Ha! This post took me on a trip down memory lane! I had to look at my history in Garmin Connect. Started using my Garmin Forerunner 305 back in 2010. Since then I’ve upgraded 3 times: 310XT in 2012, (loved this watch), 235 in 2019, 165 this year in 2025.
That's what I do and works fine, the screen is a little small on my Forerunner 310XT. But I bought it used years ago for 100$ and got the little handlebar mount thing.
I've had lots of Garmin computers and lots of Garmin watches.
The two aren't really compatible.
First started out with a Forerunner 310XT many moons ago that I strapped to mybars. Lasted about a week before I got an Edge 200 and I've had a seperate running watch and bike computer since.
You really don't want to be looking at your wrist all the time when you are cycling and as I've gotten older and need reading glasses a watch on the bars isn't suitable for me anyway. Also there's a lot more real estate on my Edge 1050 compared to my Fenix 8 so lots more data to be seen and I can see different pages of data with a swipe of my finger as well as a navigation screen.
I've also got a Varia radar that makes an audible beep on the computer and gives a graphics indicator of approaching vehicles.
Until very recently I'd been using a Forerunner 310XT that I probably had between 10-15 years! I only stopped using it because the casing broke to the point I couldn't get a wrist strap to attach to it anymore. I couldn't be bothered to try to fix it and didn't fancy holding it in my hand while running, or keeping it in a pocket, so sold it on as good for spare parts.
I'd already got myself a Galaxy Watch for daily use so just use that as a running watch too now. I'm not sure it's quite as good as displaying the info I want/need while running but that could just be a user/config issue. It's more than adequate so I'm in no rush to upgrade to another Garmin.
The other thing that is noteworthy for me about Garmin is that I find the customer service incredible. If there is any issue with your watch/power meter, etc, support is great. Once you get through the "reset the device" nonsense, if it still doesn't solve the problem, they just send you a new refurb. Even if it's out of warranty. I had the FR 205 brick on a wrist. The sealing on that was shit and sweat seeped into the watch. Boom, new replacement. 310XT, the plastic on the buttons would wear through and water leaked in when swimming. Yep, new repalcement. Heck, I had a pair of Vector pedals go bad and not only did they send me new ones, they sent me the Vector 2s. They have my lifetime loyalty and goodwill for that, across 20+ device purchases for myself and my family.
eheh I agree with you. If I was looking for "just" a sport watch it would be easier. I started with a FR310XT, then a FR920XT, a Fenix 3. All watches that could do everything I needed and more - for trail running, triathlon, etc. But now I'm looking for a replacement for my Vivoactive 4, something I'd wear everyday and also use while training. I like to play music while running without having the phone, I want to use it in the pool. The VA4 never did a 15h+ trail race, not even capable of openwater recording (I would simply tie it to my swim buoy). So, I get what you're saying.
With that in mind, what I'm looking for now is a watch I can wear casually, fits while wearing a shirt (the Fenix 3 HR is huuuuge), but that I could also use for "casual" activities. Swimming in the pool seems simple enough, but I was thrown out by the lack of control with the AW in the pool: with any other watch I press a button to start an interval, press it again to stop it, and repeat for a new interval, and I can see metrics (time, distance) during each interval for just that interval. I was surprised to read the AW seems to not do that.
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Long battery; but wrist HR tracking is inconsistent.
javajo91
