I’m looking to upgrade from my basic Polar A3 heart rate monitor. I’d like something rugged and with more useful features for the triathlete.
Any recommendations?
You can spend big on HRM’s, but I am not sure other than being able to load in zones or ranges of heart rates and being able to calculate average heart rate, what more you need. These in my mind are what are essential for using a HRM.
I got the S720 and I just love it. Any Polar from the S-Series are just perfect for triathletes. I’d buy it again.
Try to get one with IrDA interface cause it will help you/your coach to monitor your workouts and it’s really fun to watch Bike workouts on the PC. And you can always use Polar Performance Software as a training log 
Keep the A3 for racing and HR training…
Take the savings and buy a Garmin Forerunner!
I recently purchased Polar’s new S625X. It tracks pace, distance, heart rate, etc. Very nifty. Do a search, as there’s been lots of chatter about it here. By the way, I was upgrading from an A1!
I’ve been using the Polar S510/520 for a few years now, and I like it a lot. If you want to track time, HR, distance, etc, on your computer, the Polar S series will do it for you. I also have a Garmin Forerunner, but I only use it when I am running new routes, and find it sketchy when I am under tree cover(most ofthe time where I live) or it is cloudy outside.
first figure out what you want out of the monitor, I have a lot of customers come in with A3s or A5s saying they want a new monitor and they end up leaving happier than before, with thier same old A3 or A5.
The A3 already has most of the key features people want in a monitor: HR, aveHr, max HR, programmable zones, displays HR in %max or BPM, watch/stopwatch features…
What you’ll add by upgrading may be:
-backlight, why this isn’t on the polar I have no idea
-bigger and better display which will display both your heart rate and other data AT THE SAME TIME! yes A3 owners you won’t have to swap the damn display anymore. The Polar S-series has a tripe display (HR, stopwatch, and splits on the same screen) and even a quadruple display with certain features enabled
-Lap split memory, available on cheap $30 timex watches but for some reason nonexistant in the Polar line until the $180 S210. Check out the new Timex monitors for splits at a $90 price point.
-Another cool reason to upgrade, is the new Polar Wearlink Strap which is almost all fabric and way more comfy than the old T31 transmitters. $49.95 retail or included with some of the new S-series.
-other fun stuff, like computer downloading (log and track your workouts, very cool), programmable interval timers, programmable workouts (Polar S720, do 5 mile intervals on the bike and it tells you when to start and stop), calorie counters, possible bike and running speed features
I like Polars and just got a S625 which is really cool. But the Timex monitors beat the polars pricewise by quite a bit. The chest straps have a really bad tendency to break, but the Polars tend to leak so choose your poison.
Last, I have a 6month old Polar S720 (bike speed, all the chichis and cool features you could want) for $200 shipped. Retails for $339.99, pm me if interested.
i agree with smitty. i’ve got a 720 and love it for the bike, and i’ve seen the 625 but it’s only okay. for run pacing etc the garmin forerunner 201 kicks the 625’s ass. just bought one for my girlfriend. it is the coolest thing for run training. it’s going to make coaching her soooo much simpler. the only downside to this situation is having an hrm on one wrist and the garmin on the other, but she seems to be getting used to it. stick with the a3, get the forerunner, and use garmins software to track keep track of your average hr.
I love my Timex Bodylink. I can wear the HRM strap and get just heart rate information (all recorded by lap and downloadable with the foot pod, or you can just scroll through it on the watch face afterward). I can wear just my GPS receiver and get the same info as above for my pace/speed. Or I can wear both and get more information than I’ll ever know what to do with. And all recorded by lap. I can also wear it on the bike and get all the same info for my bike splits.
Oh – and when I’m done I can still wear the watch around as just an ordinary watch and don’t have some big goofy looking thing on my wrist. For the price, it cannot be beat.
I use a Polar s810, it has been great, but perhaps a bit to many bells and whistles for a non-technogeek. I was however at the LBS this afternoon when they recieved their first shipment of new Nike HRMS. They look really cool, and supposedly have some pretty cool download features, in addition to the standard, time, avg., and max. If I did not already not know how to use my 810 I would certainly give these a look.
JT
The lap splits are available on the Polar S120. They sell for about $100.
jaretj
I used to have a Polar A-3. It did about what I wanted it to do at the time. When I decided to upgrade, Timex had just released the new Bodylink system. I thought about getting the watch that was tied to the system, model number 59571, but when I really sat down and figured what I needed (vs. wanted), I decided to go with a different model. I purchased the Timex 5C411, which is data-recorder compatible but does not feature the GPS whizbang effects of the full Bodylink system.
You can see the watches on timex.com, and they are offering free shipping on orders over $75.
My new watch does a whole lot more than the A-3 and I think looks quite a bit nicer than the higher end Polars (and costs much less than models with similar features).
drn92
THis topic keeps coming up and once again i’m gonna be the odd ball here, i have an acumen basix hrm, and it works much better than my way more expensive timex hrm, and i’ve used my g/fs polar on occasion and it works well, but sometimes it looses signal and that pisses me off.
Both Polar and Acumen are good (again i prefer my acumen for chest strap comfort and good signal)
My timex ironman hrm sucks, it never gets good signal, the cest strap does not come off from the transmitter (so you can’t wash it easily and it gets smelly), and the chest strap is very uncomfortable - the velco digs into my ribs.
{The lap splits are available on the Polar S120. They sell for about $100.}
yeah, but there’s no lap split memory. or backlight. what’s up with that?
I don’t understand what you mean by Lap split memory. If it is downloadable info you’re looking for then no, it doesn’t have it. What it does have is the lap time, average HR for the lap and the final HR of the lap, all of which you can go back and review later lap by lap. It also has the average HR and Max HR for the whole training period. I wish it had the Max HR for the lap, that would be useful as well as the backlight like you pointed out.
jaretj
i had a polar coach (i think) before my 120 and it had the ability to save the last 50 workouts (or something like that). so each time you started the stopwatch, it wouldn’t erase the last workout like the 120 does. not a big deal, but sometimes i forget to write down the particulars from my wkt before i start a new one - the old info is then gone.
I know that is kind of a pain.
When this one dies I’m going to find one with more bells and whistles. I’ve been using this for 2 years now, 6 days a week sometimes twice a day, push buttons underwater during all of my swims and it’s still running strong.