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Small things I always use
- Garmin 90-degree charging adapter: Charges your Garmin from any USB-C cable. Essential when travelling. I use one.
- Body Glide: The blue anti-chafe stick swimmers and runners carry. I use it.
- Speedo earplugs: Fewer ear infections and no cold-water dizziness. I use them.
- Dryrobe Advance: My winter changing robe for open-water swims. I use one. A cheaper option is the AONYIYI changing robe.
- Maurten: Race fuel that stays easy on the stomach. I use them.
- Beet It Sport nitrate shots: Beetroot shots I take in the days before a race. I use them.
- Garmin charging puck: The quickest way to top up before a session. I use one.
- Injinji: Toe socks that stop rubbing, so you run more. I use them.
- Ultimate toe protectors: Stop black toenails on long runs. They work. I use them.
- Compressport R2 v2 calf sleeves: My calf sleeves of choice. I use them.
- Cellucor C4: My pre-workout before hard sessions.
- TPU tubes: Schwalbe Aerothan, Tubolito and Pirelli SmarTube. Light, tiny spares. I use all three.
- G8 insoles: Adjustable insoles that are good. I use them.
- Cycplus Cube: A 97g electric pump that gets a road tyre rideable in two minutes. I carry one. 5% off with code THE5KRUNNER.
Watches and sensors
- Polar H10: My daily driver for waking HRV.
- Polar Verity Sense: My backup arm-worn HR sensor.
- Nomad bedside charger: Charges my iPhone and Apple Watch overnight. I use it, and many of their bands.
- Train.Red: The best muscle oxygen sensor I’ve used.
- Tymewear: Accurate heart rate and reliable ventilatory zones. I use it to pace endurance rides over an hour.
- Garmin Forerunner 970: A pro-grade triathlon watch. I use this.
- Apple Watch Ultra 4: My daily smartwatch. No phone needed on rides.
- Garmin Fenix 9 Pro: I’ve just bought one.
On the bike
- Continental GP5000 for everyday riding, and Aero 111 on the front for special occasions.
- Helmets: Specialized S-Works Evade 3 for road riding, and Rudy Project Wing for TT-style races. I use both.
- Ravemen FR300: A front light that mounts under your Garmin or Wahoo. I use one.
- Ravemen FR1000: The light and the computer mount in one unit, so nothing else goes on the bars. Better than mine.
- Ravemen FR1500SE: 1,500 lumens hanging under your Garmin, for proper night rides.
- Ravemen FR1100SE: 1,100 lumens under your Garmin, and up to 46 hours on slow flash.
- Ravemen FR500: A brighter FR300 with the same mount.
- Wahoo TRACKR Radar: I use it on one bike and Varia on the other. They perform the same.
- Garmin Varia RTL515: Radar that warns you of cars from behind. I use this model.
- Wahoo ELEMNT Roam 3: The bike computer that’s easy to use. I use mine on most rides.
- Favero Assioma Pro RS2: Accurate power pedals that swap easily between bikes. I use this model.
Home and indoor training
- NPE Runn: Makes my basic treadmill smart, sending more accurate speed and distance to my watch and Zwift. I use it.
- Google Wifi: Keeps Zwift connected in my pain cave. I use it.
- Apple TV 4K: Zwift on the big screen. I use two.
- Google Nest Doorbell (wired, 2nd gen): My video doorbell, running in both Google Home and Apple Home. I use it.
Health, recovery and sleep
- FreeStyle Libre 3 Plus: Shows how my blood sugar responds to diet.
- hDrop: Measures my sweat loss in summer and indoors.
- Fourth Frontier Zone: Checks my heart under load in hard sessions.
- Kineon MOVE+: Red and infrared light for sore knees, Achilles and other joints after hard training. I use it.
- Oura Ring 5: My partner’s recovery tracker of choice.
- Eight Sleep: A cooling mattress cover my partner and I use nightly.
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tfk is the founder and author of the5krunner, an independent endurance sports technology publication. With 20 years of hands-on testing of GPS watches and wearables, and competing in triathlons at an international age-group level, tfk provides in-depth expert analysis of fitness technology for serious athletes and endurance sport competitors. See the gear tfk uses. ID
The last two days the Fenix 7 Pro is available for about 400€ At a few retailers in Germany. It almost looks like something is in the bush.
🙂 i just bought one (F6 pro!)
Oh, you are right. If I try to translate it:
„The wish was father of the thought“
There do seem to be various subtle forces attempting to damper gravel enthusiasm with All Road is being offered as a successor lifestyle. Offering another discipline-specific Edge may make less sense than allowing users to pick the device case & faceplate color way. Odds are they thought through the manufacturing process for custom offerings with their wrist wear. Most likely next year will look like this year since nothing is severely maladjusted.
Best chance to get things colored outside the lines is to get a job in Olathe or Cupertino and modify the coloring book. Things are working too well for the dominant players to make big moves in experimentation.
Garoop! 😀
(almost made me snort coffee)
just make sure it’s only coffee and all will be cool
Do you think there is any chance that Garmin will bring out a new Vivosmart in 2022?
hi
yes, i think we will see a wrist band of some sort re-emerge.
bands are in a competitive space and Garmin needs to make good margins…so it’s difficult for them there.
the next logical move would be to do something like whoop whihc is a much higher value wrist product…but as i say above garmin dont seem to be interested as the best time for them to do that has long gone.
Very odd they haven’t released a upper arm optical. I went with a scosche one a few years ago and never looked back to the chest strap. Chest strap while mostly accurate had it’s own problems for me.
Possible Garmin Instinct 2: https://fccid.io/IPH-04094 https://fccid.io/IPH-04095
[edited]
va5 and va5s for March 2022 are my bet
Nice POst
I’m really looking forward to the release of Garmin Forerunner 955.
Could it happen this year?
i wouldnt bet on it but possible
Is there any prediction on a possible evolution of the extra luxury Marq collection?
Due to the fact that Marqs are already out since 2019, and Garmin Fenix 7 seems to be ready for a launch do you thing a renewed extra luxury series will be available in 2022?
I was secretly expecting the MARQ about now…just before Christmas. especially if garmin face chip shortages then a low volume super high value item would make sense and, as you indicate, the scheduling for Marq 2 is perfect.
however. it looks not to be happening now so…2022.