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My current heart rate monitor went kaput tonight after 10 years of use. Maybe due to my fine performances. Anyway I think I need new one. I use it mainly for Zwift indoors and my wahoo when outside.
Most grateful for a recommendation. I'd prefer one I recharge but battery is ok. Bluetooth.
Thanks.
My Coospo has been boringly reliable for 2-3 years now. Even the bit you wet to pick up heart rate has not come away from the stretch elastic yet. Yet 🙈
I've always used Garmin ones, and aside from one that died almost immediately (and was replaced very efficiently) they've each lasted many years.
+1 to CooSpo. Been the most reliable by far for me. Outlived Wahoo and Polar ones costing 5x as much.
Probably jinxed that now.
Oh good. The CooSpo seems to be available on the non Bezos Ali express.
Have been using polar for years. Current H10 is great, has double Bluetooth connections. Always gets good reviews for accuracy. Allows analysis of various HR related metrics if you have the correct watch.
Garmin has proved to be very reliable for me (6+ years), but the wee screws are a pain to undo/redo when replacing the battery. I think the more recent models have better fasteners.
Can't compare it to much, a couple of £15 Halfords items (which did work but would randomly drop connection mid-ride every now and again), so my experience may not be accurate.
Went budget with Magene for a while and it was poor. Less reliable than Garmin, which I’m using again.
+1 to CooSpo. Been the most reliable by far for me. Outlived Wahoo and Polar ones costing 5x as much.
Probably jinxed that now.
Yes, agreed. The best one I've had by far, never any problem and still going strong after a few years.
Cardiosport TP3 here. Cardiosport make a lot of the parts and sensors for other brands.
I wrap some electrical tape around the battery cover area of the chest unit as that may help longevity, plus keep it somewhere warm and dry. It's been better than the others I've had, 4 yrs old now. I use a HRM for all my road and gravel miles and have done for about 14 years, on my 5th HRM strap/transmitter.
Would buy the TP5D next time for the LED indicators, useful to check if it's the battery in the transmitter or watch fading when signal starts to act up.
Another vote for Coospo (H6). Bluetooth and Ant+. I use it with Rouvy and Concept2 rower.
Coospo for me too. Much more comfortable than the Garmin one I had previously. The coospo strap is available separately if you need one, which is helpful
I’ve got the standard wahoo and wouldn’t buy again. Seems to eat batteries and the hrm output is wildly inconsistent - often seems to vastly under estimate heart rate.
Coospo for me too. From AliExpress.
Works better and more reliable than either Garmin strap I've had before
FWIW my Garmin Dual is currently fitted to a Polar strap as I found that more comfortable than the Garmin original - which also managed to undo itself while running.
I used a Coospro for a while but mine started eating batteries, I'm guessing sweat got inside the battery compartment.
I now use an Xoss X2 pro which I got from AliExpress for £13 and it's been faultless. It's rechargeable and comes with a little dock which you connect it to, can't fault it for the price!
If anyone is buying direct from Coospo website I can give you 10% off code. I have 2 Coospo ones, after about 8 years one of them has died which has been better than the Garmin ones which lasted about 2 years if I was lucky.
the wee screws are a pain to undo/redo when replacing the battery. I think the more recent models have better fasteners.
the tiny screws were indeed a pain: my most recent garmin one is tool free, just press and turn the battery cover. A great improvement.
Bought another Coospo after the old one started eating through batteries. It does seem to need a bit more spit to make a quick/accurate connection, but that's not something I'm in short supply of.
I gave up on chest strap HR monitors about 18 months ago because I was only getting about 2 years life out of the straps even though I was washing them religiously as per their guidelines ( Garmin and Polar ). Moved to the coros arm hr monitor and I find it much more comfortable and, so far, very reliable. It might be a tad slower to react than a chest strap but there's not much it when I compare the two traces
Are folk washing the straps? I think in the 6+ years, it has been soaked twice - not really washed. I tend to stick the strap on, and about a minute before riding, I pop the HRM on and power up my Garmin. No moisture but it picks up immediately.
I'm on a coospo too.. rechargeable one I can't remember the model. Had it a few months it seems great so far.
Bought it after my previous Polar and Garmin units started eating batteries.
I hand wash the strap about twice per year...
I put mine in washing machine - has worked for the past 10 years.
I occasionally wash my straps. Usually when they start to whiff a bit.
Hang on, hang on, you only wash the strap twice a year! I must have toxic sweat as I think mine would be growing mushrooms if did that 🤣
I chuck mine in the washing machine after every ride and I've never had any issues. I bought a couple from AliExpress a couple of years ago any they're still going.
Coospo (808S?) here too.
How accurate do you need it? I changed to an optical arm-band style one and it's so much more comfortable. I found that the chest strap versions either slid down if I exhaled completed, or hampered my breathing if they were tight enough to stay in place. Only disadvantage is that they need charging every month or so.
Having had Garmin, Wahoo and Coospo I think they’re all much the same. I won’t buy a Wahoo again as it didn’t last, but the Garmin and Coospo have all been fine and equally as accurate as the others.
I have moved to a Coros arm band for running though, and whilst it’s slightly less accurate it’s much better to run in that the chest strap.
i recently invested in a Garmin HRM 600. Seems a very good bit of kit. Does what it says on the tin and the best thing is its rechargeable no fannying around with batteries.
I ignored advice and went with a Fourth Frontier as it does ECG (after my first TIA and also some arrythmia). It's rubbish and won't hold a connection.
Going to get a Garmin - my HR seems excessively high at times on a ride, so I want to make sure it's not the Garmin watch I'm currently using being innacurate
*edit - does anyone use the Polar H10, as that does ECG?
and also some arrhythmia
This maybe key.
I am currently under investigation for some arrhythmia issues. Off for a CT coronary angiogram next week after a treadmill exercise ECG test showed clinical evidence of what I have been experiencing and telling them about for the last 12 minths. In that test my arrhythmia clears up completely at higher heart rates but at lower levels of intensity I'm throwing out extra beats and missing others all over the place.
This correlates well with data off my heart rate strap which often has wonky data that just can't be trusted until I'm well warmed up and up into the top half of Z2 by rpe. I suspect a basic exercise strap and whatever unit is collecting the data can't handle turning erratic data into nice clean numbers....because the data isn't clean.
@convert. You are correct, you really need something specific to capture that information reliably. I suffer with AF (as do quite a few on here as I recall) mine is intermitent and also doesnt stop me from exercising very hard but occurs at non exertion. Echocardiograms have show an enlarged lower heart chamber. Kids bought me a Fenix 7 Pro for my 60th as that plots a graph when you are in AF which my GP was (surprisingly) very interested in.
Ref the original question. I use a cheap Coolspro strap from Amazon when I use Zwift and I find it as accurate as any others I have work over the years.
Kids bought me a Fenix 7 Pro for my 60th as that plots a graph when you are in AF which my GP was (surprisingly) very interested in.
Is this just via the on demand 30s ECG function, or does it have some background monitoring - I didn't think it did?
I changed to an optical arm-band style one and it's so much more comfortable.
For me, this.
I got the cheapest cospoo arm band one.
"Works fine so far."
My current one is a Coospo one which is at least a few years old.
I think it has only had one replacement battery - maybe 2.
I pull the clip on bit off after use & dry it.
I run the strap under the shower after most rides, just to give it a quick rinse and then let it drip dry.
The Magene I had previously died as I never took the clip-on bit off & the popper connections rusted.
I sense from the above that there is not really a useful pattern emerging but for what its worth I found my Polar H9 to be way better than the previous Shimano ones I had.
I do give the unit itself a wipe after use (especially indoors) and leave it out somewhere airy to dry. I've never washed the strap before in my whole life but I do occasionally wear it in the shower to try and clean it a bit.
Is this just via the on demand 30s ECG function,
Yes
I use the Polar H10 as the Garmin one I had started to gave weird readings.
I had heart surgery a couple of years back so wanted something that gave reliable readings to monitor my heart rate whilst riding and the H10 hasn't let me down in the 18 months I've had it.
Was looking at the Fourth Frontier x2 device but wasn't about connectivity to older devices. Given the comment above from TheArtistFormerlyKnownAsSTR I'll give it a miss.
Lo and behold my old one sprung back into life. I'm sure inanimate objects know when they're about to be replaced. Maybe one for the conspiracy thread.
Are folk washing the straps? I think in the 6+ years, it has been soaked twice - not really washed. I tend to stick the strap on, and about a minute before riding, I pop the HRM on and power up my Garmin. No moisture but it picks up immediately.
I would expect it conducts well with all that salt in it ..
I rinse mine in the shower after every few rides, prob gets a rinse about half the frequency of a jersey or base layer. Hand sanitizer gel makes a good conduction aid if it's to be slow steady ride and helps keep it from biohazard status.
I figured they would all be the same - I got a magane as i've had other stuff from them that was good (and I'm generally very pro Chinese cycling kit). It was much less reliable than the garmin it replaced (it was maybe 10 years old) and frequently had dropped signals. I then replaced it with another garmin (the fancy one) which has been faultless..