u/Leather-Section652

Disclaimer: I haven’t owned a Coros or Garmin watch before.
I’ve been researching my first GPS watch and was originally leaning toward Garmin. After spending time on both the Garmin and Coros subreddits, I actually started leaning toward Coros because of the battery life, value, and overall feedback from users.
Lately though, I’ve seen several posts about older Coros watches, especially the Pace 3, having major issues after updates, along with complaints about support not being very helpful.
My biggest concern is longevity. I don’t care about getting every new feature, I just want a watch that will still be reliable and usable several years from now.
Are these recent issues being blown out of proportion, or is long-term reliability something I should genuinely be concerned about when choosing Coros over Garmin? I’d appreciate hearing from long-term Coros users.

I’m looking for some advice on what should be my first bike purchase.
My long-term goal is to compete in triathlons, but given my current health and athletic ability, realistically I’m probably a few years away from actually competing in my first race.
I recently found a Cervelo S2 on Facebook Marketplace for $1,600, which seems like a decent price (or maybe not, you guys can let me know). At the same time, I’ve been looking at the Ozark Trail 700c G.1 Explorer drop-bar gravel bike from Walmart. It’s around $300, and the reviews seem positive.
For context, I’ve only ever casually ridden mountain bikes. I’ve never owned a road bike, triathlon bike, or really spent much time riding a bike with thinner tires.
Part of me thinks I should buy the Cervelo now and grow into it. The other part of me thinks I should buy the Ozark Trail, spend a few years learning how to ride on the road, build consistency, and then upgrade later if I end up taking triathlon training seriously.
A few things I’m considering:
I’m a complete beginner when it comes to road cycling.
I don’t know if I’ll prefer road bikes, tri bikes, or something else.
Since I’m likely several years away from racing, I don’t necessarily need a fast bike right now.
I don’t want to spend $1,600 only to realize I should have bought something different.
If you were in my position, would you:
Buy the Cervelo S2 now
Buy the Ozark Trail and upgrade later
Buy something else entirely

I’m looking for some advice on what should be my first bike purchase.
My long-term goal is to compete in triathlons, but given my current health and athletic ability, realistically I’m probably a few years away from actually competing in my first race.
I recently found a Cervelo S2 on Facebook Marketplace for $1,600, which seems like a decent price (or maybe not, you guys can let me know). At the same time, I’ve been looking at the Ozark Trail 700c G.1 Explorer drop-bar gravel bike from Walmart. It’s around $300, and the reviews seem positive.
For context, I’ve only ever casually ridden mountain bikes. I’ve never owned a road bike, triathlon bike, or really spent much time riding a bike with thinner tires.
Part of me thinks I should buy the Cervelo now and grow into it. The other part of me thinks I should buy the Ozark Trail, spend a few years learning how to ride on the road, build consistency, and then upgrade later if I end up taking triathlon training seriously.
A few things I’m considering:
I’m a complete beginner when it comes to road cycling.
I don’t know if I’ll prefer road bikes, tri bikes, or something else.
Since I’m likely several years away from racing, I don’t necessarily need a fast bike right now.
I don’t want to spend $1,600 only to realize I should have bought something different.
If you were in my position, would you:
Buy the Cervelo S2 now
Buy the Ozark Trail and upgrade later
Buy something else entirely

I’m looking for some advice on what should be my first bike purchase.
My long-term goal is to compete in triathlons, but given my current health and athletic ability, realistically I’m probably a few years away from actually competing in my first race.
I recently found a Cervelo S2 on Facebook Marketplace for $1,600, which seems like a decent price (or maybe not, you guys can let me know). At the same time, I’ve been looking at the Ozark Trail 700c G.1 Explorer drop-bar gravel bike from Walmart. It’s around $300, and the reviews seem positive.
For context, I’ve only ever casually ridden mountain bikes. I’ve never owned a road bike, triathlon bike, or really spent much time riding a bike with thinner tires.
Part of me thinks I should buy the Cervelo now and grow into it. The other part of me thinks I should buy the Ozark Trail, spend a few years learning how to ride on the road, build consistency, and then upgrade later if I end up taking triathlon training seriously.
A few things I’m considering:
I’m a complete beginner when it comes to road cycling.
I don’t know if I’ll prefer road bikes, tri bikes, or something else.
Since I’m likely several years away from racing, I don’t necessarily need a fast bike right now.
I don’t want to spend $1,600 only to realize I should have bought something different.
If you were in my position, would you:
Buy the Cervelo S2 now
Buy the Ozark Trail and upgrade later
Buy something else entirely
I’d especially like to hear from people who got into triathlon with little or no cycling background. Looking back, what would you have done?

I’m trying to decide between Coros and Garmin and want to get this right the first time.
My long-term goal is to run marathons and eventually do Ironman races, but realistically I’m a few years away from actually competing. Right now I only need basic features, but I don’t want to outgrow the watch and have to upgrade later.
A few things I’m trying to understand:
• Is Coros or Garmin actually better overall for endurance training long term?
• What features does one have that the other doesn’t really match?
• Are any important features or data locked behind a subscription/paywall?
• How accurate are both brands, especially heart rate and GPS? I’ve heard mixed things about Garmin HR accuracy.
• If I buy a watch now, will it hold up for years, or do older models get slow/unsupported when new ones come out?
From what I’ve seen, Garmin seems to have way more features and a bigger ecosystem, while Coros looks simpler with better battery life and no paywall, but I’m not sure how that actually plays out long term.
Would appreciate real experiences, especially from people who’ve used both or trained seriously with either.