely to fall.

thank you for completing your purchase here - choice of local retailers

18 Comments

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Peter UBERTO

3 years ago

How did you like the results when uploaded to the Stryd Power Center. And the Stryd Runner Profile Diagram, that shows comparisons between Metabolic Fitness, Muscle endurance and Muscle Power on the unique 3 phase diagram. The goal is to get a similar value in all of the 3 metrics. Also when a gel lubricated Heart rate chest sensor is used ( dont like OHR ), you can determine over several weeks or a month where you need to focus your training on to be a better overall runner.
What are your thoughts??

tfk, the5krunner

Admin

Reply to Peter UBERTO

3 years ago

looks good as here: https://the5krunner.com/2017/04/11/stryd-powercenter-new-features-added/
I had a few problems displaying it in internet explorer
not sure your interpretation is correct that you aim for 3 equal measures. it depends on what you train for
runner profile type diagram is not unique. xert do very similar thing

Slowrunner

3 years ago

“The instant pace that is shown on the watch via STRYD is VERY GOOD. I would use some superlative but then someone will have a go at me so I won’t.
Sorry couldn’t resist ? It’s WAY better than just relying on GPS”

Maybe a bit off-topic, but have you ever tried/tested milestone.pod?
I asking because I like to buy a foot pod to my Polar V800 and I don’t care for Power and Polars own stride sensor seems big and clumsy and this is much cheap.

Slowrunner

Reply to Slowrunner

3 years ago

cheaper 🙂

tfk, the5krunner

Author

Reply to Slowrunner

3 years ago

I’ve ‘played’ with it. for the money it seems excellent. I usually give it as an alternative to stryd and as a cheaper alternative also to a garmin footpod.

Jeremy

Reply to tfk, the5krunner

3 years ago

The Fenix 5 GPS is such a let down for me. I currently have a Garmin footpod that I’ve been debating on using for instant pace, since the F5 is terrible for pacing. Is the Stryd worth the upgrade from the Garmin Footpod, or do you think the Garmin is good enough? My only concern is that Garmin uses the GPS to recalibate the footpod, so not sure I can trust it.

tfk, the5krunner

Author

Reply to Jeremy

3 years ago

the garmin footpod is good enough. but the stryd IS more accurate. depends on what accuracy you need.
stryd is fine without calibration
my experience with garmin footpods (I used to use them all the time) was that they were fine providing you auto calibrated for the speed you intended to run out in the future.
if you decide to go for stryd there is a 10% discount code at the end of my review: https://the5krunner.com/2016/12/01/review-stryd-footpod-running-power-meter/

Jeremy

Reply to tfk, the5krunner

3 years ago

Thanks. Too bad Garmin dropped the ball in regards to the GPS on the F5. It’s a beautiful device otherwise.

I just sent a note over to Stryd to see if they are still having compatibility issues with the F5. I’ve been following over on the Garmin forums, but they just updated the forums and are having some issues.

Thanks again.

Justin

Supporter

3 years ago

The lock-on and continued signal between the 935 and Styd is light years ahead of the Fenix 5. I’ve been through the 5X (which was underwhelming and for my watch unable to connect to ANY sensor) and the plain ol’ 5, which couldn’t hold a signal if it’s life depended on it (take your pick, all radio signals were beyond its ability). I’m on week (2) with the 935 and I haven’t had a single disconnect with Stryd, my HRM-Tri or anything else i’ve tried to use. Because of this training effects have been spot on because the watch isn’t dropping data from the chest strap (or power meter) so things like Anaerobic, which are relying on either heart rate OR power over periods of time, can establish the right read out. The watch can’t do that if the Ant + signal is dropping off HR data from the strap and then drops down to the industry standard 72 bpm (which garmin likes for a baseline on the OHRM) while it re- establishes the chest strap connection. Janky information like that can RUIN your metrics (example 165 bpm for over a minute on a run, and being z4 for someone… Read more »

tfk, the5krunner

Author

Reply to Justin

3 years ago

I seem to be getting bored with always agreeing with you 😉

the 935’s oHR doesn’t seem that great to me tho. so far. I need to quantify it but even today I had sections where anaerobic stuff seemed not to be being recorded…at the end of the exercise 0.1 anaerobic TE…hmmmm. I think the elevation deteriorates over time too (again TBC)

Justin

Supporter

Reply to tfk, the5krunner

3 years ago

Great minds think alike 🙂 I don’t use the OHRM for anything beyond Activity tracking and the occasional recorded walk, but when it comes down to using for both; the 935 reports far better information than either Fenix 5 watches i’ve owned or even my Fenix 3HR. It’s not that the sensor is better; it’s the same one that’s on the Fenix 5 line, it just doesn’t move around at all when i’m wearing it. No external light is bleeding in, the watch algorithm doesn’t have to compensate for movement, it reports fine for those things. On recovery days, I get a smooth active calorie count vs the nonsense numbers i’d get back from any of the Fenix watches, I never have to wait for the watch to measure in the widget. It’s just there reading in real time. When tracking a walk, my HR is perfectly in-line with my normal walking HR (like what it is outside the tracked walk, so regular all day tracking, but now with gps info). As for the anaerobic, check your HR zones on the watch and the website. I’m assuming when running you are working off LTHR for runs, make sure your RHR… Read more »

tfk, the5krunner

Author

Reply to Justin

3 years ago

ah yes I think you are right about the making the zones wrong and then making them right, I’ve done that before. but I think the prob was under-reading by the oHR…down by >10bpm in the hard bits of my run. something like that

ahtramos

3 years ago

And to know I was almost buying the Fenix 5 because the 935 wasn’t available. Glad I waited because I am really enjoying the 935 with Stryd and H10. Didn’t try cycling mode yet, but I guess GPS should work a little better due to more open spaces.

Regarding the oHR accuracy, I found it was really good when is tight enough (I have been testing with different strap holes) running over treadmills or outside, but I really need to do a better comparison since I didn’t put completely side by side with the H10 results.

tfk, the5krunner

Author

Reply to ahtramos

3 years ago

yep i’d go for the 935 over the fenix….any of them

Lasse

3 years ago

“Bad news for you/us 920XT fans, maybe? You might have to upgrade after all #expensive.”. I can’t figure out the difference between a FR935 with STRYD and a FR920XT with STRYD (in means of recorded/displayed data).

tfk, the5krunner

Author

Reply to Lasse

3 years ago

no difference.
I meant 920xt owners might be wanting to spend money to upgrade

Damon Burnett

2 years ago

I have a question with regards to using Stryd and the 935 (as I want to buy one): if I’m using the Virtual Partner feature, does that use my Stryd info? Or the GPS info?

tfk, the5krunner

Admin

Reply to Damon Burnett

2 years ago

you pair stryd as a foot pod. you then configure the paired ant+ sensor as either the SOURCE of speed and or distance as a sensor property. So I guess it would use STRYD in VP where you are running against a pace, where you are running against a course it would ahev to use gps.