I always wear one and look at the data later. I have a garmin hrm tri currently and works well. Before I had a Wahoo tickr which I did like but had to replace the strap a few times.
I’ve had couple of different HRM over the years (all with chest straps) and find they all cut out (or drop to v low heart rate - say around 50-60 whilst working out- stay at that for a while when seem to wake up and jump back up to actual HR (say 160).
Have I just been unlucky with HRM or is it me! Currently have a 4iiii one (viiiiva I think it is called). I don’t really care to much for cycling since I have power but would be good to have HR on my runs.
For reference, HR when I first wake up his usually 45-50 bpm and highest HR (seen few times during CX races) is 192-193 bpm (average around 185bpm for hour cyclocross race). I’m 37 years old.
Polar released a H10 firmware update in April that adds support for Ant+.
https://support.polar.com/en/updates/polar-h10-firmware-update-ant-now-available-0
Since updating to that version I’ve been able to use it with my Garmin Forerunner watch.
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I upgraded from a Wahoo Tickr to a Polar H10. It has extra electrode coverage and I trust it absolutely.
I also use a dab of ECG electrode gel I bought from Amazon that I spread across the sensor so I have absolutely solid heart rate coverage all the time.
Everything I’ve read suggests that chest straps are still the best. And for my time I’d like the best of the chest straps with the best possible interface to my body. Overkill, but works for me.
Same here. I wear it on my forearm for 100% of indoor rides.
Outdoors I prefers a chest strap. The scosche works fine outdoors too of course. Just personal preference.
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Wahoo Tickr for me.
PROS
Really reliable reading in my experience, never have a stupidly high reading like the Garmin straps.
CONS
First strap lasted 2-3 years, now on my third strap the last two have delaminated pads even though I have been really careful with them.
GARMIN
Was getting through Garmin HR straps about every 2 - 3 month. Also had the regular HR of 300 bpm moments, really common. Older straps delaminated pads, when they changed (fabric pads) I just found they gave weird readings i.e 150 one second then ~200 and it would freeze for 5 minute then was read 120 or something then back to 150 etc. Tired all sorts of suggestions to ensure the sensors made a good connection but none worked.
Do you have a link? Is ECG gel same as ultrasound gel?
I have a garmin vivoactive HR watch.
I still use a strap. The garmin one worked but i think i left it when visiting the in laws… so i now use the wahoo one i’d bought for my wife (who didn’t care). Works great.
The watch definitely is a hit or miss
I’m in Germany and bought two ECG gels on Amazon. Both were well rated and work well.
When I was in the US this was what I used:
I would think ECG gel is going to work much better than ultrasound gel; ultrasounds don’t need electrical conductivity AFAIK, and those electrolytes in ECG gel are what will conduct the electrical signals of your heart. Same reason sweat works better than water at conducting.
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The vibrations through the handlebars make wrist-based OHR a very poor place to measure HR for outdoor cycling. The Sosche offers the ability to move it to the forearm or upper arm, which both have a deeper blood supply, and are more isolated from vibrations.
However, all OHR are fairly slow to respond to changes in HR, so if you are wanting to track HR during shorter intervals, then a chest strap is the better way to go. Over time, salt from sweat can build up in the fabric of the strap, causing erroneous readings - I’d recommend getting a HRM with a removable sensor unit, so that you can replace the fabric strap cheaply every 12-18 months. A dual ANT+/BLE sensor is probably more future-proof.
Wahoo Tick’r does it for me. After burning through a Garmin and a Lezyne in less than 6 months each, my Tick’r is going strong 2 years later of heavy, hot, sweaty use.
Ok, so another name in the mix: scosche.
I’ve tried fitbit watch and wahoo wrist based and chest strap. all dropped in and out, depending on the connection to the skin. vibrations do not help wrist based straps / watches. chest based did not seem much better.
so now i use a scosche strap, mounted on the upper arm. vibrations are dampened; it’s easy to get on and off; it does not seem to lose connections to the skin. bluetooth and ant+. you do need a headunit to record on, though.
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(leans forward, lip visibly trembling) “GO ON …”
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Thanks everybody for your responses. I should have mentioned that I’m looking for a stand alone unit, as I do not have a Garmin or anything like that. I could go for something that links to a phone app though.
I think nothing beat strap heart monitoring. I have Garmin-HRM dual and recently bought cheap Magene heart rate monitoring at 1/5 of Garmin price ( I think)… no difference… the Garmin dual can be used while swimming…
My Garmin HRM only connect through ant+ but all the Magene sensors work both with ant+ and bluetooth…
but at the price, I will go for Magene straps…
note: recently I bought lots of Magene product:
Magene Gravat (smart trainer)
Magene HRM
2x Magene speed/cadence sensor
Magene Ridge (power meter)
Ive never used a magene heart rate monitor but the speed and cadence sensors work awesome.
For heart rate I use a 4iiii’s viiiiva and it is awesome. Has storage. Is a ant hub. No issues at all. Also have a garmin HR swim that I have had 0 issues with as well.
How long has Garmin HRM been both bluetooth and Ant+?
Wahoo Tickr here too. Besides replacing batteries every six months, is pretty reliable, not like the rest of the product line…
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For indoors I use the Wahoo Tickr Fit - which goes on your forearm. I just like the simplicity of this for indoor and it is easier to clean/look after than a chest strap. But when I am outdoors I use the Wahoo Tickr chesty.
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I use the Garmin HRM-Swim for indoor training (also for swimming). Other than changing the battery after about 2 years, it’s been perfectly reliable, and I don’t worry about my profuse sweating causing issues with the softer strap on the HRM-Tri. It’s ANT+ only, but I’ve got a dongle for connecting TR to the smart trainer, so it’s not an issue for me.