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HRM

Can anyone recommend which are the better HRM's? Obviously there are some good Polar one's and some all singing all dancing garmin GPS style ones. Am basically looking for one that is good value for money that I can use on my bike and download the info onto my computer.

Comments

  • Hi Stuart. I run with a Polar wrist HRM, and use a Polar CS200Cad on my bike. But only after buying the latter did I realise the wealth of data you could tap into with a Garmin. And the Garmins look better value, too.



    Now I'm thinking about getting a Forerunner 305 (£130 on Amazon), as most of the reviews say this is the bee's knees. I'll mainly use it for running – can't chuck away the CS200 on my bike as it was quite an expensive gift, and with cadence figures it's quite useful. But you can get a bike mount for most Garmin models, and download various data on to your PC.



    People who've got more out of their HRM than I have so far would be able to go into the specifics more, but I think most on here would agree that the latest Garmins are probably better value than the Polar models.
  • I have the Polar rs200sd which costs a bit more than than the RS200 because it comes with a foot pod for speed and distance info...however I wasn't verly impressed with the quality of data you could extract from it. I have since bought a garmin 305 as they are much cheaper then the shiny new 405. YES the 305 looks like you are sporting a housebrick on your wrist but I think its fantastic and as tri-tri-again pointed out they are going for a lot less than other GPS enabled models. The quality of data you can gather is very impressive.



    The only problem about the garmin is you cant swim with it on (well you can...but the water resistant rating aint great and I wouldn't risk it). I use the polar for lap times in the pool and thats about it now (chest strap doesn't work so well in water apparently..although have never tried it!), so as long as you buy a cheap waterproof watch for the pool the 305 should satisfy all your running needs...oh and its handy if you get lost on the bike because you can retrace your route on the map function



    TK

  • Hi there. I've just got a Suunto T3C running pack. Approx £130 from SBR sports online with a foot pod, HR belt, and the watch. Watch & belt only about £90. I chose this for several reasons, first being its 30m waterproof so OK for swimming (would have preferred 50m though), it's really light, it's a watch with passable aesthetics for off the bike / run, and more important you can pair up to 3 devices at a time to it and it comes with plently of 'pod' options. This means you can do cadence, bike speed and HRM on the bike. You can get a GPS pod (it's huge though) if you don't want all the other gizmos and a PC pod for computer downloads. I can't vouch for it's longevity or the PC program as I haven't got that yet, but for the half dozen trainings so far its been great for real time info. The watch stores 13 workouts. The bike mount is a bit crude but works effectively. Take a look on line for it's spec. I thought it was a good compromise of features and price, with options to get all tech wizzy with GPS & Pc analysis etc if I ever feel the need.



    Only word of caution oif you do choose this is SBR took 2 weeks to get it to me as they didn't hold it in stock when I ordered, but they were the cheapest. Amazon good value for the pods at the moment. Good luck, gotta love the research.
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