Since when are Timex watches not considered a good watch?

I run with a Timex Expedition. It has a velcro wristband which is nice because they don't break like the plastic ones do. The only reason I would want a "smart" watch is to get an accurate distance the GPS provides instead of guessing. Perhaps the elevation gained and lost would be nice but not a deal breaker.

Timex watches are good and they last forever

Outside of running, in the analog watch world, Timex has actually become slightly more popular and is even making some of the watch snobs interested. Plus INDIGLO beats the lume on $10k watches. I don’t think a watch person would laugh at Timex, probably just a person who thinks every non-smartwatch has no value.

So, I grew up wearing a basic timex (or casio) with the timex Atlantis being the most bomb proof. my current day to day is a G Shock Solar. About 13 years ago I sprang for a Global Trainer, new I found on ebay for a very good price. When I compared it to a handheld garmin the accuracy was nearly identical.

Overtime the battery life shortened and they aren't replaceable. Over the next 5 years or so I found new Run Trainers, 3, and a Run Trainer 2 which I used and rotated through with the 2 battery failing.

I finally bit the bullet and got a Garmin Instinct, which I like but I hate setting it all up on the watch and I don't do accounts. Along the line I got and tried timex's new gps version and it sucked. I still mostly use the 3 Run Trainers most of the time and the batteries still holding *fingers crossed*. Device agent lets you set up the watch on a computer, there is a couple step process to save workouts though with the pwx file format.

The watch lets me see distance, time and avg pace, without fuss, which is all I need.

I just replaced the battery in one of my old (circa 2010) Timex HRMs. You can still find them on eBay for $40-$50, but I've bought several over the years for $20. They're actually more expensive now than they were 10 years ago! They are easy to use, accurate, and easy to see in daylight, which has been a problem for me with most running GPS watches. Until I bought a cycling computer with HRM, I'd tape one of these old Timexes to my aerobars and use it while riding. It was a lot easier to see on the bars than on my wrist. If you don't need GPS, you can find an old Timex with the FlexTech Digital chest strap for $40- $60 on eBay. The only downside is that the band is brittle and if it breaks, it requires a proprietary Timex replacement band. You can't buy them anymore.

Exactly!

Lol.

For many, many years, I did not run or bike with any sort of a watch. I usually l knew the mileage of my runs or rides. Give or take a few tenths. [ Either based on the fact the courses were already measured by others, Or I estimated by pace, or i had driven the course, etc] . I mostly stuck to the same few routes. I really didn't care about knowing the pace that much. I went by effort. Sometimes I would get glimpses of my pace [ see the time right before I left right as I returned]

Soooo.... I guess that I was even more "old school", or minimalist or luddite than you.

However, eventually I started running with my phone just because sometimes I thought my wife or kids might need to get in touch with me when I was gone for a long time, or I was out in the middle of nowhere and might want it in an emergency. Sometimes it was nice to have it to take a picture of a giant snake I almost stepped on [ several times]. I still wasn't really timing my runs [ sometimes I would look at the time of day and get a close estimate, but i didn't care that much]. But having the phone with me came in handy sometimes, but was a pain to carry.

Several years I was running peachtree, and I knew I'd have to find people afterwards so we always had come up with a meeting place because I didn't want to carry my phone during a race, it would have been easier to have a way to contact them. Sooooooo.........

Finally I got a smartwatch. I don't have to carry my phone and can still be reached if necessary or reach someone else in an emergency. I started timing my runs and rides and checking my pace and checking my exact distance. And HR highs and avgs. I now mostly enjoy getting that info, but it hasn't changed a lot on my effort. No strava for sure.

If you don't want to get a work email, or text, just shut off notifications. Problem solved.

Old geezer here. But run 45mpw and still race 10-12 x a year.

I have two Timex Ironman 30 lap memory. (one for backup)

Don't use Strava as I am too competitive and that would be a rabbit hole for me.

The Timex watch does what I need on hard days. Total time and splits.

If I am in a new area, I will use my Apple for the GPS function and also use it once month on a park or pretty hard 25 minute effort just to see what the algorithm estimates my VO2 Max at. I know from previous treadmill VO2 Max tests watch runs about 3-4 percentage points low.

Other than that the Timex is still my go-to.

Sure beats the analogs with a sweep second hand we used in the early to mid 1970s. Yikes!

It was my favorite till I got old and needed reading glasses.

Are you me? 100% this, only I haven't tried a GPS watch yet - Timex Ironman and mapometer.com. For some reason I never started with social media, Strava or even smartphones and honestly don't miss them. It makes me sound like a 80 year old moron but I'm really not, and work in the tech industry. Like you said, it feels almost counter culture. On the other hand, I can't wait to get a continuous lactate monitor though.

I use a Coros, with a watch face and that’s about it. The smart stuff annoys me.
I do Strava, but 90% just to smack talk my siblings and to get training sessions done in as many countries as possible - again to feed the sibling rivalry…

I do a fair bit of hiking, mountains can get treacherous, so having two GPS devices with offline maps and a powerbank is recommended.