Best performing HRM?

Triathlon Forum
1

Maybe it’s just me, but having owned 3 Polar HRM’s they all had one thing in common. Within the first year I would start getting ‘dropout’ or whatever you want to call it when the data transmission would get interrupted. So, I just figured it was part of the deal. My buddy has a Garmin 500 and it’s still ripping perfectly at year 2.

Here is my predicament or decision. I don’t care for a bike computer, just an HRM. I don’t want to buy a $250 unit when all I want is HR.

  1. Does anyone make an HRM only for the bike that will mount on the stem/bars?

  2. If not then who makes the best performing wrist mounted HRM?

I don’t need a million features, just what my HR at that time is…thanks!

2

Garmin Forerunner 305. You can set the screen to one big heart-rate readout, and ignore everything else.

3

no one else with input:(
.

4

If you go with Garmin avoid the soft strap. It is a piece of crap. User feedback suggests the older strap was a lot more reliable, less of the spiking/ static problems etc.

5

I love my suunto but the HRM has not impressed me. It takes a while to read your hr then tends to lag a lot. I’ve also had to replace the strap twice.

6

Dern sounds like the HRM xmission issues are not indemic to Polar. Sigh. Maybe I will go back to two fingers on the jugular!

7

I would go back to polar. I have not had mush problem with mine except batteries and the foot pod getting knocked out of wack because of my careless Handeling. But it is easy enough to recalibrate.

8

Before I got a Garmin 310xt, I was using a basic timex “Ironman” watch. It came with a HR strap, I never had any problems with it at all. No spikes, no lags, no nonsense readings, always accurate. I switched b/c I wanted to record the workout and do more post-match analysis, but for on the spot heart rate the Timex was fine. Thinking about it I should move back…

9

I’ve used Timex and Garmin HRMs. The timex lasted just over a year before the strap died. The replacement I got works but is starting to get flaky. It seems I need to get my HR up over 100 before it starts working.

No problems with Garmin or PowerTap (same as Garmin strap) HRMs yet.

10

I train with power and pace but do wear my HRM on most workouts. My old Polars sucked and were always giving crazy erratic readings. They would be reading 130’s and suddenly jump to 220 and stay there for 5 minutes when my HR was still 130, lets face it, you feel a jump like that. Fast forward, my Garmin 405 for running and Edge 500 on my bike is generally flawless with only very rare and short lived erratic readings.

I had a weird and hopefully isolated supraventricular tachycardia 2 years ago and has not happened since. It was felt and captured on my Garmin. It was a scarey situation for me as I was 30 miles from home 2/3 the way up a 4mi. climb that was hammering up at the time. It settled down quickly and I actually rode home easy paying attention to HR for once. I went through echo stress test etc… that week and was cleared as diagnosed above. Cardiologist/friend and guy I ride with a bit said "it may happen again, it may not and they are said to be more of a nuisance than a threat usually. Many races and hard interval workouts later it has never occurred again. That is the main reason I wear a HRM, just in case. The Garmin HR function reads very reliably for me.

Not what you wanted to hear I guess. Timex maybe?

11

FWIW, Consumer Reports just tested HRMs a few weeks ago and from what I recall seeing/hearing on the news, Timex had the best HRM “for the money.” I’m not convinced that CR is the end-all-be-all for test results (their “best” has often failed to match my experiences/expectations), but it may be worth trying to find the results online and taking a look.

I have a 305 with the hard strap and absolutely love it - never had a single issue with it, and have used it for about 3 years now.

12

I have been using the Garmin 405 with HRM for almost 3 years now and it still works great!

13

Here is my predicament or decision. I don’t care for a bike computer, just an HRM. I don’t want to buy a $250 unit when all I want is HR.
Remember I work for POLAR USA

  1. Does anyone make an HRM only for the bike that will mount on the stem/bars?
    Polar CS100 or CS200cad are bike dedicated

  2. If not then who makes the best performing wrist mounted HRM?
    **I will sugggest the Polar RS100 or RS300, both have been around for years. RS300 started life as a RS200. If you do not need a lap/split feature or interval timers, the new Polar FT4 and FT7 have user friendly batteries in the watch and in the Wear Link transmitter where the RS100 and RS300 do not have a user friendly change your own watch battery but comes with the soft strap known as the WEAR LINK. **

14

i like the large display of the cs100 for sure, very tidy setup.

is there any way to program it so the only number that comes up is the HR? meaning, i would love to see 2x the size of the HR, but alleviate the speed and distance above?

hopefully you can see what i’m getting at.

wish list:
large hr display
handlebar mounted

15

The Polar CS100/200 do not have a zoom feature, the CS400/600 do. The RS300 starts the zoom feature with our RS units, RS300,400,400,800 The zoom feature changes the screen from three rows of information to two rows with one of the rows much larger than the other

16

If all you want is HR, grab the FR60 for $90, then add the bike mount kit for $9. Work complete!

Most folks that have the FR60 will say it’s the best watch they’ve ever had - despite no GPS. Also, if you want bike speed/cadence you can add that on via the ANT+ wireless speed/cadence for $30.

Good luck!

17

X2 on the FR 60. I purchased it after reading dcrainmaker’ review.
It is the best watch/HRM I have owned (2 Polars and the Garmin 405)…although my strap did just break, which they are fixing.
My favorite feature is the large number of options you can choose from regarding screen display

18

Timex Ironman Race Trainer.
http://i52.tinypic.com/nn6rtx.jpg

It talks to my Cycleops HR strap too.

cheers
S.

19

I love my Garmin Forerunner 305. Works like a champ for me.

20

Just want to chime in on the HR readings…

I get the opportunity to sit with the service team here almost daily and talk about everything related to end user experience.

The OP’s issue is the most common by far - and isn’t necessarily limited to Polar devices.

Generally when you are looking at HRM’s you will have two types of transmitters

A typical transmitter like this that consists of a 6 inch rubber type transmitter secured by an elastic strap http://www.polar.fi/files/t31_coded_500x500.jpg

A textile/fabric transmitter like thishttp://www.polar.fi/files/wearlink+_31coded_front.jpg
Most brands offer the same type of two transmitters. The major difference is that the electrodes on the second transmitter(in our case Wearlink) are built into the strap itself. So the points that have to make good contact with your skin are housed in the textile fabric. The advantage of this design is comfort.

On the first design, the electrodes are on the back of the rubber itself with two grooved areas.

The issue you describe most often happens with the newer textile transmitters. Mostly all transmitters we get back for service with this issue have one thing in common - they are DIRTY.

The first rubber style transmitter was easy to keep clean - everything was exposed. So a wipe down with a damp towel or a rinse down could clean it in a second.

The second transmitter style, since the electrodes are built into the fabric require a little bit more maintenence. The center transmitter piece should be removed from the strap so it doesn’t constantly search for HR signals, and the strap itself has to be washed regularly(in a washing machine). This doesn’t always happen, so eventually it’ll stard building up sweat, corroding the contacts…etc… Soon enough - things start acting funny.

Also - the strap itself does eventually wear(almost like the elastic on a set of bibs would). Usually happens around 1-2 years depending on use. This is a consumable part and we offer them separately for purchase when it does go out($15.00)

We are working really hard to communicate the maintenence of the strap to make sure the user experience 6 months, 1 year down the line is still good! So if you have any feedback or anything that would help us get the word out about maintaining the strap please drop us an email @ customer.feedback@polar.fi

Thanks!

Chris