Comfort. For me, chest strap causes some minor irritation. Not a huge deal. No pain just minor red spots from rubbing no matter how I adjust strap.
Convenience. If I drive somewhere to ride having bibs and jersey on it’s easier to put on armband rather than wet the chest strap and get that on. Again. Not a huge deal.
Not cycling related. But I use indoor rower and chest hrm pod sits right where handle meets chest while rowing.
So for me, if the armband hrm accuracy is reasonably close to chest strap then I’d prefer the armband.
What brand of batteries are you using? If they are coated with a bitter tasting film, use an alcohol wipe or a mildly abrasive moist towelette (that you can get at big-box-hardware and auto parts stores) to strip the coating off. Until I read that, I had encountered sporadic issues with ‘new’ coin style batteries sometimes not working well, or at all. Duracell 2032’s are coated, for one brand that I know of.
Thanks again for the tips on making the chest HRM work. Will try these ideas out. However I have purchased a Wahoo Tickr fit to see if it helps. If I can get the polar HRM to work, I will check if the HR’s are different, and let you know.
Thanks again
Last night was first ride this fall/winter where my chest HRM (Garmin dual) didn’t work. About a minute from the house I stopped and deleted the workout, took off gloves, licked my fingers, and added some moisture to the pads. However it still took over 8 minutes before it started giving normal readings:
the solution going forward, until spring, is before each ride to put a dab of electrode gel on the strap’s pads. I bought this stuff in 2016 for less than $5 and still have more than half
one thing to note about some gels I have found the hard way,… there are adhesive and non adhesive gel versions
At first I bought a small tube of “Tensive” conductive gel from Parker before seeing adhesive,… I also now have a 8.5 oz tube of 360 and a little goes a long way so I am set for the foreseeable future as well.
My old one was just starting to give eratic readings - I’ve had it for so long I just ended buying a new wahoo tickr…$30ish bucks and I should be good for another few years.
With the TickR in my experience you have to clean its studs often or they corodes stopping it recording. My first one needed cleaning after a few weeks, and I’m not a heavy sweater. After too many HRM failures (Garmin Hard Strap, Garmin Soft Strap, Polar Strap with Garmin unit, Stage DASH or was that Dire, BBB, Decathlon, Coo Spo, TickR and Polar H10) I’ve found the Polar H10 to be most reliable, closely followed by my original Garmin Hard Strap (although it was more subject to interference spikes, the H10 tends to under read only when it needs cleaned or the battery replacing).
Probably what I’ve used but I’ve had no success with the rigorous washing and laundry every few weeks. The best success I’ve had, ‘touch wood’, is wiping it down with a dry cloth post ride :-/
Maybe an off-topic (or not) but if you use a Garmin watch you can broadcast the signal. It works pretty good connection-wise, the readings somethings isn’t as accurate as my chest strap, there are some spikes. Good side is you don’t need to care about washing, or even wearing something, as I use my watch 24hrs.
My Tickr was always less reliable when I washed the strap. So frustrating, but maybe having to do with my hard water. After going through ~10 batteries in a year and 3 straps, and then the gasket disappearing and frying it completely, I just picked up a Polar H10. Here’s hoping this one lasts more than a year and eats fewer batteries and straps.
When you detach a H10 you need to store the pod studs up and sometimes clean them or it still transmits and eats batteries. I’m using a slightly thicker 2032 battery and it seems to last a bit longer :-/
I maybe should have said routinely rather than rigorously. A routine like yours rinse and wipe after every ride and laundry every few weeks. (I also tried washing in the shower with it still on, minus the pod, that was the worst for me). Whatever you are doing don’t stop its working for you
Garmin dual HRM and I take it into the pool, shower, or rinse in the sink. I’ve been getting 2-4 years on these Garmin soft straps. However like I said, salty sweating on the face - have to clean helmet straps a couple times a week, but not on my body - never see salt on bibs or jersey.
Maybe he does… but the real reason for the coating is to discourage little ones from eating any of these that may be hanging around.
Its latest innovation is a bitter coating on the cell that is designed to help discourage swallowing. Duracell also features child secure packaging which makes it nearly impossible to open with bare hands.
