I posted this in a reply elsewhere, but thought it would be of interest to some as I’ve never seen this level of comparison before…
The gist is that out of the handful of footpods tested, a properly calibrated Garmin is basically as accurate as a Stryd. My gym treadmills confirm this (and are surprisingly calibrated I guess). A 5 min’ish/km pace (which is about 7.5 MPH) is within seconds of that pace over distance per my Garmin FP on that same setting on the treadmill.
I find my pace drifts as the run goes on with my Garmin footpod, starting out slower and gradually getting to the pace of my TM then continuing on past it so I usually average out where it should be. I’m not sure if it’s me and my stride that changes or the TM that changes, but it’s a very slow change across a run at 7.5-7.7MPH (most of my easy/steady runs). Also, as the speed goes up the footpod pace starts getting faster than the TM so I think it’s mainly my stride that changes with faster running that throws things off a bit, but with shorter intervals the pace usually averages out with time for the TM to reach speed. I also found changing my footpod from my left foot to my right foot helped “steady” things a bit as my left foot seems to be a little more wild during it’s recovery or something lol. I haven’t tried other pods, but I’ve been generally happy with my Garmin pod for a number of years of treadmill use.
This is my experience with the Stryd foot pod as well. There may be an element of the TM warming up but it generally takes around 20 minutes for the pace to stabilise which IMO is probably too long to be just the TM motor getting up to speed. Coincidentally the 20 minute mark coincides with my cadence evening out as I warm up and I’m pretty sure this is the main reason.
The Stryd in my experience is more accurate at faster and slower speeds than my old Garmin FP which given I largely use the TM for interval sessions is good. That may be a reflection on the age of my Garmin FP of course which is a good number of years old now.
I’ve just got a new Stryd yesterday, replaced under warranty for a separate issue, it will be interesting to see if it’s the same.
Yeah, the fast intervals are usually where things decouple the most with my Garmin footpod (also quite a few years old) so it would be nice if the Stryd handles that better. Cadence and changes in foot strike/path definitely effects things. Getting it set at my pace for longer steady runs, or where the bulk of my mileage takes place, is acceptable enough for me for the most part though.
Do you use the power metrics with the Stryd and if so have you got any meaningful use from that info/train with it?
To be honest, not really. I have a Power Duration curve just as I have with the bike PM and I can look at training zones and so forth but that’s nothing I didn’t do using pace.
I keep an eye on the metrics and patterns as a matter of interest but I’ve not changed anything I do based on them. That may be on me of course rather than anything to do with the metrics themselves.
I think I’d be the same way. Since “best” practices and training plans are still based on pace (and/or HR) in running that is probably what I’d still default to. Maybe if the various brands doing running power can get to the point of a watt being a watt and accurate between different devices it will start gaining more acceptance.