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My first run with Forerunner 935 + Stryd... dissapointing?

Former Member over 8 years ago

Hi,

today I went running with my Forerunner 935 in combination with my new Stryd.
I had settings 'distance from stryd' + 'pace from stryd' + autocalibration off.
That's what Fellrnr suggested and with which he had excellent results.

I run on a Finish track and my Forerunner gave me between 5,11km and 5,18km (usually it gave me 5,13 km) on multiple runs in the past.
I also have a Polar V800, but I don't remember which distance it gave me on this track (I'll find that out tomorrow).

Anyway, the result of my first run with the Stryd gave me.... 5,07 km.
That means a difference of 40 meters up to 110 meters compared with the Forerunner.
I was really a bit disappointed, but I don't know if I have to be disappointed about the Forerunner or the Stryd....

I will test the Stryd on the same track tomorrow, wearing the Polar V800 (gps distance) together with the Forerunner 935 (with Stryd distance).

On this Finish track, there are 100 meter marks, and as long as I was running straight, the distance between the marks gave me about 100 meters on my Forerunner (Stryd distance).
But when I had to make a turn, that's where the difference between the 100 meter marks and the Forerunner (with Stryd) started to give a difference.
In those situations, the Stryd gave me smaller distances, even when I tried to run in the middle of the track.
The Finish track itself has no tree cover at alle, just a few turns.

On the positive side (I think), when I transferred my running session to Garmin Connect and I looked at the 1 km marks... it did put the 1 km marks on the map there where the Stryd gave me the 1 km autolap...
Even though the track came from the gps of the Forerunner 935.
I'm pretty sure that my Forerunner did use the Stryd for distance, because besides the fact that I entered this choice in the settings, when I prepared the run (looking for external HRM etc) the F935 gave me the sign that the Stryd was connected.

Unfortunately I can't calibrate the Stryd right now because they are installing a brand new 400meter track and it will only be finished by the end of August.
But fellrnr and some people on the message board said it isn't necessary.
Does the Stryd 'learn' how the user runs and correct itself?

Anyway, if the Stryd distance is the correct distance, then I must agree with fellrnr that the gps accuracy of the F935 is mediocre...

Last question: when I want to transfer the run to the Stryd app on my iPhone I get the notice that I need to activate the Stryd.
Does this mean that I have to put the Stryd on the charger or does it mean that I have to move the Stryd (which didn't work)?

Greetings

0 timgrose over 8 years ago

Ah I see - think that is a "dump" of whatever is stored on the foot pod and it will try it's best to translate that into "discreet" runs based on movement but say you "stopped" a run then walked a bit it will probably include the walk bit.

You are probably better to connect the Stryd Power Center with your GC account then your 935 run will sent directly to the Power Center so will appear within the app. That's what I do. The facility to do this download is however handy as a backup.

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Ah I see - think that is a "dump" of whatever is stored on the foot pod and it will try it's best to translate that into "discreet" runs based on movement but say you "stopped" a run then walked a bit it will probably include the walk bit.

You are probably better to connect the Stryd Power Center with your GC account then your 935 run will sent directly to the Power Center so will appear within the app. That's what I do. The facility to do this download is however handy as a backup.

Found it! Thx for the info!

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

Second run with Stryd....

This morning I ran the same track again as yesterday and the Stryd (F935) gave me 5.03 km vs 5.07 km yesterday...
That's even a bigger difference compared to the F935 GPS (5.11 km - 5.18km).
I also ran with the V800 on the same arm, but unfortunately I pushed the pause button at a certain time...
But after a good 3 km the V800 measured 30 meters more than the Stryd.

Since the differences are that high I now calibrated my Stryd and entered the value 102,00.
I think this is the right value, since my Stryd measures about 20m less than the V800 per km.

Monday a new test on the same track. I hope I don't get completely disappointed...
So far, the very expensive Stryd doesn't give me any better distance accuracy than the much cheaper other variants in the past.

Oh yes, could it have something to do with the underground I am running on? I run on a Finish track as they call it here.
That is a specially made track which has very small pieces of wood as an (soft) underground.
Fellrnr does his testing on a hard underground.

Or maybe the Stryd isn't that accurate since I'm very tall? I measure 2.02metes / 6.7ft

0 Former Member over 8 years ago

I think it should be quite good after calibration. The best improvement compared to old foot pods for me has been that you don't have to constantly tweak the calibration to get good accuracy.

If you want absolute accuracy at shorter distances like a track speed workout scenario it may be more difficult however. There is a slight inaccuracy of a few 10 meters from cold start, Stryd have acknowledged this on their forum. Also if you stop the activity immediately the values will tail some 3sec behind which could add another 10 or so meters to distance (depending on your speed) and get cut short.

0 timgrose over 8 years ago

I think I will have change my general description here of my height from "very tall" to just "tall" as I am "only" 1.95m ! But I do think of myself as a very tall as I am usually a head above anybody else in a picture of a race start!

Your description here is a perfect example of why I don't bother with foot pods at least for distance. You have a device (the 935) that generally gives a decent overall distance (indeed you are using it as your "target") and you are on a set course anyway that could be measured and then you are trying to "better" this by fiddling with calibration factors so that you can match what you largely already have.

There are am sure a lot of variables that go into whether a calibration factor "works". An "uneven" surface is certainly throwing in uncertainty.

It's certainly true that Stryd users generally find one calibration "works" for them and indeed I am seem to be int the ballpark with the default but I would I be on your "track" I wonder.

Personally I say get a Stryd if you want to run by power first and think of the foot pod as the bonus. If like fellrnr you run the same course over and over in the same shoes with pod in same place and at a similar pace then any foot pod should work fairly consistently once you have figured out the calibration factor.