Soft Heart Rate Straps that WORK long term???

I have a Garmin Premium Soft Heart Rate Strap. It worked when I got it, but no longer registers correct numbers, or not consistently anyway.

There are 8 reviews on REI and every single one of them mentions having the same kind of trouble. It works great . . . until it doesn't work.

My husband researched other soft heart rate straps and isn't convinced any others will be any better in the long run. There are many great reviews on Amazon of both Garmin and other soft straps, but most of them seem to be early on, so it's hard to know if those straps continued to work after 3 to 6 months or so.

I will probably order the original Garmin strap, which I'm borrowing one of from a friend right now and it's working great. Just not as comfy as the soft strap.

By the way, many of the reviews mentioned caring for the strap as suggested by Garmin (washing consistently, etc), and still having trouble.

What are your experiences with any soft straps after long term use?

I have had that same strap since the beginning of the year and it is still working. I have not done any special care for it. I have swum with it twice at races.

I do get high readings for a brief time sometimes when I start my workout. Since I know my max is 185 and what that feels like (let me barf NOW!) I just kind of ignore it. But I know you need to have an accurate reading.

I do wonder if it's one of those things that is just going to break down with use, like my running shoes or my bike helmet and to expect it to last as long as my steel frame or even my CF frame is expecting too much.

Veronica

My hubs has the Garmin soft strap and I love it when I use his device. I have the regular hard strap and don't love it nearly as much. I get under-boob chafe from the hard strap on long runs (but not with the soft strap).

Our Garmins are both less than 6 months old, tho, so I'm not sure. Only time will tell, of course.

I hope they hold up- they are certainly NOT a cheap item to buy!!

Seriously, I think equating its lifespan to that of running shoes is a good idea. You may think it's got a pretty easy life, just sitting there under your boobs. But, I know my strap is drenched when I finish a run and it's not just pure water. I rotate through three pairs of running shoes, but always use the same HRM strap. It costs less than my running shoes too. :D

Don't get me wrong, I would love for the thing to last forever. But I think it's not realistic.

Veronica

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Originally Posted by Veronica

Seriously, I think equating its lifespan to that of running shoes is a good idea. You may think it's got a pretty easy life, just sitting there under your boobs. But, I know my strap is drenched when I finish a run and it's not just pure water. I rotate through three pairs of running shoes, but always use the same HRM strap. It costs less than my running shoes too. :D

Don't get me wrong, I would love for the thing to last forever. But I think it's not realistic.

Veronica

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You're probably right. ;)

Jiffer, I'm in the same boat you are. My first premium strap lasted maybe 6 weeks. I'm now on my 2nd and in watchful waiting mode. I do not want to use the stiff version. However, I know people who use the premium strap and have not had a problem.

Fortunately, I bought my first one from REI using my dividend and they keep them in stock so I can exchange as necessary. Sigh.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

Fortunately, I bought my first one from REI using my dividend and they keep them in stock so I can exchange as necessary. Sigh.

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THAT'S a good idea!!! I might use my dividend for a new strap next year... and then keep replacing if it wears out. You are smart!! :)

I saw all the horror stories on the Garmin website - lots of people can never get theirs to work at all, never mind six months. Yeah, the hard strap chafes occasionally on runs over three hours in temperatures over 85. Never on the bike. Never on shorter runs. Never in cooler weather. And not even most of the time on long hot runs, and not that badly when it does happen. I just deal with it, myself.

Never had a problem with my Polar strap. When you say soft, you mean like cloth or elastic, vs. plastic?

If you're the diy-type, maybe you could create a strap cover out of some sort of soft material that goes over everything except the conductive part? I can't sew for diddlysquat, don't look at me.

I bought my Polar HRM in Sept of '11 and it still works like a champ. I use it 4-6 times per week for Zumba, boot camp and cycling. It is the FT40 with the soft strap. I put the strap in the washer (with the "transmitter" removed) when I remember...maybe once every few weeks. I have had no trouble whatsoever with this HRM. I had another one previously (Polar) that I did have trouble with but one I started washing it as described, I had no trouble.

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Originally Posted by Tri Girl

THAT'S a good idea!!! I might use my dividend for a new strap next year... and then keep replacing if it wears out. You are smart!! :)

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I'm not really that smart. I just stumbled into the deal because yellow was here on her annual "no sales tax in Orygun and I'm here with my REI dividend" trip and she kinda pushed me into trying an HRM again since I hated the regular strap.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

Yeah, the hard strap chafes occasionally on runs over three hours in temperatures over 85. Never on the bike. Never on shorter runs. Never in cooler weather. And not even most of the time on long hot runs, and not that badly when it does happen. I just deal with it, myself.

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I personally can barely deal with the twin holes that are periodically dug into the undersides of my breasts during long runs. I can still get it better adjusted than the regular strap.

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Originally Posted by tangentgirl

Never had a problem with my Polar strap. When you say soft, you mean like cloth or elastic, vs. plastic?

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Wide soft elastic.

Of course, dcrainmaker has a solution. The man is a total geek - and we love him dearly for it.:p
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/08/s...utsspikes.html

I may try this just because.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

Of course, dcrainmaker has a solution. The man is a total geek - and we love him dearly for it.:p
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/08/s...utsspikes.html

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But he's now a total geek who lives in Paris:) I think the flaws can be forgiven for photos!!

I use there regular strap. I tried the soft one (generation one), and had sporadic failures after ~3 months. Sometimes it's fine. Sometimes it's not. It's random and annoying.

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Originally Posted by Jiffer

I have a Garmin Premium Soft Heart Rate Strap. It worked when I got it, but no longer registers correct numbers, or not consistently anyway.

What are your experiences with any soft straps after long term use?

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I have had three Garmin heart rate monitor straps; a 'hard one' (no longer use) a soft / premium that went wacky with readings after about six months. I contacted Garmin, and after trying all of their suggestions - to no avail, they graciously replaced it. I had to send mine in and they sent me a new one. I have had no problems with this one. That was in November of last year; I use it almost daily.

Here are their suggestions for troubleshooting:

There can be various causes for the erratic data. Please try one or more of the following solutions to resolve this issue.

Make sure the heart rate monitor is snug against your body.
Warm up for 5–10 minutes.
Synthetic fabrics that rub or flap against the heart rate monitor can create static electricity that interferes with heart rate signals. Wear a cotton shirt or wet your shirt if suitable for your activity.
Position the heart rate monitor on your back instead of your chest.
Strong electromagnetic fields and some 2.4 GHz wireless sensors can interfere with your heart rate monitor. Sources of interference may include very high voltage power lines, electric motors, microwave ovens, 2.4 GHz cordless phones, and wireless LAN access points. After you move away from the source of interference, your heart rate data should return to normal.
I would also like to make sure that you left the battery out for a full five minutes when changing it. (This process allows the heart rate monitor to reset.)

As I said, none of this changed things for me, but I did try them - for as much as it was practical, so my strap was replaced by Garmin. Apparently they became aware of issues with the original premium and there is a newer / improved version now.

Also, my son found the premium straps on Amazon for $35 so I bought a back up, as well. I'm too 'addicted' to using it to go without it!

Hope that helps.
MaTadams

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

Of course, dcrainmaker has a solution. The man is a total geek - and we love him dearly for it.:p
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/08/s...utsspikes.html

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You will notice that he's got his heart rate up to 142 just doing the stupid conversion. That suggests it's not as simple as he depicts. ;)

Thanks for all your comments.

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Originally Posted by Veronica

Seriously, I think equating its lifespan to that of running shoes is a good idea.

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The problem with that, is you don't really know how long it will last and can be quite expensive to replace. Some people have trouble after a very short time.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

Fortunately, I bought my first one from REI using my dividend and they keep them in stock so I can exchange as necessary. Sigh.

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I actually thought of that option too. I don't know that we have any dividend credit, though, and they REI so expensive to begin with. But other than the hassles of dealing with the sporadic HR readings as they come and go, exchanging the strap there is probably one of the best options if you don't want to go with the plastic.

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Originally Posted by SadieKate

Of course, dcrainmaker has a solution. The man is a total geek - and we love him dearly for it.:p
http://www.dcrainmaker.com/2010/08/s...utsspikes.html

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I loved this! And I may just try his suggestion of putting the Garmin transmitter on a Polar WearLink strap (which can be bought without a transmitter for a cheap price). If you look further down the thread of comments, you see where someone said it worked for them until they were two hours into exercise, they think from sweat getting into the strap. Their fix was to cut a 1 cm strip in the strap behind the transmitter, keeping the two ends from touching each other, and it worked. For them and others who commented after. So more options to try.

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Originally Posted by MaTadams

I have had three Garmin heart rate monitor straps; a 'hard one' (no longer use) a soft / premium that went wacky with readings after about six months. I contacted Garmin, and after trying all of their suggestions - to no avail, they graciously replaced it. I had to send mine in and they sent me a new one. I have had no problems with this one. That was in November of last year; I use it almost daily.

Here are their suggestions for troubleshooting:

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I'm aware of all their suggestions. I emailed asking if there was an update to the premium strap or one coming out any time soon, cause surely they're aware of all the trouble people have with them. They said no, but gave me troubleshooting suggestions, which I already knew about. And, by the way, I have the newest premium strap.

SO HERE'S THE LATEST WITH MY HR STRAP WOES. As of last night, hubby replaced the battery (again) in my strap. He had wondered if when I replaced it myself, if it wasn't seated properly and, upon inspection, decided he was right. So he fixed that.

Also, one of the things Garmin told me was that when you change the battery, you need to wait 30-60 seconds before putting the new one in to avoid a power overload to the device, which can cause erratic readings. So he did that.

He also put electroglide gel where you snap the metal parts of the transmitter into place, hoping that would help. (Can't remember his theory and I'm no scientist!) By the way, electroglide gel is what they squirt on you when you get a sonogram. We use it to moisten the strap where it reads your HR.

I used the strap today and it worked great . . . for 42 minutes. After that, the readings went sporadic again. Mostly really low. It also happened that about the time the readings went bonkers, I had just picked up my pace a little bit. Not a lot at all, but I'm not sure it was coincidence that it happened at the same time. I have heard wind can cause problems with readings. It just wasn't much "wind".

So now my husband let me switch straps with him and he's going to try mine. I've always had more trouble using a HR strap than him, so we always have to wonder if it's my strange body causing some of the issues. The strap has to be "just so", a specific amount to the left, like two inches. I use a tiny freckle to figure out where to place it! But when it stops working right, if I move it a bit, sometimes it works again. Very frustrating.

So now I get to use his HR strap, which he's been successfully using for like a year or more. YAY! Hopefully I won't have trouble with it, at least for a while. In the meantime, I'll make HIM figure out what to do if the other strap gives him trouble. Muahahahahaaaaaaa!!!!!!! :eek:

In the future I would seriously consider either buying one from REI to later exchange if need be, or buy the cheaper Polar WearLink and put the Garmin transmitter on it, OR . . . maybe first bug Garmin to replace the strap all together. I suppose that should be the first thing to try.

Thanks again for your comments.

For some reason, I can't get consistent results from hard-strap or soft-strap monitors. My boobs get chafed when I'm running, and my bra seems to get in the way. I've given up with them.

My first Garmin soft-strap worked for about a year and then started reading really erratic. I tried the suggestions for cleaning and it worked sometimes. I also had the problem with the fact that the strap was too big and wouldn't stay in place.

I tried DC rainmaker's suggestion with the Polar strap as I happened to have one from a Polar watch, it didn't work and I had the same erratic readings.

A couple of weeks ago I had to buy a new Garmin watch as mine was stolen and the new soft-strap has a slightly different design (it is actually more similiar to the Polar design) it also seems a little smaller and seems to fit me better. It is reading correctly now but it has only been 3 weeks so only time will tell :-)

The straps are expensive so I would expect them to last at least a few years on my old Garmin I used the same strap for a few years but perhaps maybe should't expect it to last forever.

My first Garmin hard strap lasted about three and a half years, which I didn't track usage precisely, but it got me over 10,000 miles on the bike, two marathons, three half marathons, one sprint triathlon and all the associated training, plus probably getting run over any number of times when I lost it in a grass parking area last summer. When it started going wacky this winter and didn't get any better with a thorough brush cleaning and a new battery, I figured it was finally time for a new one. I replaced it with a new hard strap, I'd seen way too many stories about the soft strap. I don't expect them to last forever either, but I would expect them to more or less track the useful life of the device I use them with. And I don't know for sure that mine got run over, but I have a suspicion it would've lasted a lot longer if I hadn't dropped it in that parking lot. :p

Definitely trying the Polar Wear Link strap idea, as I've got one sitting in a drawer. Thanks for posting that! I've been having the erratic reading issue also and have tried all the tips to fix to no avail.

ETA: I had emailed Garmin customer service back and forth a couple times and just got an email back that they will be sending a replacement strap. So, kudos to them for recognizing that it is a legitimate problem and making the fix. I'll still be trying my Polar Wearlink for reference though.

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Originally Posted by meganm

For some reason, I can't get consistent results from hard-strap or soft-strap monitors. My boobs get chafed when I'm running, and my bra seems to get in the way. I've given up with them.

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I can relate, as I had a lot of frustration trying to get a HR monitor to work in the beginning. I also used to not use one at all because of this. However, when my health became an issue and my nutritionist told me to stay within a certain heart rate, I felt compelled to do whatever I could to figure it out.

I did a bunch of research and tried a lot of things and finally figure it out. For me, the strap has to be on the smallest setting and placed to the left about two inches. I hear some people place it on their back or even more to one side or the other.

Also, it won't work without wetting it. Hubby and I use electrode gel, which is what is used for ultrasounds. But some people just use spit or they sell an ointment for this specific use at bike shops I guess. Probably costs more than electrode gel, which hubby buys a big tube of online.

For me these two things were key and for a long time my strap worked perfectly as long as I did them both. Then I went through a long period of not riding or, when I rode, I was at such an easy pace I didn't need the strap. When I was ready to start using it again, hubby had been using it off and on, having gotten it confused with his. I'm not even sure which was mine to begin with, but the one he gave me to start using has given me problems ever since. Ugh!!! So basically, he ruined it! ;)

I use 100% aloe vera gel and it works great as an electrode contact gel. Cheap, generic kind. :) Don't get the kind with oils or other goop in them, which will interfere with the reading.

Oh, good idea. Our humidity is so low here that I don't sweat immediately, and sometimes I just don't have enough spit.

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Originally Posted by OakLeaf

I use 100% aloe vera gel and it works great as an electrode contact gel. Cheap, generic kind. :) Don't get the kind with oils or other goop in them, which will interfere with the reading.

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Thanks for the tip. I'll keep that in mind. I guess I'll check out the price difference in electrode gel and aloe vera gel. I could pic up aloe vera gel most anywhere, though, so nice to know.

Oak - you're telling my story - minus the strap-abuse part :D. I had the exact same problem with my Garmin soft strap. It lasted almost two years. Did everything suggested, still got wacky readings. Bought the hard strap & have had no problems. No erratic readings in the beginning of the workout either, which is nice. I don't notice any different in comfort between the two straps.

Regarding aloe vera gel, it may be OK but I think I'd stick to electrode gel. You never know how things will affect plastic. Electrode gel isn't that pricey considering you use a small dab.