technological progress: HRM category

[wallymann]

polar HRM, circa 1988, purchased from bike nashbar on henderson rd in c-bus. price...something like $150? current HR reading plus hi/low alarm. mount = foam pipe insulation

sports-instruments HRM, circa 1998, purchased from branford bike via mail-order...price...something like $200. current/min/max HR reading, hi/low alarms, oodles of interval- and recovery-timer features, time/alarms/chrono/etc. mount = bespoke rubber thingy that weighs a ton

timex HRM, circa 2008, purchased from amazon...price...something like $50. current/min/max HR reading, hi/low alarms, a reasonable set of interval-timer features, time/alarms/chrono/etc. mount = neat little bespoke thingy that's light.

of course, now it's all built-in our cyclometers and smartwatches!

[Veloo]

Do people still use chest strap transmitters or are the arm band and smart watch style HRMs getting accurate enough?

[wallymann]

Originally Posted by Veloo

Do people still use chest strap transmitters or are the arm band and smart watch style HRMs getting accurate enough?

in my experience the optical arm/wrist/finger sensors are just not as accurate as electrical chest-strap sensors.

[Alan]

I use the Tickr Fit optical monitor and it works well for me. Very good indoors and fine outside. Only potential issue is if you have multiple layers of LS jersey on it is a bit tricky to turn on but possible.

Wahoo has been great about supporting me on this when I have hardware issues.

I never liked chest straps and still have a bottle of gel for them that I don't use.

Alan

[joosttx]

Originally Posted by Veloo

Do people still use chest strap transmitters or are the arm band and smart watch style HRMs getting accurate enough?

I have found that chest straps are better for interval training than arm bands, etc. I am sure you can get the arm band to work if it is positioned correct and all that but that kinda elimates the easy-of-use advantage of an wrist or arm band over a chest strap.

[martl]

i had a couple of different HRMs over the decades, and even the newest and latest and coolest works just as fine as my very first one i bought in 1990 did. It actually seems that merely counting stuff is not that hard at all. The newer models offer more comfort and functions etc. one may or may not need or like to have, more precision there isn't.