I’ve seen so many posts about how shitty Wahoo HR monitors are, it’s wild. I’ve had the same one for so many years, I feel lucky (I’ve went through a couple of straps though).
Next one I get will be the Polar as that’s which one everyone mentions all the time.
I think they’re original was solid and they must have changed something as there are tons of reports of problems
The problem seems to come down to the contacts corroding. Such an oversight that a device literally intended to get sweat on it wouldn’t have better protection from this. I even put a dab of dielectric grease on my last one to see if that would help. No dice!
This 
100%
The strap contacts get corroded and it becomes worthless
Had a tickr for 3+ years and still works fine but probably earlier/better version and only use it on trainer. Personal favorite though is garmin hrm-trii and if it ever dies (5+ years) I will replace with hrm-pro.
#1 Tickr I had the strap literally fell apart from salt corrosion. After the strap was replaced it developed some irregular readings after a while, contacted Wahoo and they replaced it without issue.
#2 replacement Tickr is fine so far (2 years old) although I usually try and wipe down the contacts on the HRM and the strap after use to prevent corrosion.
#3 Tickr (newer model, that I purchased 12 months ago to replace the second one I thought I’d lost but just stored “in a safe place” lol) started giving odd readings a few weeks ago, nothing above 120bpm even when smashing threshold efforts on the trainer. This one had been cleaned regularly as per the others but someone posted somewhere (maybe here?) that they throw the strap in the wash regularly - tried that and seems to have fixed it.
I’m not sure if other brand HRMs have similar issues but I just assumed that the salt corrosion would eventually affect any HRM with exposed metal contacts and that the straps at least are “disposable”.
Do other brands have a similar design? The only other strap I have is a 4iiii Viiiiva (also has exposed metal contacts) which I use strictly for resting HRV-measurement only and never gets attacked by sweat.
I am not sure what I pay TR. Honestly, it is a yearly subscription that is far cheaper than much of the stuff sold by Wahoo or Peloton. Further, the workouts day-to-day are really never the same even if I have been doing Base Build Speciality for the last 4 or 5 years. With all the enhancements my fitness is in continuous improvement without much thought from me. Highly motivating if your focused on fitness and beating your brother-in-law. Not to mention the brand loyalty/awareness with the podcasts and forum. Now all we need is branded Yetis we can purchase.
Let’s also face it, many of us are tired of forking out hundreds for accessaries that don’t last that long and thousands of dollars on bikes. Strap on the bibs and I am rolling down the street on my bike in total for more than most good used cars (certainly for more than my kids cars). I have a Specialized SL6. There is nothing about the SL7 that begs me to reach into my wallet and buy a new SL7.
My Wahoo head unit is on the fritz. I am not running out to spend a few hundred bucks to buy a new one. By the time I do replace it my dollar cost average for that bad boy will be 50 cents a day.
Also as you have mentioned the secondary market is pretty robust. Some portion of Peloton bikes and for that matter bikes on trainers will always become clothes hangers. Especially without structure.
I often wonder if a more entry level Peloton without the screen would make sense. Allow it to be used on ZWIFT, TR and Peloton. Not sure if it would be a huge bump but I bet the margins would be better. You could still increase the subscriptions and Monthly Active users. Even if it is virtual power on other platforms there might be a there there.
For sure lots of turbulence and corrections ahead for many companies that grew too fast and borrowed to do so or had a huge valuation that was leverage to grow. Cash will be king and back to basic business fundamentals.
Welp, enough of my pontificating it is time to take my man thong off the bike, strap on those bibs, fire up the TR app.
NW, your 2nd to last paragraph has been the nail in the coffin for so many companies. Got very short sided and thought this growth was going to last. Went into debt to increase production…problem was by the time that investment was ready, people started going back to the gym and back to life. Covid is far from over, but the fear of it has long since passed.
Theres a home gym equipment store by me. I went in there around May-ish of 2020 and the owner sounded like a rolex salesman. Was so much better than you and would only order you the highest end equipment, because he knew you couldnt get anything anywhere else and if you wanted it, youd pay for it. I drove by there a few weeks ago…a Bob’s Discount Furniture is now in the space his store used to be…
NW…very good take on this! Chapeau. It is not surprising with Wahoo because when they first came on the scene they positioned themselves as a tech company and not a hardware. I have feeling not many know of their funding/equity structure/history but i suspect NW nailed it that they had multiple rounds of funding and demanding tech-type funders who placed demanding returns and growth. I like Wahoo and have their head units, kickr and other products and am a believer but also like Stages and think that their growth, product offerings and size is more organic and realistic but who really knows.
Regarding the off-topic strap discussion: I’ve had really good luck with my tickr. The strap thing is very common and an easy cheap fix with all manufactures. I’ve read that it has to do with the corrosive sweat soaking in behind the conductive electrodes and straps manufactures can not place a thick enough barrier up to protect it because it would affect sensitivity and accuracy (a compromise of manufacturing like many things). I got a replacement strap online for $5! They go with every brand and is why the snap spacing thing is a common ISO standard. I have 3 different straps that i keep in various locations. If a battery or strap goes i’ve got backup, but my wahoo is the gold standard.
I wonder how much flexibility TR retains by not going into hardware. Not having to manage millions of dollars in inventory sort of caps expenses and increases flexibility. I’m sure that there was some pressure to move into that space with the peloton boom, but Nate’s probably glad that even if things get really dark in the training space, he at least won’t have warehouses full of $5,000 stationary bikes.
True and good-on Nate for resisting the temptation to get into it. They do need to diversify their income stream i think. But in what IDK (even a small apparel line, trainer accessories (mounts etc) would help or personalized coaching…they probably already have this, i’m just clueless). Is it going to fund a head, no, but will it keep the lights on or pay for bonuses at the end of the year for their talent…maybe.
I need a new strap for my old TCKR (the previous generation). Can i buy any replacement strap from any brand? The new replacements for the new TCKR are expensive.
Any specific one you recommend at a good pricepoint?
Yes, you can buy any HR strap. I’ve purchased generic hr straps off Amazon, and they work fine with both my Tickr and TickrX.
I think the price increase has helped TR for sure. If they actually did Triathlon it would be a relatively good revenue stream for them I would think. They could sell plans like training peaks does that can actually upload to garmins.
Unfortunately they have ignored triathletes so long. Heck TR still doesn’t upload runs, swims, etc which is crazy talk. I used to do tri but not anymore to clarify.
Regarding apparel I believe it would be a logistical nightmare for them and not very profitable. I remember they did it before with a 3rd party and not much demand for it.
Gravel and XCM race series 
I admire TR for sticking to it’s core focus - they are not a clothing or accessory company. Any kind of additional product line simply draws time, resources, focus and effort away from core activities, no matter what it is. For any sideline to be worthwhile the additional drain for a company like TR would be significant, and a small and (arguably) less resource-heavy product would simply be pointless.
A business like TR will survive and thrive with continual development of the product and innovation to stay ahead of the competition. Look at what TR offers now vs 3 years ago. It simply cannot afford to be distracted by a line of jerseys, bidons, a gravel race series etc etc. As Nate said in the podcast, title sponsor, but not the organiser…IMHO 
That’s good to know, do you have an Amazon link or example? Cheers
Agree with above that just a LITTLE focus on triathlon could bring lot of new customers. Let’s say auto upload of runs/swims and also being able to put Tri plans on calendar without runs and/or swims (i.e. able to choose which of the three elements of the Tri plan appear on calendar) since most triathletes use only run/swim plans would be amazing.
In my area, cycling at a more ‘serious’ level (i.e. racing, competitive etc) in decline but triathlon is booming, especially amongst women which is amazing. My cycle club has about 5% women if that, my Tri club is at least 50% women which is amazing. From a purely personal point of view (as a v competitive male) I love training sessions with a high % of women - it so improves the atmosphere, far less macho crap and beating others in training…just more friendly and focus on the process. (Very general I’m sure but that’s my experience!)
I’d expect any such activities to be via agreement with third party specialists, so no drain on in-house resource.
I think that had more to do with choosing an expensive partner and not working with them on things like volume discounts. I’ve been on far smaller teams that used those vendors and we got huge discounts.
Also, things like coffee cups, tshirts, decals, hats, etc., are cheap marketing and can be managed by the 3rd party. All TR would have to do is provide the image. I still don’t know why we don’t have these things. My only guess is not wanting a bunch of people without cyclist bodies representing the product.