Sports Instruments v Polar HRM advice

[splatt77]

Hi,

Does anyone here have any experience with the Sports instruments HRM's?

I’m currently looking at getting a HRM and am undecided whether or not to get a polar S410 or S160i or the SI Pro 9 (also considering Timex or Ciclosport but that’s another storey).

They seem similar in ability (apart from the SI records more files) however the polar is more expensive. I’ve never heard or SI and cant really find any reviews on the net, their website doesn’t supply the greatest amount of info either.

I'd considered getting one of the all in one Polar units ( S720i) however after reading many varied reviews on forums and talking to a few people in bike shops, decided not to. I settled on letting a cycle computer (probably Cateye Astrale 8 or CD300DW) take care of the cycling functions and a HRM do the rest.

I’ve been riding MTB for years however fancied a change and am starting training for triathlons. Hence the HRM wont primarily be used for cycling it will also be used for running and other sports, hence i don’t mind if it doesn’t have the cycling functions. Also having tried on the Cycling S series polar watches i find them a little cumbersome and ugly. The S410 and s610I are only slightly smaller i know but id say are about as big as id like to go.


Any advice gratefully received and erm. . .sorry for the long post

Simon

 

[trihard]

Hey Simon,

I don't have any experience with the SI HRM's, but I've spent alot of time with various Polar HRMs... though I'm not employed by them. I use them in the lab for data collection and HR monitoring of subjects, from healthy athletes to various patient groups. I use them as an athlete (also a triathlete) to monitor my training on the bike and running.

The thing I like about Polar more than any other HRM I've looked at is the downloadable function. That's prob'ly why I'm on the computer as it approaches midnight... Using the watch is no big deal, and using a watch and a HRM and a cyclocomputer and an SRM power meter and an altimeter, well, you can do all that. Polar will do all that for you, with varying levels of success (don't bother with their power, yet). AND you can download it all to your PC and use it as your training diary.

And if I could get that damn chest-strap to stay in place in the pool, it would be a complete training diary of swim, bike and run training, too!

--tim

Hi,

Does anyone here have any experience with the Sports instruments HRM's?
...
Any advice gratefully received and erm. . .sorry for the long post

Simon

 

[splatt77]

Hi Tim, cheers for that,

The thing i liked about the SI is that it determines the 5 training zones once you input your MaxHR and monitors the time you spend in each. as i understand it the polars have only three, not sure if you have to input these manually or not (would be good if you can) I have to keep trying not to get carried away with all the gadgety functions etc as im really not sure how many id use. It tends to ba a case of, "oh it'd be nice to have that function. . . .just incase i ever might possibly use it .

The only problem i see at the mo is that the SI costs $110 on special from $150) and the cheapest i can see the polat 410 for is $166, and the 610i (which id prefer) is $199, nearly twice as much. . . .is it twice that HRM? there again i dont want to blow $110 on the SI and find its a heap of Cr@p.

Also im living in australia so will be having to ship from the US . . . .Bloomin overpriced Australian stores

Si

So whats your line of work then?

 

[Doctor Morbius]

Hi,

Does anyone here have any experience with the Sports instruments HRM's?

I’m currently looking at getting a HRM and am undecided whether or not to get a polar S410 or S160i or the SI Pro 9 (also considering Timex or Ciclosport but that’s another storey).

They seem similar in ability (apart from the SI records more files) however the polar is more expensive. I’ve never heard or SI and cant really find any reviews on the net, their website doesn’t supply the greatest amount of info either.

I'd considered getting one of the all in one Polar units ( S720i) however after reading many varied reviews on forums and talking to a few people in bike shops, decided not to. I settled on letting a cycle computer (probably Cateye Astrale 8 or CD300DW) take care of the cycling functions and a HRM do the rest.

I’ve been riding MTB for years however fancied a change and am starting training for triathlons. Hence the HRM wont primarily be used for cycling it will also be used for running and other sports, hence i don’t mind if it doesn’t have the cycling functions. Also having tried on the Cycling S series polar watches i find them a little cumbersome and ugly. The S410 and s610I are only slightly smaller i know but id say are about as big as id like to go.


Any advice gratefully received and erm. . .sorry for the long post

Simon

I have the SI ECG5. Love it. Got it cheap as it's an older model. Nashbar currently has them on clearance...

http://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?...=9753&storetype=estore&estoreid=224&pagename=

They also have a new 10% off with coupon code W195 [Exp 10/1].

Had a Polar A5 and sold it on ebay for $60 and bought the SI ECG5 and had some coinage left over. The ECG 5 has it all over the Polar A5 feature wise. The calorie counter feature is no where near accurate though but everything else works fine. The SI also has a user replaceable battery in the chest strap, which is nice. It records time in, above and below target zone.

 

[trihard]

Hey Si, Sorry to take so long. I tried to get back on earlier, and got kicked out somehow.

Part of the issue, I think, has to do with the differences between the watch/HRM, and the software. One of the great features for me, from Polar, is that I can look at pretty much whatever I want, once I download the training HR file to the computer. You can include as many training HR zones as you like, and at one time I had 5 or more. The 610i, according to www.polar.fi, will take 3 training zones and audible and visual alarms, on the road with you - less than the SI that you're talking about. So I guess it comes down to being a techno geek (like me) and/or looking for something with the features you need when the rubber hits the road.

As for cost, locally the 610i in Canada runs about $350, or AUD$385. Might have to do with the economic giant to the south of us...?

ANyways, to answer the last of your questions, I'm a research tech at the University of Alberta, in Edmonton, Canada. I work in one lab where we run exercise testing on a variety of healthy subjects, and use the A5 (low end HRM - display only) to monitor HR manually, and also have a Polar picup wired directly into the metabolic cart to add the HR data to the other metabolic information that we collect. On the other (one of!) side of my job(s), I work in cardiac transplant research, where monitoring HR is not as important as making sure that heart function is still going well. We may use HRMs a little, but most of our training will use RPE to grade subjective intensities.

And "one of these days" I'll get back into serious training and some coaching for triathlon, which is what got me into exericse physiology oh so many years ago.

--tim

Hi Tim, cheers for that,

The thing i liked about the SI is that it determines the 5 training zones once you input your MaxHR and monitors the time you spend in each. as i understand it the polars have only three, not sure if you have to input these manually or not (would be good if you can) I have to keep trying not to get carried away with all the gadgety functions etc as im really not sure how many id use.


Also im living in australia so will be having to ship from the US . . . .Bloomin overpriced Australian stores

Si

So whats your line of work then?