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Central and South
First, look forward to hearing about how this goes as I love that part of the world. I met an Austrian guy cycling South to North in Colombia.
Second, I'd suggest nothing too expensive, and with an easily replaceable strap. Both times I've travelled Central and South America I've got through a couple of watches due to strap damage. I would add that I'm not someone who is generally careless with their stuff. Deet, sweat and waves wreck your stuff.
Third, with smart phones you don't need much in terms of tech. A few people I met had garmins with GPS and elevation, but TBH for what you're doing my priorities would be:
- Comfortable
- Legible
- Inexpensive
- Looks
Last time I started with a cheap waveceptor(sp?) and liked the tide function when I cba to set the location. But ultimately with a phone even things like alarms, world time, or even a backlight for when you're in dorms are redundant.
Sorry if that's taken the fun out of the discussion.
- Comfortable
What watch would you take for a long term bike tour?
In a few months I'm going to be setting off on a long distance tour which at times will be in fairly remote regions with no phone signal - none of my automatic (all pretty low end) watches keep time that well and I'm after something digital, maybe with trekking/adventure features.
Features I think would be useful:
Altimeter and barometer are cool but are these actually useful in the real world?
https://www.casio-intl.com/asia/en/wat/watch_detail/PRG-30B-3/
The Pro Trek PRG-30 seems to fit the bill but is an Asia only model. Available with a rubber strap from Creation for £140, I'd prefer the fabric strap but assume I'd be able to swap that myself.
https://www.creationwatches.com/products/casio-protrek-58/casio-protrek-world-time-digital-tough-solar-prg-30-5-prg30-5-100m-mens-watch-22782.html?currency=GBP
Alternatively do I just keep it simple and get a Casio F-91W for £20 and forget about all the features I'd probably never actually use.