Heart Rate Monitor Chest Straps

I know there have been threads on the forum before about chest straps for HR monitors but I can’t see a recent one .

My Decathlon monitor is dying (it’s still transmitting but the results vary randomly between far higher or far lower than I would guess by feel). I’ve done all the usual to try and troubleshoot the problem but I’m concluding it’s not long for this world.

I’m after a ANT+ compatible strap for a Garmin head unit but from past experience I’m not keen on Garmin as a previous strap stopped being water resistant a day after the warranty expired. Ideally I’d like one to last long enough to warrant replaceable batteries.

Can anyone recommend a replacement?

Thanks

I use a Garmin and a Magene. They both seem to do the job. The Magene is much cheaper.

I had a Garmin strap die in exactly the same way and ended up with a CooSpo one from Amazon as a replacement. It’s been faultless in the 6 months I’ve used it, connects near-instantly to my Edge 810 and my computer for Zwifting. Feels much better quality than the old Garmin one too.

To be fair the Decathlon strap lasted exactly the same time as the Garmin strap but it would be nice to find a strap which lasts long enough to warrant having a replaceable battery (The Garmin strap seemed to be leaking into the electronics compartment through the strap rather than round the battery seal). I don’t know what’s happening to the latest strap but it can’t cope with long turbo sessions

I’ve a garmin strap that is coming up 8 years old with no issues

+1 for the CooSpo

I’ve got Wahoo and Magene. Both work well. Have replaced the belt on the wahoo but it was a cheapo one from eBay. Still works well though

I was about to open a thread on exactly this question. I replaced a veteran Garmin (generally good but expensive and no BT) with a Wahoo Tickr.

I really don’t recommend the Wahoo: can be a bit temperament for connecting, but the main problem is often gives wrong HRs for first 10+ minutes of the ride. Sometimes a bit wrong, sometimes crazy.

Tried a Livlov V8 but although it connects to the phone on BT the reading did not register with Strava.

So I’m interested in something that does BT and ANT, is reliable and not too expensive.

Doesn’t directly answer the question but my Tickr was very temperamental using the original strap, which eventually busted at the popper that holds it on. Before replacing the whole unit I tried a Coospo strap too and it has been heaps better.

Also use conductive gel. Doesn’t need much but seems to make a difference, especially to sort the problems at start of a ride before things get sweaty.

I had 2 Garmin ones that stopped transmitting the hr over Bluetooth – Halfords refunded me in the end. I was teetering between trying a coospo and a Wahoo tickr and saw a good deal on the wahoo so I’m using that at the moment. Connects quickly and readings seem quick and accurate.

If this one expires prematurely then Coospo is next on the list.

I like my Polar one. It has a memory so you can record data without your phone and then download to the Polar app when you get back From a run

Another vote for the Polar H10, I really like how you can store data, and it works well across my Wahoo Bolt, phone (Strava and Wahoo for running) and my Polar watch.

I had similar issues and also found they would drop out from time to time from the head unit. Slightly different route but I ended up buying a forerunner watch and now just pair that. Simple and more reliable in my experience. I do other sports other than cycling so I didn’t just buy the watch as a HRM

I gave up on Garmin after two died. The problem (for me anyway) is I sweat a lot on the turbo, and the Garmin doesn’t allow you to easily remove the sender unit from the strap.

I bought a cheap CooSpo one and it’s been rock solid for over a year. I just clip off the sender and wipe it down with a dry cloth after every session. Also makes cleaning the strap easier as you can just bung it in some hot water and soap.

It does ANT+, talks to my Garmin watch perfectly well. Also beeps when it’s activated which is more useful than it sounds!

@ali69er. I never realised I could do this. I think I’ve just set my Instinct to do the same. Thanks 😀

Slightly different route but I ended up buying a forerunner watch and now just pair that.

I’ve been doing that it works outside but there seems to be sufficient lag on the wrist sensor to mean it isn’t as useful as it might be for short indoor interval.

Is the Tickr still temperamental? I can remember a lot of complaints when they first came out but wondered if that was a teething problem they’d sorted out.

The Garmin strap I used was the running strap where the electronics were integral with the strap I wondered whether people had had better experience with the ANT+ Blue tooth strap they sell?

I have tried Garmin normal and premium, Wahoo Tickr and now use the Magene, which is very cheap and i’m very happy with. Batteries seem to last about 4-6 months and I’ve had the strap about 2 years i think.

The Wahoo would constantly search for a bluetooth connection, even when not being used, wearing down its batteries very quickly. basically it didn’t go into sleep mode when it should have done.

Someone suggested using a running watch alone. I used my Fenix’s wrist sensor for running and thought my HR was very low. It showed a very slow increase in HR as a i set off and maybe 145-150bpm max, about 135 average, which didn’t seem right for the effort being done. This occurred over perhaps 5 runs or so. I tried running at the same effort with a chest strap and it recorded a quick increase at the start, and much more likely 185 max and about 175 average.

I’ve had no problems at all with the Garmin Dual HRM. The unit unclips from the strap with two pop studs.

I gave up on Garmin after two died. The problem (for me anyway) is I sweat a lot on the turbo, and the Garmin doesn’t allow you to easily remove the sender unit from the strap.

My Garmin strap which has lasted must be the premium strap as its lasted but also the device pops on and off with two poppers.

So I’m interested in something that does BT and ANT, is reliable and not too expensive.

Garmin Dual, I picked one up recently thinking I needed bluetooth for my trainer.

Someone here recommended CooPoo and I spent ages looking till I realised they were messing with mean and meant CooSpo. Ha ha… anyway bought a CooSpo HRM but wend for arm one and it’s been great.