It has an absolutely huge face, but Timex's Global Trainer GPS Watch makes checking your vitals (speed, distance, heart rate, elevation, and more) a snap, and it's lighter and less unwieldy than it looks.
If you're a multi-sport athlete, it's nice to have a device that you can use for running, cycling, and swimming, and that describes the Timex Ironman Global Trainer. The Global Trainer's multi-pane display may be configured to show the performance stats that are important to you, and you can select and set up an array of training zone alarms for distance, speed, and heart rate. Serious triathletes or cyclists who have bike power meters will find the Global Trainer to be compatible with a range of ANT+ capable power meters.
Like other GPS sports watches, there is no need to use a foot pod stride sensor or in the case of bike use, a wheel sensor to gather speed and distance data when using the Global Trainer, a nice plus.The Global Trainer has a "navigation" mode that will provide you with your current latitude, longitude, and altitude; the ability to save and list waypoints, and create and store routes, a compass, and a very basic (and not very useful) line-track map. Athletes will find the routes feature most useful, but trail runners may also have use for the compass and navigation features.
I used the Global Trainer and its optional wireless heart rate strap for running and cycling workouts. For cycling, I set up the display in a two-pane mode showing heart rate and speed. The display is completely customizable, however, and I used it in a four-pane mode for running. See the links below for the unit's manual, where you can review the full list of more than 50 performance parameters you can measure and display.
Compared to other GPS watches I've tested, the Global Trainer's display is on the dark and hard-to-read side, with small fonts. It does, however, have a backlight button that helps in dark or near-dark light conditions.
The Global Trainer is controlled by seven buttons, and to Timex's credit, I was able to walk through and use most of the functions with just an occasional glance at the manual. That's quite a feat in a watch with so many functions and options.
When you complete a workout, you may store the data on the watch, which stores only 20 workouts. To save your data over the long term, you'll need to upload to Training Peaks online, which is free for very basic data storage and review. To get all of Training Peaks' decent feature set, you'll need to pay $19.95 per month, or purchase a discounted multi-month plan. Ouch. This is especially painful in contrast to Garmin's rich-featured and free Garmin Connect. Connecting to Training Peaks requires that you install "device agent" software on your PC or Mac. As of this review, Mac software was not available, but "coming soon."
The Timex Ironman GPS Global Trainer is an ambitious first entry into the GPS sports watch market for Timex that impresses in some ways, and comes up short in others. Be sure to take a look at all of the options before investing.
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