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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.
- 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.
- 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.
- Oura Ring 5: My partner’s recovery tracker of choice.
- Kineon MOVE+: Red light therapy for niggles. It works.
- 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. ID
Very interesting…
Had several runs with Vantage V2 this week, and it fared quite well compared to Forerunner 945 LTE. There was a spot or two on a 10-mile run where V2 lost the story a little bit, but similarly a spot or two from FR945. Nothing drastic in either cases. I’d certainly expect Grit X Pro to match V2 performance. I remember the original Grit X was solid. At least, where I normally run.
If it indeed performs like Fenix… Ouch!
That said, having followed the route in DCR Analyzer, while it was almost always shifted to the side by like 5-7 m, it wasn’t awfully off like F6 was several times. The total distance neatly matches Ambit, which was the best, and AW. So does heart rate, which is on par with AW and HRM Pro.
I’m sure we gonna see some tweaks to GPS in the post-release firmware.
Any reason FR935, which track looked pretty good, is so much shorter than Ambit?
fr935 was in back pocket and recording HRM-PRO. not valid for gps.
I understand the backpack. But the track looked fine, it’s just come up really short compared to others.
the spreadsheet that has all the results for each device has my official figures for distance for the 935 vs the rest. they are all +/-1% of the median which is interesting in itself
“The best Garmin and the best Polar are not as good as the mid-range Apple Watch at just over half the price.”
The fact two of the biggest names in the sport watch sector haven’t taken OHRM accuracy seriously over multiple generations makes me all kinds of worried.
And I mean seriously, because Apple has been the industry leader in wrist-based ohr for years now. Enough so that multiple apps suggest or demand you use the apple watch for measurements within their program or app.
Not once do you see them say something like “We suggest users use Garmin’s Fenix *X* or Forerunner *xxx* for the best accuracy.” And sure, Garmin and co aren’t building tech just so some 3rd party can piggy back their breakthroughs, but people buy Garmin or Polar because they perceive them as industry leaders in all ways.
None of these companies seemed bothered to make this work.
it’s hard!
but, yes.