Which Heart Rate Monitor Chest Strap?

I'm still using a HRM Dual that is over three years old. I guess it's in use 2/3 time per week. Do you ever wash it?

I also have a Magene that was much cheapr but seems to function identically. 

Coospo is another common recommendation. 

Yep, wash it in the shower after every use and periodically through the washing machine.

Ive had my Garmin strap about 3 years.  As mentioned above, I also wash it in the shower with me. 

Yep, Coospo here. It works just fine but not a huge user especially as I now have a Garmin Epix Gen 2

Wahoo tickr fit on your forearm. Found mine much better than any chest strap.

I switched from Garmin to Polar but still only ever got about a year of life even with washing in a shower after every use. Now using a Coros arm strap on the bicep - really pleased with it ( very comfortable and accurate ) but it's only a month old ...

I don't think the Garmin ones like soap.  I rinse mine under the tap after every use (pretty much daily) and every week or so in the sink with a little shampoo, just a quick slosh about.  they seem to last me for many years and no issues.

I just replaced my £20, 6yr old Coospo with a new upgraded model about a week ago, which cost £30. The old one was still going fine, having endured being strapped to a fat, hairy and very sweaty Scotsman 3-4 times a week for so many years. It was just starting to look a bit tatty....well, who wouldn't?

The upgrade? Well, my new one makes an audible (barely to me over my tinnitus), beep when the monitor plugs into the strap, and the strap itself is red...instant performance enhancer, cause red ones make you go fasta!

Cheers all, I think I'll give one of those Coospo ones a shot. 

A red one of course.

I've got a Coospo one which is good.

I rinse it in the shower briefly after use. Would never put it in the washing machine.

Posted by: stumpy01

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Would never put it in the washing machine.

+1

I've tried Garmin, Wahoo, Polar and cheap eBay jobbies. IME, they all start playing up 'eventually'. I clean them (occasionally) and sometimes use 'electrolube' (ahem) to improve contact but eventually,  I just move onto a new one. If buying new, I'd just buy the cheapest that does what you want and remember, you can buy the elastic separate from the sender jobbie.

Happy with my Coospo - been using it for at least 18months and it hasn't... ahem... skipped a beat.

Sounds like those who throughly wash/scrub/detergent theirs are highly correlated with quicker wear rates

Not managed to find original Garmin straps (without the transmitter) anywhere.  Plenty of copies knocking about but they don't work particularly well in my experience. 

I'm on a 6 or 7 year old tickr, the sensor patches are *just* starting to peel at the edges. I might get a new one this year.

I had a Garmin dual one that lasted for ages. Replaced it with a Magne one which was shit - randomly jumped all over the place and batteries didn't last very long at all (as in new batteries every week or so). Have now got the posh garmin one - this seems to work well, but it was a hundred quid so it should do!

I've gone from the Garmin to the Polar one as the Garmin started playing up with false readings and "dropping out".

I've had this for about a year now with no issues.  

Coospo.

According to Zwift my Coospo HRM has lasted for 288 hours of use so far.  And they're so cheap, I wouldn't use anything else.

Polar. H9 cheaper than h10. Paired with my suunto. Works perfectly. 

I've been using Coospo for a few years now with no issues, lasted way longer than the Garmin ones. I won't post it on here but if anyone is buying direct from the Coospo site I can sort a discount just message me.

I’ve got a Hammerhead one, I rinse in fresh water carefully after each use and never put it in the washing machine ( although they say it can be washed up to 30 times). It’s 2 years old and used on average about 3 times a week I would say - no issues so far. 

I've got a couple of polar straps o go with my H10.

Straps go in the wash after 2 or 3 sessions. One is 5 yrs old, the other 2, which replaced an earlier polar strap after a least 5 years use.

Don't know what you guys are doing to only get a few months out of a strap 🤔 

Polar H10 pairs with my Garmin Fenix 5, seems to work well. The clip on unit takes a 3V nominal coin cell and is quite fussy about the voltage, if it's less than 3.0V it doesn't work.

I didn’t have a lot of luck with Garmin Dual ones - they kept stopping transmitting hr via Bluetooth. Got a refund in the end.

Went with a Wahoo Tickr which lasted a few years before it started getting a bit erratic. Strap still looked in ok condition but the readings were odd.

Would have bought another one but the prices had gone up a lot - so went with a Polar H9. Seems to work ok - although I preferred the way the Tickr connected round your chest. 

Went with a Wahoo Tickr which lasted a few years before it started getting a bit erratic. Strap still looked in ok condition but the readings were odd.

My Wahoo Tickr was working odd, I had to add a bit of card on the back of the battery, turned out it was jiggling about in there slightly. Bit of card and its been rock solid since!

Oooo, that’s random. Can’t remember if I’ve still got it or chucked it out. If / when the Polar one plays up I may have to have a look and see if the battery is indeed loose on the Tickr. 

Magene - seems identical, if not slightly better than the Garmin options. I get a couple of years use out of them - so the Garmin one's seem expensive for that.

Using two straps in tandem seems to prolong the life span a lot.
I’m using Wahoo Tickr mainly for Wattbike training and Polar H10 for outdoor stuff. Wahoo it is on second strap since 2019 and just replaced 3rd Polar strap in 5 years.

I've been using the same Tickr, multiple times per week, for at least 7 years and have NEVER washed it! 

I'll generally wipe the strap dry with a towel after a turbo sessions and always hang the strap so it dries naturally. Strap still looks fine, and apart from replacing the CR2032 battery about every 18 months, I've no need to consider replacing...

I went for the new (ish) wahoo trackr chest strap when my battery one started to eat batteries. It's rechargeable,  gets about 100hrs use per charge and I just pop it into a sink with some anti bacterial detergent (minus the sender bit) every time I shower after using it. Like the fact I don't need to change batteries as I used to find the wee screw open door used to get more and more worn every time I opened it. Eventually the insides of the battery compartment corroded aswell.

Connects to 3, I think, different bluetooth devices at once so can connect to my watch and bike computer at the same time no problem.

Cost me about 70 quid but I'm sure you can get it cheaper now. Strap is quite short but apparently they sell a longer one for non tour de france chests.

Prompted by this thread I picked up a Coospo strap to use with my 810 instead of broadcasting my HR from my Fenix.

I have paired the strap and can see that a HR is being recorded/shown on the 810 but I do not have a green light on the actual monitor as suggested by the instructions there should be.

Anyone else with a Coospo experience this? 

Posted by: vlad_the_invader

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I've been using the same Tickr, multiple times per week, for at least 7 years and have NEVER washed it! 

I'll generally wipe the strap dry with a towel after a turbo sessions and always hang the strap so it dries naturally. Strap still looks fine, and apart from replacing the CR2032 battery about every 18 months, I've no need to consider replacing...

7 YEARS???? 
Is your pain cave at the bottom of a long garden. I don't think i'd be allowed to leave my strap unwashed for longer than a week. Any longer than that and I'd get banished for the fug, and the dog would probably try and chew the strap to destruction 😉