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I’m DC RAINMAKER…
I swim, bike and run. Then, I come here and write about my adventures. It’s as simple as that. Most of the time. If you’re new around these parts, here’s the long version of my story.
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Smart Trainers Buyers Guide: Looking at a smart trainer this winter? I cover all the units to buy (and avoid) for indoor training. The good, the bad, and the ugly.
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In Depth Product Reviews
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Here’s my most recent GPS watch guide here, and cycling GPS computers here. Plus there are smart trainers here, all in these guides cover almost every category of sports gadgets out there. Looking for the equipment I use day-to-day? I also just put together my complete ‘Gear I Use’ equipment list, from swim to bike to run and everything in between (plus a few extra things). And to compliment that, here’s The Girl’s (my wife’s) list. Enjoy, and thanks for stopping by!
Have some fun in the travel section.
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My Photography Gear: The Cameras and Equipment I Use Daily
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The Swim/Bike/Run Gear I Use List
Many readers stumble into my website in search of information on the latest and greatest sports tech products. But at the end of the day, you might just be wondering “What does Ray use when not testing new products?”. So here is the most up to date list of products I like and fit the bill for me and my training needs best! DC Rainmaker 2023 swim, bike, run, and general gear list. But wait, are you a female and feel like these things might not apply to you? If that’s the case (but certainly not saying my choices aren’t good for women), and you just want to see a different gear junkies “picks”, check out The Girl’s Gear Guide too.
Thanks for the review. I’m not really interested in downloading my swim workouts so I am thinking about buying the $100 Poolmate. Does the lower priced Poolmate have basically the same functionality and accuracy of the Pro? Is it worth purchasing if one does not want to download and is looking to save some money?
good review. thanks. it kind of makes me want to start swimming just so i can use it…
As always, thanks for the great review!
A few questions:
1. How do these watches work? How do they know that you’ve done a lap? Is it really as simple as just starting to swim and when you stop, you have your number of laps?
2. From your review of the Garmin 310XT, it appears that the 310XT does not have a lap function. Do you think this will be included in the new release that will probably come later this spring?
3. What are some of my options if I want to spend less on a lap watch (I guess I’m echoing Denny’s question.)?
Again, thanks for the review!
Good Review. Reiterating David’s first question, couldn’t Garmin have a software update to use as a lap counter for swimming too? Is it possible
Ray,
Some info for your in depth review. I have emailed customer service at Swimovate several times over a few days. Unfortunately, due to tiny email servers at work, I have to delete most of my emails so I can keep sending/receiving, so I can’t share the actual emails.
Anyway, I always received clear and complete responses within only a few hours from sending my questions. Over the several days, the responses came from the same customer service rep…so I think Swimovate is still a small company…or they only have 1 customer service rep.
I asked about Mac software compatibility and TrainingPeaks integration. You can look at the website and there are clear notes that Mac software is in the works. The customer service rep noted that it should be out with a few weeks (this was a few weeks ago) and that she had seen/used the Mac software herself and thought it good. She also noted, that the hardware (watch and download cradle) will be the same, so people could get the watch now…and download to Mac when the software shows up.
As far as TrainingPeaks. Swimovate products are not supported, but the customer service rep said Swimovate desired for TrainingPeaks to integrate. I did a little research over at TP and it looks like both sides need to come together on the issue…I think they are both waiting for the other said to make a move. Perhaps a bunch of your readers could email both companies and tell them to “Get Hot!”
All in all, I was impressed with the customer service via email from Swimovate. I get the impression they are actively seeking (or at least accepting) of user feedback and requests. I don’t have a watch, but the service was good enough I would consider them before other products based on the service alone.
Thanks for a good review, I’ve been swimming with the standard Poolmate watch for a few months now and it’s easy to use when after a while.
Accuracy is very good for long freestyle sets however I’ve had recurring issues when doing sets where you turn from freestyle into backstroke. For some reason it fails to pick up the turn and throws out the counter. Overall I find it a useful tool for lap swimming.
Improvements would be
– greater detail on splits, ie averages of 1.18 per 100m is ok but down to 100ths of a second would be better.
– being able to pull out the splits across a 400m swim
I would agree that customer service with Swimovate has been very good over the past year. They have been swiftly responsive to my emails and my upgrades, first from the Metric Only to the Imperial/Metric watch and then to the Pro watch.
FINIS has been hard to deal with – many times over the past year I’ve called to inquire about the touted Aqua-Pulse HR monitor and could never get a live human. That worries me some.
Thus far, no issues with the Poolmate or PoolMate Pro watches and I find them very accurate and easy to use. I got used to the LOG recall button press pattern and never lose a file anymore by accidental erasure.
Looking forward to the haed-to-head with the SwimSense!
I have been weighing up the pros and cons of both of these now for a while, and I was waiting for your comparison post.
However after speaking to both Swimovate and Finis I have pretty much decided to go with the Pool Mate Pro.
The main reason for this, is the data downloaded is simply stored in a .csv file on the machine, and Swimovate will send you the specs for this if you email them (very quickly too!)
As a software dev, it then makes it very easy to manipulate this and import it directly into my other online plans. So while there is no online training log directly, I actually believe the ability to get at your data is far more beneficial.
Finis did tell me they were working on a data download function for their software, but who knows when we’ll see this – and I want my data now!
Just a shame it’s not ANT+ as I have a Sony Ericsson X10 Mini Pro with ANT+ – it could be syncing to that in the changing room and uploading via my Android app all before I’m dried!
Great review as always. I have been using the PoolMate Pro for about a month and I think it falls a bit short of the mark. It could be a great training tool with an update to the software but until this happens, it is not much better than a cheap sports watch.
1) it does not show pace/stroke count within a set (e.g. if you are swimming 500 straight, there is no way to find out the pace or stroke count for the 1st 100 vs the last 100); 2) it is not mac compatible (as stated above, this has been in the works for some time now); 3) I can export the .csv file but don’t know what good this will do me (Training Peaks doesn’t accept the swimovate files); 4) it does not show rest intervals; 5) there does not seem to be a way to stop/start within a session (i.e. all ‘pauses’ are counted as part of the total time of the session); 6) stroke count only counts the strokes on the arm with the watch (yes, this is obvious but it can lead to significant fluctuations if you always begin a length by stroking with the same arm).
Great review, thanks! Can’t wait for your blow-by-blow comparison between the FINIS Swimsense and the Pool-Mate Pro. I’m having difficulty deciding which one would be better for my training. Thanks again!
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Randy, so these .csv files doesn’t upload on Training Peaks? Ray can you confirm this?
I really like my Training Peaks calendar and how organized I have everything there having the Pool Mate pro and having to input manually into Training Peaks makes me want to go for the old Pool Mate.
It seems like a great training tool on water, but that useless .csv file hold me from getting one.
oh and BTW, great review, I love all of them, thanks for your great work.
Hi Denny-
RE: Functioanlity diffs
Yes, the lower priced one does everything the Pro does…except without the download piece.
Hi Marathonmaiden-
Thanks!
Hi David-
RE: How the watches work
They use accellerometers to understand strokes and when you change direction.
RE: 310XT lap function
It has a lap function, just not a swimming function. I’m hearing hints that the new version will indeed have some swimming functions…but I wouldn’t bet on it yet.
Hi Bmatt-
RE: Garmin updating to include lap counter
No, the 310XT (nor any other Garmin watch to date) does not contain an accellerometer in it.
Hi Brian-
RE: Integration with TP
Both companies are on it. You’ll see Swimsense very very shortly, but Pool-Mate Pro is a wee bit further behind.
Hi Anon’s-
RE: Feedback
Thanks for the feedback, it’s appreciated!
Hi Anon-
RE: CSV
The Swimsense now includes CSV export, fwiw.
Hi Randy-
RE: Shortfalls
All very valid points. Fwiw, all of your items are actually in Swimsense. Except stroke measurement in sum, Swimesense also shows per arm.
Hi Justin-
Thanks!
Hi Yabriel
RE: CSV and TP
Correct, to date you can’t use the Pool-Mate Pro CSV files with Training Peaks. That’s coming, but progress wise they aren’t as far with Pool-Mate as they are with Swimsense. I’d guess a few months away based on conversations. Thanks for the feedback!
Thanks everyone!
Thanks for the review!! after reading it, i decided to buy it at link to axtrosports.com
I just purchased my poolmate pro with a fair amount of research and what I feel to be fair expectations.
On my first swim I tried all my tricks to see just what it could and could not do. Surprisingly it was the simple things that threw it. The user manual says not to push the buttons under water so I found myself stopping at the wall with my hands out of the water to ensure a quick stop of the counter. This consistently missed counting my final lap(70% of the time).
It had not difficulty with my 100 IM sprint(switching between 4 strokes in 100yds on one set). It also had no trouble tracking my strokes for elementary backstroke(rescue stroke), corkscrew or underwater frog during cool down.
It did fail me on reporting distance during kicking drills. I was expecting 1 stroke per lap and with flip turns I also expected it to track the laps/distance. But it gave me 4minutes of goose eggs for data, Oh well. At least it never ended the session on me during kick drills.
Due to the missed wall counts at the end of my sets most of my calculated data was garbage(sorry I mean rubbish). ie str/lap, speed, str length, str rate and efficiency. No worries though, I spent a fair amount of time playing with the CSV export values in excel. I am very pleased to have the data in this format. With some time I was able to recreate all of the calculated metrics in the file for accurate import to their software. I did notice some slop in the accuracy of their calcs but it is acceptable considering the limits of such a processor.
Also of note.. explanation of units window clears up the units for calories burned as kilo calories. So Multiply their number by 1000. That’s better.
I have some more learning to do before the watch and I truly understand each other but it is still a sweet piece of hardware.
-Nick-
hi, any news on which web sites can use the csv file?
Ray,
How much does the SwimSense weigh, and what water-resistance ratings does it have? I can’t seem to find that information anywhere. The PoolMate is 41 g and rated to 50 m.
You mention that the PoolMate is thinner. Do you know how thin? I thought I read somewhere that the SwimSense is about 15 mm thick.
Thanks!
Check out my Garmin Swim review, which includes size comparison/photos of all three units right next to each other: link to dcrainmaker.com
Thanks, Ray. I had read that review. I just re-read it and scanned the comments and did not find the answer to my questions. I may try posting my questions over there, as it looks like a lot of users of those watches have been active in the comments.
When I get back home tomorrow I can weigh and measure them. If you don’t see an update by Thursday, just ping me here and I’ll walk over and measure/weight them.
There’s also the Swimovate PoolMate HR model, it sound really good. Did you have a chance to test it ?
“It was when I exercised curiosity in trying to review the workout log on the watch that I got into trouble (both with the old version, but also now the new version). See, in both cases it’s extremely easy to wipe your workout data in a manner of about 1.5 seconds. You can do this simply by pressing the mode button and trying to view the log once that option is shown. That’s because if you then go to confirm the log selection (by logically pressing start), it actually goes to erase mode. Frantically you try and press Mode to undo that selection – but that actually confirms erasing – not backing out.”
Haha – exactly this happened to me after I first tried my Pool Mate HR. 160 laps gone in 2 seconds.
Luckily I was in a good mood and just laughed at myself.