I think if your serious about training these toys are worthwhile, i'm not. I bought a garmin edge 205 around a year ago, it was fun for a while looking at routes and stuff but it soon gets boring and almost annoying. When you go for a leisurely ride around the sea wall and you have to dig out your GPS before you leave the house you know you've got a problem, I sold it!
CS, check out this old thread when I asked the same question:
http://bb.nsmb.com/showthread.php?t=92046
Bought 2 Polar S150 from a US MO store on sale. I use mine quite a bit.
I found the basic HRM very usefull for getting that feel. After a few years you get pretty good idea of how hard your body is going. I found I used to ride too hard all the time.
Just my 2 Cents
I'll echo this comment. Wearing a HRM is the equivalent to having a tach in your car. You can drive without one, but if you are driving close to the redline all the time…
This tool won't make you faster but it sure fun looking at the details on the garmin training centre after the ride. I admit it I am a graph whore now!
Check out SportsTracks. It's free and a much better program for looking at training data than Garmin TC.
Expensive HRMs are not worth it but you can get a pretty decent one for $65 US, which is useful… I found it useful to learn my resting HR, a good HR for warming up (125-135 bpm) and a heartrate to use for sustained hard effort (about 155 bpm). With practice you learn exactly how these feel without looking at the watch.
the basic Sigma models will not break the bank.
http://jensonusa.com/store/product/CP309B03-Sigma+Sport+Pc9+Heart+Rate+Monitor.aspx
"Bicycling is a healthy and manly pursuit with much to recommend it, and, unlike other foolish crazes, it has not died out."
- The Daily Telegraph (1877)
I'll echo this comment. Wearing a HRM is the equivalent to having a tach in your car. You can drive without one, but if you are driving close to the redline all the time…
And I'll double echo the comment that they are very useful to ride with all the time.
I use mine to make sure I don't have a cardiac as soon as the trail points upwards a little, (round is a shape, right?) and it keeps me from redlining on the flats when I'm having fun and wanting to rip along for the "wheeeee" factor.
If I behave and stay in the zone then I avoid feeling wiped out after the ride.
Kamloops Bike Riders Association
Build It.__Ride It.
Thanks for all the feedback guys.
There's a guy over on MTBR that runs a pretty site with some pretty cheap pricing on GPS gear. http://www.geomangear.com/
Anyway - looks like I can can get the Garmin 305 (with heartrate monitor) for 235. With the 93 cent CAD dollar, that's pretty tempting.
For mapping the North Shore and road trip trails, it would be pretty cool.
But is it too much of a brick on the front of a road bike though? Although I guess I'm not winning any tours anytime soon, so should I really give a shit about that.
But is it too much of a brick on the front of a road bike though? Although I guess I'm not winning any tours anytime soon, so should I really give a shit about that.
If you need/want the functions, then the brick won't bother you in the least.
Just saying.
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
But is it too much of a brick on the front of a road bike though? Although I guess I'm not winning any tours anytime soon, so should I really give a shit about that.
The Garmin-Slipstream team all roll with the Edge 705, and they are trying to win tours.
Figured I would revive this thread as I am in the market for a HRM. With Strava being the dominant gps tracking tool it seems that a basic monitor will be enough for me. I basically want to know my max and resting rates so I can ride according to my training plan. Is there a brand I should stay away from? MEC is right by my house so I'll probably just go there.
Polar good, Timex bad. Based on my experience. Make sure the Polar has a user replaceable battery (not sure if they all do now.)
I have a Polar FT4 and have never had a problem.
"The song of a bird…We used to ask Ennesson to do bird calls. He could do them. How he could do them, and when he perished, along with him went all those birds…"-Return from the Stars, Stanislaw Lem
"We just walk around, and sometimes we go out and dance, and then we listen to the environment."-Ralf Hutter, Kraftwerk
I've used a Garmin setup for a long time but another way to go if you're the type to carry an iPhone is with some of the stuff from Wahoo Fitness. You could get a bluetooth HRM strap for $70 and hook it into your iPhone. And if you want something on the handlebars, you can get a RFLKT or RFLKT+ for $130 or $150. That's far cheaper than a Garmin setup.
I've got the girl setup with a RFLKT+ and a Garmin HRM strap (connects via ANT+). Seems to work although it's early days. Wahoo is doing some pretty neat stuff these days….
It would be legit if this setup linked up to Strava or something like that
Why slag free swag?:rolleyes:
ummm, as your doctor i recommend against riding with a scaphoid fracture.
If you just want a basic HR monitor, I'd go with Polar.
My wife and I have a couple of older models that we've been using for a few years. I haven't tried any of the newer stuff.
There is a watch store downtown that replaces the batteries in the Polar HR monitors, it takes a day or two.
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