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HR Monitor Advice

Hi Folks,

Just wondering if anyone could reccommend the right sort of multisport HR monitor to use? I am keen to get something that is not only an excellent training aid but is also user-friendly (ie: I am not very technical!) Model and best place to buy? Hope you can help

Thanks...

Comments

  • BoycieBoycie Posts: 189
    Hi there,



    I think the first things you need to think about is what you require from your HRM and how much you are willing to spend. As the number of functions go up, so will the price, and there is no point spending extra for something you won't get the most out of.



    As far a makes go, both Polar and Suunto are very popular, but I'm sure that others will recommend other makes too. I wouldn't try and guess which is the best model without knowing your requirements and price range, but both of these makes have a good variety of models.



    The best place I've found for HRM's is www.heartratemonitor.co.uk. they offer a good range and the cheapest prices that I've come across.



    Hope this helps a bit.



    David.
  • TesseractTesseract Posts: 280
    220 did a review of HRMs a while back, toward the end of last year I think. I can't remember their recommendation, but they had to recommend about three due to price ranges.



    Like Boycie says it's down to what you really need/ want out of it. I've got the basic Polar model, just has heart rate and stopwatch on it. That's been fine for me so far. I have been thinking about forking out for a more expensive model recently, as I've been looking at some of the online training programs that work with downloaded data from HRM sessions, however decided to spend the cash on upgrading some bits on my bike.
  • Free WillyFree Willy Posts: 63
    My vote is for the Polar 725x, which I have been using for about a year now and find it great, the footpod has to be calibrated or the run distances will not be accurate (for me the default setting caused an over estimate), the software is easy to use but to download the data from your watch you have to buy an infrared reader - almost any sort will do. It comes with a bike mount point but I cannot use this as the tri bars are in the way and I do not want to spend time taking the watch on and off between cycling and running. The cadence and speed/distance mounts are easy to fit and are accurate, the display on the watch is easy to read and you can easily change the display to show different modes, cadence/speed/distance/time etc.



    I have not used it in the Ocean so cannot comment on how it performs in water, my training partner uses his Polar (different model) in it and has had no problems.



    Make sure you work out your max heart rate and set the zones to see how much time you spend in the each zone (Max, Hard, Moderate etc). It is interesting seeing over the weeks/months how the heart rate compares over the same course, it is also frightening when you start using one to see how high your heart rate goes (well it was for me anyway).

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