Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 25 total)
  • Heart rate monitors – without chest straps
  • cynic-al
    Free Member

    Do they work ok? I see the profile roadies are still rocking chest straps so possibly not the best?

    I don’t need anything fancy, tho I might talk myself into a GPS hrm thing…

    Lost the strap for my 18yr old Polar 🙁

    scotroutes
    Full Member

    The wrist-mounted version would be a good idea. I hear most of them have alarm clocks built in…….

    patentlywill
    Free Member

    You could buy a replacement strap or upgrade to a polar h7 strap which I believe works with the old watches and also has Bluetooth so you can hook it up to strava on a smartphone

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    P-Jay
    Free Member

    Fitbit HR has been shown to be pretty inaccurate on anything but resting HR. I guess it depends how accurate you need it to be.

    bruneep
    Full Member

    may have a very un used polar one if you want it.

    I have garmin 235 with optical HR seems to be ok. depend how accurate you want it to be.

    paulosoxo
    Free Member

    I’m not overly impressed with my Garmin 235

    fifeandy
    Free Member

    Stick with chest strap, massively superior during exercise.

    leffeboy
    Full Member

    scosche rhythm+ is meant to be good but I struggle to get it to lock on to my hr unless I’m running/riding at a steady pace. Any fast changes and it drifts around so it’s not very good at the very thing I want it to do which is prevent myself going too hard 🙁 . I’ve sent it back for a software update though so I’ll see if that changes things.

    Went back to a strap and it works perfectly

    cynic-al
    Free Member

    Ok cool ta I’ll get another strap

    mikewsmith
    Free Member

    Got a Vivosmart HR, first watch I’ve worn in years…
    The HR for everyday is OK, the software is setup to minimise the readings to make battery life efficient so it can be a bit leggy, what you set it to record an activity or broadcast as ant+ it records much more.
    Not done back to back but I think dc rain maker had some graphs and it was decent in comparison. Given how patchy I find the Garmin straps it’s much better.

    beinbhan
    Full Member

    I’ve been using a scosche rhythm+ for the last six months and been more than happy with it

    fatmax
    Full Member

    Happy with my Garmin Vivoactive HR – accurate enough on the HR and GPS unless you’re an elite athlete.

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    I’ve been using a scosche rhythm+ for the last six months and been more than happy with it

    It’s ok. Do get some funny readings from it, especially if it’s cold. And the battery life isn’t great.

    I’d just get another chest strap. I’ve got a polar and a garmin. Both very reliable and the battery lasts for ages. Can also do HRV which the optical ones can’t.

    paulosoxo
    Free Member

    Happy with my Garmin Vivoactive HR – accurate enough on the HR and GPS unless you’re an elite athlete.

    I’m not an elite athlete, far from it, but my 235 can’t handle interval runs that well, the Heart Rate takes to long to elevate, and too long to come back down,

    drslow
    Free Member

    if you want to be accurate use the chest strap. Ive got the Fenix HR, running seems fine, cycling not so good. Maybe its the wrist position but just doesn’t seem to accurate.

    iancity1
    Free Member

    Vivosmart HR user here, love it. So comfortable and mates with Garmin connect/strava as well, loads of useful (and some not so useful) metrics from it if that is your thing. To me it just saved the hassle of finding the chest strap and specifically having to put it on for every ride, whereas the Vivosmart is just worn 24/7 and takes no thinking about.

    bigrich
    Full Member

    Optical heart rate monitors are not accurate

    Obviously the Americans sued.

    http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2016/01/fitbits-multiple-lawsuits.html

    twonks
    Full Member

    I use a Mio Link as I don’t get on with chest straps.

    Works very well and even has an LED that changes colour according to preset heart rate zones, so can be used as a primitive help to zone training if you are that way inclined.

    CraigW
    Free Member

    I have a Mio Fuse, I quite like it.
    Definitely more comfortable than a chest strap for me. I find chest straps have a tendency to slip down my chest, or painfully chafe.

    Accuracy for the Mio Fuse seems pretty good. Depends on just where I have it on my wrist – I find it works best on the inside of the wrist, a bit further up than I would wear a watch. Plus it needs to be fairly tight.
    Sometimes it takes a while to find the heart rate when I switch it on. But once I’m running/riding, it seems to give accurate numbers.
    Battery lasts about 10 hours, so long enough for most days out.

    craigxxl
    Free Member

    I use the Fenix 3 with the Run HRM belt and it’s very consistent. My wife has the Garmin 235 and I used it once alongside my Fenix 3 having my wife’s watch on my left wrist. Viewing the data see by side and there was a slight lag with the optical 235 but nothing drastic. They did also record slightly different heart rates but again not by much.
    Using a HRM is just a tool to let you know how much effort you’re putting in so long as it is consist between sessions then use whichever you prefer. Personally I’d prefer the optical one if it wasn’t for the fact I use nato watch straps whch would prevent the optical sensor from working.

    Edit. If you are dong very long rides then optical has less battery life than belt.

    mjsmke
    Full Member

    I bought a fitbit blaze which I’m very pleased with. The HR monitor seems accurate compared to my old polar chest strap and the smart notifications are nice when my phones on my camel bac. The fitbit apps pretty simple but gives my enough information about my HR to make it well worth the £158.

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    @tweaks, just had a look at the Mio Link, looks interesting.

    Would it sync nicely with an edge (25) on the bars?

    twonks
    Full Member

    Not sure what the 25 needs in terms of connectivity, but mine syncs every time with my Garmin 520.

    Also works with Strava on my android phone and of course its own app, but it gets confusing when you try to use both bits of software together – not that there is any real reason to do so.

    The only negative compared to chest straps I’ve found is battery life. Don’t think I ever had a strap long enough to have the battery die, but the fuse lasts around 6 hours before it needs a recharge.

    Have also been out with it on in the worst downpours and it always works even with no protection at all from the elements.

    jam-bo
    Full Member

    My garmin 235 has got a lot less spiky with the last couple of firmware updates.

    cookeaa
    Full Member

    Not sure what the 25 needs in terms of connectivity, but mine syncs every time with my Garmin 520

    Edge 25 has BT and Ant+ so it should work as I understand it, 6 hours should be enough battery life for me.

    Cheers, might be a little present to myself in the not too distant future.

Viewing 25 posts - 1 through 25 (of 25 total)

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