Is the Microsoft Band any good for Triathlon? Training Yes, racing No

The title says it all, I have been using a Microsoft Band for a few months now and have found it a great tool for running and cycling as long as you are going out for less than about 5 hours. I tried to use for the first time Triathlon race at at the Leeds Triathlon over the weekend.

As it it not water proof it was not an option for the swim (unlike my old Polar HR monitor), so I put it on in T1 (swim to bike), don’t think it wasted too much time! This is where I hit the first issue (or second if you count that it is not waterproof) that my finger was too wet to operate the touch screen. I have seen this issue on runs on rainy days. So I did not manage to switch it to cycle mode, and did not bother to try again whilst cycling after I had dried out – a had other things on my mind like being a in good aero position and get moving faster.

I did however manage to switch to run mode as I ran out of T2 (bike to run) and it worked OK there.

So my wish list

• Make it water proof, enough for open water swimming
• Add a way to sequence different activities (swim, bike, run) and have a simple button what works with wet fingers to switch between them – maybe a de project for myself
• And of course better battery life

So I still think it is a good product, just not 100% perfect for me as yet