Poll: Which Heart Rate Monitor Do You Use?

[Von-Skipp]

I use my Garmin Edge 305 for cycling. The HR works great. I guess I wouldnt know if it wasnt accurate.

I am dying to get the new Forerunner 405 for running and tris.

I played with one the other day and they are really cool. Reminded me of using an iPod.

[Pickettt]

Originally Posted by Von-Skipp

I use my Garmin Edge 305 for cycling. The HR works great. I guess I wouldnt know if it wasnt accurate.

My Garmin and Polar are pretty close to identical in accuracy, or at least in precision. That means they're either both right or both wrong

[bvader]

Originally Posted by Von-Skipp

I use my Garmin Edge 305 for cycling. The HR works great. I guess I wouldnt know if it wasnt accurate.

I am dying to get the new Forerunner 405 for running and tris.

I played with one the other day and they are really cool. Reminded me of using an iPod.

One possible minor issue, no barometric altimeter. i.e. elevation/ascent/decent may be less accurate.

[pastamon]

I find that the thump-thump-thump of my pulse is all I need once it gets above 120 bpm. Of course that means I have one less gadget to obsess over, to wonder whether it's the "best" and to compare it to those used by others. But in my experience, my brain computing my own pulse rate is superior to any wrist-worn device that tells me the very same thing.

[dirtvert]

i also use my finger on my wrist on those rare occasions when i'm curious. seriously, this isn't the olympics.

[ubermensch]

Originally Posted by allison

Or, if you'd prefer...

Those bar end things look really comfortable! Any problems with them rotating during a ride?

I use the Garmin strap with the 305 as well, and I can only remember a few instances in the past year where it gave funny readings. I'm more impressed that it seems to be a non-issue when I'm riding close to a number of other 305s.

Re: altimeter, I have no clue how accurate the numbers are, but I'm happy that it gives consistent numbers.

[allison]

Originally Posted by ubermensch

Those bar end things look really comfortable! Any problems with them rotating during a ride?

No, they're locked on there. A good crash might send them rotating, but that's about it. I love them. I have heard a few people have issues with them when descending, but I don't. Could be an angle thing?

Luke just got them as well, I believe.

Gives me multiple hand positions throughout the day, leverage out of the saddle, etc. They are awesome.

They're heavy, though. So for XC racing later this year and next I may go back to a more narrow bar and the ESI foam grips with singletrak lite bar ends.

[Zippy]

Luke, I know you're thinking about a wrist-mount HRM, but I have to take my hand off the bars to look at my Forerunner 305 when I'm doing intervals. So much that I'm thinking about getting the bar mount/cadence kit for my bike. The problem there is swapping it betwen bikes or buying one mount for each bike. Not a prospect I'm relishing. Good luck.

[Blue Rat]

Originally Posted by Zippy

Luke, I know you're thinking about a wrist-mount HRM, but I have to take my hand off the bars to look at my Forerunner 305 when I'm doing intervals. So much that I'm thinking about getting the bar mount/cadence kit for my bike. The problem there is swapping it betwen bikes or buying one mount for each bike. Not a prospect I'm relishing. Good luck.

Suunto makes a bar mount kit for their T series monitors. The various ways to set alarms for intervals (time, distance, etc) has me just listening during interval training. There are also alarms for your heart rate zones. I'm able to glance quickly at my wrist to see H/R, distance, time. I see the benefit of not having to remove your hand from the bars to really get a good idea of the information being displayed. Plus if you want to change screens, a wrist mount kind of takes two hands. I don't switch screens that often but when I do want to it's usually at a time when I should have both hands on the bars.

[Von-Skipp]

Originally Posted by bvader

One possible minor issue, no barometric altimeter. i.e. elevation/ascent/decent may be less accurate.

Yeah, I'm not too worried about elevation differenced when running. Most of my runs are flat or with a couple hundred feet of gain.


Does anyone know if the new Forurnner 405 will work with my current HR from my Edge 305?

[Chaos]

I use a Suunto X6HRT. I love it, only thing is battery life is about 1yr.
No worries though, got it at a shop that installs fresh batteries for the life of the watch