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Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time?
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Recently bought a Garmin HRM Swim or Tri (the blue one), in fact it arrives today. I decided it was time for me to get some HR data from swimming. I currently have the Scosche Rhythm+, and somehow someway I was not aware that the Rhythm 24 even existed. There's very few videos on YouTube reviewing this. The Android app is unfinished? I even saw a post about a blue light of death ... etc etc.
At any rate, seeing the Rhythm 24 gave me some buyers remorse from buying the Garmin HRM Swim/Tri.

In theory I could replace the HRM Swim/Tri and the Rhythm+ with a new Rhythm 24. I like the comfort of the Rhythm+ and not having to fidget with a chest strap, and thought that chest strap was the only choice for swim HR.

Should I carry on and wait? Or is it finally ready?

Sidenote: I'm on Android and a 920XT
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [Chan] [ In reply to ]
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Wait...

I have a Rhythm24, and I like it. I had the Rhythm+, and I mainly bought the R24 for its long battery life and promise of swim HR data. Battery life is great. Swim HR only works for open water swims, but it does not work for pool swims. Scosche is supposedly working on it. It seems like a bizarre mystery that it the type of swim would matter, but it does. Since it works for OWS swims, I am confident that they will eventually figure it out for pool swims, just no promise of when.

The other thing I love about it is that it is officially water proof for tri swims, so I wear it on my bicep, under my sleeved tri suit. With my old R+, I put it on after T1 while riding. Now, I just wear my R24 from start to finish. And, I get HR data from my tri swim.
Last edited by: exxxviii: Sep 10, 18 12:12
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [Chan] [ In reply to ]
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I used the rhythm+ for a few years with relatively few issues.

I picked up a Rhythm 24 in July. I havent used the app or the recording feature so I cant comment on those. The new strap is an improvement over the Rhythm + (no more velcro). Ive read reviews from some people breaking the plastic clips on the strap ends, but I have had no issues with that. the battery life is also improved.

The main issue I encounter is sometimes i have to turn it on and off a few times to get my devices to recognize it (Garmin edge 520 and trainerroad on the PC). Once its recognized by the devices its worked great.
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [j.shanney] [ In reply to ]
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When you say record, I'm assuming that's for swimming?
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [j.shanney] [ In reply to ]
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j.shanney wrote:
The main issue I encounter is sometimes i have to turn it on and off a few times to get my devices to recognize it (Garmin edge 520 and trainerroad on the PC). Once its recognized by the devices its worked great.
Ditto, with a few asterisks... This was very bad with my old Rhythm+ (I had two of them). I might have to reboot my R+ many times to get it to connect (and stay connected) to both my Edge 520 and TrainerRoad on a PC. Other rides, it would connect and be fine. It was maddening.

My R24 is orders of magnitude better in this category. All were (and are) 100% perfect outside connecting to my 520, so I figured the issue was likely electronic interference in my basement. Regardless, my R24 is better than my R+ with indoor rides.
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [Chan] [ In reply to ]
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Chan wrote:
When you say record, I'm assuming that's for swimming?

Yes it would be for swimming, but it can record your heart rate for any activity to its internal memory.
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [Chan] [ In reply to ]
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Check your DM :)
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [Wayne@PolarUSA] [ In reply to ]
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Wayne@PolarUSA wrote:
Check your DM :)
Does polar have a product (or a product coming soon) that does the similar cache-and-forward function as the Garmin HRM Tri and HRM swim products, but is an optical arm strap like the OH1?
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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Polar has the OH1 optical heart rate sensor(pod) which can record a training session or transmit via Bluetooth and not ANT+. Some of us take the pod out of the arm band and had accurate results placed under compression shorts.

https://www.polar.com/us-en/products/accessories/oh1-optical-heart-rate-sensor
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [Wayne@PolarUSA] [ In reply to ]
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Looks like another option, but do you guys listen to DCRainmaker?
Why is it not ANT+ ?
I think I share his opinion that everything should be both ANT+ and Bluetooth - gives the user more options.

I haven't really looked into HRM's that capture data, can that data be added to an activity later? Does it lineup well?
Is Polar's version proprietary? Or could I add that data to other apps after the fact?
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [Rumpled] [ In reply to ]
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Rumpled wrote:
I haven't really looked into HRM's that capture data, can that data be added to an activity later? Does it lineup well?
There are a few stand-alone HRM products (like the OH1 and Rhythm24) that can capture HR during an activity and save it in its own FIT/GPX file. However, I have not found a way to effectively merge an HRM file into a FIT file captured by another device, like a Garmin watch. TrainingPeaks may be able to partially accomplish that, but I am not sure. To that end... TrainingPeaks is the only thing I could find that would actually load and visualize a stand-alone HRM file, and that was a bit clumsy.

IMHO, a standalone HRM is not very useful beyond its core function of sending HR data real-time to some other device.
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [Chan] [ In reply to ]
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Just my .02. No. At least as of July. Bought one for the extended battery life and thought I was over the production / cracking problem but nope, right on cue cracked after about a month.

To Scosche’s credit they replaced it quickly with one that immediately died the blue light of death. Got a refund from them and bought a wahoo tickr fit and have been quite happy with it. 30 hour life. Ironman to swim/run workouts. I don’t do anything with HR other than real time and calorie stuff so maybe it doesn’t do the more advanced things. Even tho they say to wear it on forearm I put mine on the bicep and seems to work fine.
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [ChrisM] [ In reply to ]
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ChrisM wrote:

To Scosche’s credit they replaced it quickly with one that immediately died the blue light of death. Got a refund from them and bought a wahoo tickr fit and have been quite happy with it. 30 hour life. Ironman to swim/run workouts. I don’t do anything with HR other than real time and calorie stuff so maybe it doesn’t do the more advanced things. Even tho they say to wear it on forearm I put mine on the bicep and seems to work fine.

Pardon my ignorance but if I understand correctly there's not really real time HR for swimming due to water and signal etc. Which is why recording then syncing is the way to go.

Just wanna make sure I understand you use your Tickr fit for swims successfully.
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [Chan] [ In reply to ]
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Chan wrote:
ChrisM wrote:

To Scosche’s credit they replaced it quickly with one that immediately died the blue light of death. Got a refund from them and bought a wahoo tickr fit and have been quite happy with it. 30 hour life. Ironman to swim/run workouts. I don’t do anything with HR other than real time and calorie stuff so maybe it doesn’t do the more advanced things. Even tho they say to wear it on forearm I put mine on the bicep and seems to work fine.

Pardon my ignorance but if I understand correctly there's not really real time HR for swimming due to water and signal etc. Which is why recording then syncing is the way to go.

Just wanna make sure I understand you use your Tickr fit for swims successfully.


Well I don’t follow swim real time anyway and the only reason I swim with it is when I am doing swim/run so I don’t have to put it on/take it off. Or when racing. Works as in doesn’t flood, but otherwise don’t pay any attention to it in the water
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [Chan] [ In reply to ]
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Chan wrote:
ChrisM wrote:


To Scosche’s credit they replaced it quickly with one that immediately died the blue light of death. Got a refund from them and bought a wahoo tickr fit and have been quite happy with it. 30 hour life. Ironman to swim/run workouts. I don’t do anything with HR other than real time and calorie stuff so maybe it doesn’t do the more advanced things. Even tho they say to wear it on forearm I put mine on the bicep and seems to work fine.


Pardon my ignorance but if I understand correctly there's not really real time HR for swimming due to water and signal etc. Which is why recording then syncing is the way to go.

Just wanna make sure I understand you use your Tickr fit for swims successfully.

Myself I use Mio Link. If worn directly next to my Garmin 310XT it will record HR during a swim. I don't like wearing those two devices on my wrist while swimming; but it is the first chance I've had in 45+ years of swimming to see some real HR data.
I don't care at all about any swimming dynamics other than maybe total distance or interval distance at this point. My 310XT does a very poor job of that swimming outdoors in a pool.

A device that could be comfortably worn during swimming to log HR and then blending with other data would be huge in my book.
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Post deleted by windschatten [ In reply to ]
Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [windschatten] [ In reply to ]
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Which ones? Garmin intentionally disables the optical HR sensor on their watches. I know the Apple Watch keep the HRM on during swims. Who else?
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Post deleted by windschatten [ In reply to ]
Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [windschatten] [ In reply to ]
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windschatten wrote:
I have an FR 15 that doesn't turn HR off in the pool (no swim mode).
Aaaah, it is effectively functioning as a psuedo stand-alone HRM, since it cannot track any of your swim metrics. It thinks you are running.

It is kind of a turd move on Garmin's side to disable the optical HRM in swim mode. It may not be as great as a chest strap, but it can work well enough for a lot of people.
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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?? My 920 works iin open water with the wahoo tickr fit both HR and all swim metrics . There are some dropouts in the HR, but I don’t use it to track swim HR anyway
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [ChrisM] [ In reply to ]
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ChrisM wrote:
My 920 works iin open water with the wahoo tickr fit both HR and all swim metrics.
That is a different use case. Yes, my 735XT and the 935 will both connect to a standard HRM (Rhythm+ and R24 in current state) and get real-time readings, but with dropouts.

My comment above is that Garmin intentionally disables the integrated optical HRM in the 735XT, 935, etc. while those watches are in swim mode. That sucks.
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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exxxviii wrote:
Wait...

I have a Rhythm24, and I like it. I had the Rhythm+, and I mainly bought the R24 for its long battery life and promise of swim HR data. Battery life is great. Swim HR only works for open water swims, but it does not work for pool swims. Scosche is supposedly working on it. It seems like a bizarre mystery that it the type of swim would matter, but it does. Since it works for OWS swims, I am confident that they will eventually figure it out for pool swims, just no promise of when.

The other thing I love about it is that it is officially water proof for tri swims, so I wear it on my bicep, under my sleeved tri suit. With my old R+, I put it on after T1 while riding. Now, I just wear my R24 from start to finish. And, I get HR data from my tri swim.

How are you getting HR data for open water swims? I assume you're putting the Rhythm 24 on record mode, since it won't transmit real-time data to the watch through the water. But once the swim is done, how are you syncing that data to the rest of your workout?
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [niccolo] [ In reply to ]
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niccolo wrote:
How are you getting HR data for open water swims? I assume you're putting the Rhythm 24 on record mode, since it won't transmit real-time data to the watch through the water. But once the swim is done, how are you syncing that data to the rest of your workout?
This works the same way that the Garmin HRM-Tri and HRM-swim works and the R24 was supposed to work when originally announced.

I simply put the R24 on my arm, turn it on, and then do my swim workout (timed with my Garmin 735XT like normal). If I duplicate the exact same steps during a pool swim-- the only difference being that I select pool swim instead of outside swim on the Garmin-- then it does not work.

This requires no new or special action. When you start a swim, the Garmin watch tells the R24 to begin capturing HR data and store it internally and then sync with the watch as it can. I have no idea when the watch and R24 do this dark magic. But I know that when the Garmin syncs the workout through my phone, the HR data are in the workout.
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [exxxviii] [ In reply to ]
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exxxviii wrote:
niccolo wrote:
How are you getting HR data for open water swims? I assume you're putting the Rhythm 24 on record mode, since it won't transmit real-time data to the watch through the water. But once the swim is done, how are you syncing that data to the rest of your workout?

This works the same way that the Garmin HRM-Tri and HRM-swim works and the R24 was supposed to work when originally announced.

I simply put the R24 on my arm, turn it on, and then do my swim workout (timed with my Garmin 735XT like normal). If I duplicate the exact same steps during a pool swim-- the only difference being that I select pool swim instead of outside swim on the Garmin-- then it does not work.

This requires no new or special action. When you start a swim, the Garmin watch tells the R24 to begin capturing HR data and store it internally and then sync with the watch as it can. I have no idea when the watch and R24 do this dark magic. But I know that when the Garmin syncs the workout through my phone, the HR data are in the workout.

That's amazing. I have only done pool, not open water, swims with my Rhythm 24 so far, so I hadn't had a chance to appreciate this "dark magic." And agreed, since this apparently works for open water swims, there doesn't seem to be any logical reason it wouldn't work for pool swims (at least not than I can conjure).
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Re: Is Scosche Rhythm 24 ready for prime time? [niccolo] [ In reply to ]
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I actually did not expect it to work the first time I did an OWS. I wore it in the water on a whim.

As soon as you do an OWS with your R24, you will be craving the HR data all the time. It is freaking awesome. I was surprised that my HR in a triathlon swim was a little higher than I expected. I did a few ocean swims and my HR was a little lower, though, those were not as intense efforts as the race.
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