Which HRM???

James Godley

I'm thinking about getting a Heart rate monitor, to help training for this 300k round a lake ride. I'll probably only get a cheap little thing (moving house etc has left me a bit poverty stricken!) And I'll probably only use it 'till the summer - then I'll forget I've got it ...
Apart from the obvious heart rate, is there anything that a HRM MUST have. Is it best to get one that sits on the handle bars?
Do they all use a belt round the chest? Are they all wireless?
As you can see I have no idea what I'm looking for!

RalleighOke

Hi James Godley,

I have done a lot of homework on the Polar HRM. To give my bit of info, I would recommend that firstly take a look at a Coded HRM. Reason being plenty of my friends moan about the cross-talk their getting from other HRM which influences the reading.

The Polars are wireless and you can also buy a Polar bike-mount. Depending on what you want to use it for you can get from the basic (just giving heart rate and avg heartrate) to very advanced that can give cadence, altitude etc.)

As far as I know all the Polars come with a transmitter and strap?

If you are like me looking for basic functionality without having the spend $$$, I would recommend the M21. The entry level in the Coded Polar HRM.

It basically determines your target exercise zone, tracks your calories burnt, feedback on exercise time, time in target zone, avg heart rate, fat % burnt per workout and has an exercise reminder.

It also gives the time, date stopwatch etc. So you don't need to put it aside and forget about it.

Anyway, that is my suggestion, but I can guarantee you the others will give you very usefull info as well..

Good luck with that 300k.

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Duckwah

All the good HRMs are wireless with a chest strap.

A decent HRM should have at least one zone with alarms that YOU can program. Forget having the thing do it for you you won't get the best result.

You can buy a bike mount for all of the polar monitors or you can just get a bit of foam rubber tube and fasten it over that so you can see it while you ride.

extra features like time in zone, calories burned, intervals and computer download are not essential but certainly make a good HRM a powerful training tool.

for a little more than the m21 you could get an S150 with the cycle computer built into it but no coded transmission which can be a pain in a pack

2LAP

I still use an old Polar Sports Tester, perhaps the first that can download. Still running well after 8 years of use every day (with lots of polar services). Anyone else running this primative HRM?

Leon

Just some thoughts on HRMs.
I have owned 4 over the last 10 years, each time upgrading to a better model (currently S710). It would have been a lot more cost effective if I had just gone out and bought the higher end model to start with.

Leon

Old Timer

James
Whichever one you get you DO need a bike mount for it. Trying to read a HRM on the wrist is a pain on the road and near suicidal on a MTB! Don't buy a Polar bike mounting, it will cost nearly the price of a basic HRM! Make something up with some plastic and tape or whatever. Not too difficult.

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