heart monitor recommendations?

[victoria]

hello!
i'm new to road biking and really excited and thrilled to have found this wonderful group. i'm thinking of investing in a hrm to get more out of my workouts. i run too. any suggestions? thanks.

[Veronica]

I really like the Polar S710. It gives you speed,distance, max speed, avg. speed, altitude, temperature, calories burned in addition to heart rate. The stored info can then be downloaded to your computer via an Infrared reader. The computer adds up your mileage, calories, number of exercises and time on a weekly basis.

I wear it for every workout I do, weights, spin, Spinervals tapes, swimming, the occassional step class. The lap counter has a large button that's very handy when swimming for interval work.

Veronica

[victoria]

thanks, the s710 sounds like a contender. i've heard these have to be sent back to the factory to have the batteries replaced, is that true and how big of a pain in the butt is it?

[Veronica]

I've had mine for over two years and haven't had to send it in yet.

Veronica

[Irulan]

either factory, or a GOOD watch repair shop.. not the ones at Kmart or similar. My good pal just had her wristwatch portion of her HRM destroyed ( "oops") as Shopko. I had my same done by the local professional watch shop and it was fine.

They say send them back because a lot of place don't really know what they are doing - department stores and so on. AFter having things messed up by Kmart and Pennys' both, I only go with a real watch shop now.

Irulan

[victoria]

thank you Veronica and Irulan.
my biggest concern with the polar was not having it while the batteries were being replaced, and the cost...it's a little spendy, but sounds like the battery thing isn't really a big deal and i'm sure i can come up with justification for the $$$$. thanks for your help.
victoria

[Adventure Girl]

Originally posted by victoria
my biggest concern with the polar was not having it while the batteries were being replaced

My HRM is at Polar right this second.... Dead batteries. I probably could have had the battery replaced locally, but the instruction manual says that if you don't have Polar change the battery, the watch may not be water tight anymore. Being a mountain biker who has fallen in a creek or two, I thought the water tight feature was important.

Originally posted by victoria
and the cost...it's a little spendy

Like a lot of other bike stuff, when a new model comes out, "last year's" models drop in price. If you can live without all the bells and whistles that the new one has, you can get pretty good prices on discontinued pieces through Performance Bike or Nashbar type stores.

[Veronica]

Let us know how long it takes to get it back. Being a swimmer, I'll be sending mine in to Polar as well when the time comes.

Veronica

[Adventure Girl]

Originally posted by Veronica
Let us know how long it takes to get it back. Being a swimmer, I'll be sending mine in to Polar as well when the time comes.
Veronica

I just got my heart rate monitor back from Polar.
Sent in: Feb 13th
They received it: Feb 17th
Work completed: Feb 28th
They sent it back: March 2nd
I received it: March 5th

That's not super speedy service, but it's not too bad. It took 22 days (8 days of shipping + 14 days in their shop). It cost $10.00 for the battery replacement + $2.95 return shipping. I'm glad to have it back. I really missed having it.

[bounceswoosh]

Does just about any HRM have the ability to remember your highest heart rate ever, and tell you how you're doing as a percentage of that absolute max? Not just your highest heart rate on the current ride, but out of all the time you've ever used this hrm? (or settable, I suppose, if you have used another one previously)

I mean, that seems like the whole point of the exercise. But I don't know what term to look for to verify this.

[Veronica]

I can change the value of max heartrate on both my Polars. I have a 610 and a 710. The 710 is supposed to be Thom's, but I use it more often.

They use an infrared sensor and I change the value on the computer and just upload it. You can also tell the watch to give you either the actual number of beats or as a percentage of the value you entered.



V.

[bounceswoosh]

Seems weird that it wouldn't just register a new max automagically. I mean, max is max, right?

[Veronica]

I'm glad it doesn't do that, because electromagnetic interference can cause it to bounce up.

I've been sitting in the truck and watched mine jump from 60 to 225 because of the engine. It also spikes spontaneously when I ride under high tension power lines.

V.

[bounceswoosh]

oh. I guess not, then.

So you look at the report and, if your HR was really high, decide if it was a "true" max and enter that?

[Veronica]

Yep, that's pretty much what I do. The 710 charts speed, distance and elevation also. It's an expensive system compared to a lot of other HRM, but I use the feedback. It's probably cheaper than a carbon fiber fork.

V.