@grenhall We’re brothers from another mother! Or, just weirdo cyclists. Why? I used to wear my HR strap playing hockey too. I’d leave my phone on the bench, and my team-mates would yell at me when they KNEW I was getting tired based on HR. Here’s a 60 minute game a few years ago. Easy to spot my (lame ass) shifts as a right winger:
@chad ain’t got nothing on these intervals!
TICKR user here and I was in the same camp as the OP and not using one outside until last year. Racing with HR has been very helpful and use it as a guide. Especially helpful on the climbs.
Re: Wahoo, I’ve had good CS from them. They replaced a failing one year old Kickr with a new 2019 and they paid to ship the old one back (failed one sounded like a big rig…failed bearings). YMMV, but Wahoo has been good and their CS has come through for me.
I have the wahoo tickr and also the Garmin hrm tri. Both work fine and use them for different things. Wahoo for zwift running and Garmin for everything else as it is so comfortable.
I am one of the people who has used a hr strap for so long and look at the data afterwards to see how my fitness is progressing. I mainly use rpe during my workouts which to me has helped push more instead basing everything on hr.
Only experiences have been with Polar, and now Garmin, both excellent!
I use a Garmin Fenix 3 with built in wrist HRM for general day to day stuff it gives me alright feedback.
I had to buy a chest strap to get more accurate values.
This is my personal anecdotal observation, I know that the wrist strap can misrepresent work because our bodies are amazing machines and will send blood where we need it. When I am doing gym work I can be at RPE 9 and wHR will sit at 90 BPM. I have even seen this doing indoor cycling rides.
@chad may have more information on this.
I’ve been solidly using Scosche for a couple years now, and recently tried out the Polar OH1. All are optical, and I wear them on the lower bicep (above the elbow). Accuracy has been great for all; way better than my Fenix 5X and 6X.
The Scosche Rhythm24 (their newer model) has fantastic battery life (about 24 hours) and accuracy, but the build quality of the case is less than stellar. I’ve broken about 5 of them, with the metal pin that holds the band on breaking free from the plastic casing. It’s a known issue at Scosche, and their CS has been stellar. I swapped several Rhythm24s back to them for a batch of the older Rhythm+.
The Rhythm+ is just as accurate, but has lower battery life (about 8 hours). But they just work, and they’re durable as heck.
The Polar OH1 was pretty good. I never liked the charging method, as you can insert it backwards in the charging cradle without knowing it… it won’t charge. My current OH1 is headed back to Polar though, as it was completely, and unexplainably, dead the other day after a full charge. I charged it again and it worked great, but there’s something funky there, so I’m sending it in. Also, like the Rhthym+, there’s no way to tell battery charge level on the device itself… super annoying. And if you connect it to the Polar app, it will just give you vague “Half Full” or “Full” charge indicators, no exact charge level. Silly.
My experience:
Polar: cell phone interference out the wazoo
Garmin: cell phone interference out the wazoo
Wahoo: cheap, falls apart after about six months, but cell phones can’t phase it
The first 10-20 minute of my weekday rides are on roads heavily trafficked by the local university students. dang near all of them on their phones. On all but the Tickr, I get crazy stuff like an average HR of 190 or 200 for five or six minutes. My max is 171.
I tried a Wahoo TIkr for a while and found it to be unreliable. It would often simply fail to connect to my phone. Also the battery life seemed low, and the auto-shut off would failed and it would stay on all day and drain the battery.
I got this cheap model from amazon.
Always works, strap doesn’t dig, and i have been through SSBHV1 and 2 on the same battery.
Seconding this.
It’s been cheap and I haven’t had a single problem with it
I also use the Magene HRM from Amazon. I finally tossed my Lezyne one that came in a computer bundle in the garbage after 1.5 years because the battery cover works its way loose allowing moisture in. It would work for a short period of time then freeze and then drop.
It’s a personal thing, but I just can’t stand wearing a chest strap. I know they are super accurate and you never have to recharge, but I just can’t do it.
I switch between a TICKR FIT and a OH1 interchangably. With arm warmers, I literally forget either is there. Can’t really say I have a preference between the two, some minor pros/cons but both have been super solid for me. I have done a wrist VS forearm VS bicep comparison VS forehead and regardless of device, the location and fit seem to make the biggest diff. I can get fairly accurate wrist HR as long as I wear it high & tight. It is pretty much how nobody wears a watch normally.
What Is Optical Heart Rate Tracking? | Polar Blog has some good info, but has a really good illustration How to get more accurate wrist heart rate readings on your Suunto watch
Wahoo TICKR is good, but, get the less expensive one and rinse it with clean water once a week and spray a tiny squirt of WD40 on the snaps or else they will break off the strap. I’ve had to replace several even with proper care. The TICKR itself finally died after O don’t know how many years. Getting a replacement today.
I’m not the biggest fan of chest straps, though I have a few. Battery life seems to be indefinite, so they work well for centuries and such.
For a number of years I’ve been using the Mio Link. Wrist optical and they worked very well for me. They did keep dying though. I could get them pretty cheap, but now they have been discontinued for some time.
Just recently I got the Scosche Rythym24. Within a month the body broke right where the band pin goes in, on both sides of a single pin. I did not know that was a known issue. The whole body does seem pretty flimsy.
Scosche replaced it, but with a green strap; not the black I had. #vanity
I got it for long battery life and the recording ability.
I want to try and record HR while swimming. In 50+ years of swimming I’ve never had that ability. I don’t care about swimming metrics or whatever like on the newer tri watches. I know my workouts, I just want to see what my heart does during a workout.
I haven’t tried it yet in the pool, I do hope it will transmit to a watch for open water swimming, but if it won’t at least it should record my HR.
review so far?
No issues so far using it on BT. The battery cover doesn’t inspire a ton of confidence because it barley rotates to lock in place but it has had no issues.
Just here to say after months, I’m astounded at how much of a great purchase this is value for money. Never had any problems, the batter seems to last forever too. Definitely would say unless you need to rebroadcast ant+ to bluetooth or you need to go swimming, get this!
Pretty intervals there! 
I love hockey but haven’t played since I was like 13 or something. So 23 years later I found it again. Based on my oldest son starting to play.
My fuse started to fall apart (the glue bit between the rubber and the sensor pod). I now have a Polar OH1+. No display and the battery is shorter, but it’s perfect for training. Similarly dual BT and ANT+. Bonus is that it uploads to Strava recorded workouts. Always found that download CSV Fuse thing a pain.
I have both chest straps and optical heart rate sensors. I don’t find much accuracy difference. There is a learning curve with both, it is just that the chest straps have been around longer, so people forget that they had to learn to remember to wet the electrodes and the correct tightness so it doesn’t slip, but does not restrict breathing. With optical just slide it further up your arm and tighten it a bit. The 24 hour monitoring I’m not so sure on as you don’t want a watch on that tight all the time.
The big difference is battery life. Shining light eats energy. Chest straps last months, but it is really annoying if you forget to put it on. An optical monitor can be just slipped on. If you’re always going to be exercising topless just get a chest strap. Even if you think there is a small reduction in accuracy (I’m not sure there is) a heart rate monitor actually worn is much better than one on the floor… just remember to recharge it. It’s a pain when it dies mid-workout.
Hmm… I had thought optical sensors were notoriously inaccurate. Which one are you using? And for context, which chest strap are you using?
