Heart Rate Monitors

Shure

Shure

Shure

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Joined
13 Jan 2004
Posts
1,190
Can anyone share their advice on which chest HRM would be best suited for my requirements?
I've just joined my local bannatynes gym so I'm looking for it to link to all of the technogym equipment there whilst also being able to link to my phone.
I think I have it nailed down to these three:

Polar H7 (£40)
Wahoo TICKR (£40)
Myzone MZ3 (£60)

Thanks
 
I have the Wahoo Tickr X and it's brilliant.

Because it has built in storage you can be connected to another device (in my case my iPad and Zwift) and the Tickr X will still record the workout, so I don't 'lose' workouts in my Wahoo app.

Also means you could go for a run without needing your phone or any other device.
 
Polar strap I have is infinitely better than garmin ones I have used. Had it about 3 years now and still going strong with use multiple times a week on the bike.
 
Some phones have Ant+ built in.

I use a Garmin Ant+ monitor and have a compression shirt which has HRM strap / pads built in (bought it in Decathlon) and have it linked to my Galaxy S6.
 
I use a polar bluetooth chest one & linked to phone (sports tracker, endomondo) it has been reliable
..... but after the initial honeymoon it is a faff having to put it on when you get home and just want to get out for a run, so I wonder whether optical watch option woud be more convenient, and maybe have a dual purpose, but would cost more than ~£50 polar.
 
jpaul said:
I use a polar bluetooth chest one & linked to phone (sports tracker, endomondo) it has been reliable
..... but after the initial honeymoon it is a faff having to put it on when you get home and just want to get out for a run, so I wonder whether optical watch option woud be more convenient, and maybe have a dual purpose, but would cost more than ~£50 polar.
Click to expand...


I never found it a faff with the chest strap really, the optical ones aren't really any different unless it is built in to your watch. But the built in ones are relatively inaccurate.

i have both a Garmin chest strap and a Scorshe Rhythm. There are pros and cons to each. The chest strap in generally mroe accurate and more responsive, ao if you really want to do some specific HR training in exact zones it is the way to go. The biggest downside is that over time salt accumulates in the strap, even with very careful washing and rinsing. What happens is eventually the strap will start giving weird reasons once it gets damp/wet again with sweat. After getting 2 replacement straps for free from Garmin I got an optical one from Scorche. Accuracy is OK but you can tell it tries to smooth out the errors so is laggy. The biggest issue is it always has problems locking on to my actual heart rate and instead will typically start out locking on to my cadence. This can go on for miles anf the onyl fix is to repeatedly switch it off and on again until it finally accepts your HR really is 145 and not 185! This is supposedly the best optical HRm out there. The other downside is the battery life is about 8 hours which gives a few runs but you don't really know how much battery life it has left or how long it will last so quite a few times you will get half way through the run and it will just die If you charge every night that is OK for most running. If you do an ultramarathon or ironman then the batter life is simply not long enough. Converely, the garmin strap last 9-12 months running 60-80 miles a week for me., and it warns you weeks and weeks in advance that the batter is fading.
 
Forgot, I had posted earlier in OC running thread about inaccuracy of endomondo heart rate graphs from polar -
- an endomondo problem not hrm ... so do need to check your app is good, or load raw data in excel.
 
ShiWarrior said:
i found the Garmin one, gave me false reading, so i switched to polar (DC Rainmaker review) and its been accruate all the time, once you build up the heat/sweat it connects better and is far more reliable than the Garmin
Click to expand...
You can use electro-conductive adhesive/gel so you get good readings right from the start. The kind of gel they use in hospitals when doing an ECG. You can buy it on Amazon pretty cheap.
 
TickR user here, mostly only the bike mind but have used it with a PM5 console on a Concept 2. Had a Garmin before and much prefer the TickR and Bluetooth is a bonus.

Only downside is that the transmitter itself holds the strap together so if you're fiddling about and unclip one side you'll have to faff around to reconnect it. Where as with the Garmin the strap stayed in place regardless. Only a small, relatively moot, point but still of note.
 
Shure said:
Can anyone share their advice on which chest HRM would be best suited for my requirements?
I've just joined my local bannatynes gym so I'm looking for it to link to all of the technogym equipment there whilst also being able to link to my phone.
I think I have it nailed down to these three:

Polar H7 (£40)
Wahoo TICKR (£40)
Myzone MZ3 (£60)

Thanks
Click to expand...

Sorry for necro post but did you choose one after all? Bannatyne's is pretty attached to MyZone as it advertises it constantly. Seems OK but mine isn't registering non-gym workouts at the moment and I don't know why...
 
Pleiades said:
Sorry for necro post but did you choose one after all? Bannatyne's is pretty attached to MyZone as it advertises it constantly. Seems OK but mine isn't registering non-gym workouts at the moment and I don't know why...
Click to expand...

I ended up trying the tickr which I have no complaints about. Software is great but I did worry about at times about the durability of the poppers.
Decided against the myzone belt as it seemed to have mixed reviews, it was more expensive and the only benefit I could see was if you were wanting to compete against others within the gym which wasn't my thing.
I've since switched to the Polar H10 and it seems to be the best belt I have had so far.
 
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