Most accurate non-Stryd footpod?

So by it seems pretty well established that compared to the 935 the fenix 5X is unfortunately not great in the pace/distance accuracy department. I love the mapping and looks of the 5X, but on its own it simply is not good enough for my marathon training. By contrast, the 935 (without a footpod) will probably be good enough for my training. I know several people on these forums have the Stryd, but I can't justify the $400 difference between the 935 without a footpod and the 5X with a Stryd. So that leads me to this question: What is the best non-Stryd footpod?

I know Fellrnr includes some pods in his GPS Accuracy Chart. He includes the Milestone, but that doesn't sync to a 5X, as far as I can tell. Is the Garmin Footpod the best cheap, non-Stryd option? Does anyone have a sense of how big the difference in accuracy is between the Stryd and the Garmin footpod?

0 FlipStone over 8 years ago

If I recall correctly, I think that I had to add the milestone through the Bluetooth settings first and then it showed up under the sensors and accessories. You may need to shake the pod (until the green light comes on) before it will show up under the Bluetooth settings.

Hmmm, thanks! (I assume you mean the 'connect to phone' option in the quicksettings thingie? As I can find no bluetooth settings in the general settings menu)

Gonna give it another try this evening :)

0 gjmachete over 8 years ago

Hmmm, thanks! (I assume you mean the 'connect to phone' option in the quicksettings thingie? As I can find no bluetooth settings in the general settings menu)

Gonna give it another try this evening :)

I am sorry, but I did not recall correctly. I just checked my 5x, and I am not seeing any Bluetooth option under settings. I must have used "add new" under sensors and accessories. I definitely did not have to disconnect the pod from my phone, but I did have to shake the pod a few times for the green light to come on. If you continue to have problems, you could try to reset the pod or take the battery out of the pod and pop it in again. Maybe the firmware update to the pod did not take? I am not sure how to check the version.

0 FlipStone over 8 years ago

I am sorry, but I did not recall correctly. I just checked my 5x, and I am not seeing any Bluetooth option under settings. I must have used "add new" under sensors and accessories. I definitely did not have to disconnect the pod from my phone, but I did have to shake the pod a few times for the green light to come on. If you continue to have problems, you could try to reset the pod or take the battery out of the pod and pop it in again. Maybe the firmware update to the pod did not take? I am not sure how to check the version.

Strange, not working for me it seems... I updated the fw today (apparently there was a new one again), but still doesn;t connect. Weird...

0 gjmachete over 8 years ago

Strange, not working for me it seems... I updated the fw today (apparently there was a new one again), but still doesn;t connect. Weird...

FWIW, in contrast to other sensors, it takes some time to connect. Even now that it is paired to my 5x, it can take a few minutes before it shows up as connected. Are you seeing the green light on the pod? Are you waiting for a few minutes for it to appear?

0 FlipStone over 8 years ago

When I shake with it a bit the green light turns on, but it doesn't stay on (and it shouldn't if I recall correctly?)...

I tried resetting it as well, but no luck. It does connect to my phone right away again (so indeed the light doesn;t need to be on it seems).

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Hi,

I would like to make sure that I understand correctly the extent of the data obtained with the Garmin foot pod:

1 - The foot pod provides only data for distance, pace and cadence.

2- If it is not selected for Speed or Distance in the settings, the foot pod pace / distance won't be recorded.

3 - If it is not selected for Speed in the settings, the foot pod pace cannot be displayed except using a specific CIQ datafield (https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?376725-Foot-Pod-Pace-on-all-Connect-IQ-watches).

4 - Will the cadence from the foot pod override the data from the watch itself whatever the settings? This would make sense.

0 CloggyAbroad over 8 years ago

I have a milestonepod which previously connected to my 935 without any problems. After reading this thread I tried again and it failed to connect. Since I last used it there have been updates to the firmware on both the milestonepod and the watch, so it's a bit difficult to say what is causing this connection issue now.

With regards to Garmin foot pods, I have done some work with these for my Foot Pod Pace data field. I am getting repeatable and stable results from mine, but the calibration factor does vary quite a bit with pace. At my 5k pace I get around 99.5, at my slow run pace I get 104. This is without removing the foot pod from the shoe I was testing with.

0 CloggyAbroad over 8 years ago

Hi,

I would like to make sure that I understand correctly the extent of the data obtained with the Garmin foot pod:

1 - The foot pod provides only data for distance, pace and cadence.

2- If it is not selected for Speed or Distance in the settings, the foot pod pace / distance won't be recorded.

3 - If it is not selected for Speed in the settings, the foot pod pace cannot be displayed except using a specific CIQ datafield (https://forums.garmin.com/showthread.php?376725-Foot-Pod-Pace-on-all-Connect-IQ-watches).

4 - Will the cadence from the foot pod override the data from the watch itself whatever the settings? This would make sense.

The foot pod can report more data depending on how much of the standard ANT+ profile has been implemented. The foot pod cadence should take precedence over the watch cadence (your point 4) but not if you use my Foot Pod Pace data field.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Hi Cloggy,

Thanks for your answer but I am not sure to understand. What do you mean by the ANT+ profile and what other data can the footpod then produce?

Would it be possible to modify your Foot Pod Pace data field to use different calibration factors for different paces?

And would it be possible to record the foot pod pace, distance, cadence and others in the FIT file using your data field? I saw that you were able to record the battery information in the FIT file with another of your data field.

Anyhow, your data field is already very convenient as it is. I downloaded it and will try it soon.

0 CloggyAbroad over 8 years ago

The ANT+ profile is the standard that defines the transmission protocol for a Foot Pod (or Stride Based Speed and Distance Monitor as they are officially called). You can find it on the thisisant.com website. You have to register as an "ANT Adopter" to get access to these documents.

In addition to Distance, Pace (actually the FP reports speed, not pace) and Cadence it can provide Stride Count, Time (since power up), Calories and various bits of status information (battery level etc.). It is also possible to retrieve total stride count and distance since battery reset, but this is only transmitted by the foot pod on request from the connected display unit (as far as I know no Garmin devices make use of this).

I am looking at the possibility of using different calibration factors depending on pace, but I do not have enough data yet to implement this. I would be interested to hear from other users what calibration factors they get for different paces.

I am trying to get the FIT recording working at the moment. It is easy enough to do it in seconds/km (or mile), but to get it to display as minutes/km (or mile) like the native pace information is tricky and is a work in progress. Writing distance and cadence to the FIT file are relatively easy in comparison.