I have been having several issues with HR straps from garmin , I am about to order a new strap , curious to what everyone is liking out there! I have been seeing things on the whoop band but I don’t know about how accurate data is off the wrist and my Garmin Fenix is very inaccurate vs when I’m strapped up!
Thanks just looking for recommendations
I have a Whoop 3.0 that for the last half of the summer I’ve been casting to my Wahoo Bolt 2.0 and it seems to be plenty accurate. My RPE matches up with the numbers I see on screen and I love not having a chest strap. (IMO chest straps look ugly and I’m not serious enough to wear one.) The strap is very comfortable and stable on bike, even on gravel and MTB rides. You really will forget you’re wearing it and the added data/health features of Whoop are too good not to give a trial run. Plus sounds like the new whoop 4.0 will be even more accurate with 3 more sensors on the bottom.
I will say I occasionally get weird max HR anomalies from my whoop, but they always happen during times of rest for some reason. I’ll check my data and see recording a max 194 bpm for the day after carrying in groceries… like what!? For reference my max hr while riding is around 184. I have never experienced this kind of anomalies while riding, only a few times while doing day to day tasks.
I think the thing to ask yourself is just how accurate do you really need your HR data to be? like really how mission critical is it when it’s off by milliseconds? I’m not matching power with HR so a little inaccuracy for me isn’t a huge deal. At the end of the day focusing on my workout, being comfortable on bike, and sticking to a plan are way more important than slight discrepancies in HR source data. Especially considering (if you listen to the podcast) HR isn’t a metric to hyper focus on to begin with.
I think the right HR monitor is often the one you’ll actually wear and for me the Whoop is already on my wrist when I go ride.
I have some problems with my garmin HR strap too but none with my wahoo strap. Or maybe I have an arrhythmia that I don’t know about LOL
Joe
Vibrations from handlebars are well known to cause accuracy issues with wrist based HR while riding outside. (OK for indoor riding though).
And Whoop 3.0 is just a “dumpster fire” in terms of accuracy. Whoop 3.0 Band & Platform In-Depth Review | DC Rainmaker
Not sure yet whether 4.0 is any better.
Regular washing of a chest strap, or just replacing the fabric part (keep the sensor unit) can help address the accumulation of salts from sweat that can cause issues with chest straps.
When my wahoo’s die, I’ll be moving on from the brand. Too many dropouts.
I just bought a Tickr, it’ll be the first non Garmin HRM I have used since I started using Garmin. I just did it on a whim.
The Garmin strap usually last me a few years at 1000 hours a year, and the module is still good at the end. Just not cost effective to buy just a strap so I replace the whole thing.
Whoop seems to be hit or miss. Personally I’ve been using one 24/7 for 9 months and have not had any issues and it appears to me to perform the same as my Wahoo Tickr strap (a great strap BTW if you’re going that route). With the Whoop I’m getting 24 hrs of data per day, not just workout data. No drop outs, no spikes and nothing that appears abnormal in the in workout HR numbers. But, it appears some people do have issues with the Whoop. Any wrist strap HR is sensitive to how and where you wear it and while they work great for many (like me) they are generally regarded as having more potential for bad readings than a chest strap.
For me, the Whoop works fine for cycling. I don’t notice any anomalies and anyway my focus on the bike is power not HR. A big plus for Whoop is that since I have it on 24/7, I’m now capturing HR data from any other workouts (or play) I do without the hassle of putting on a chest strap. And the 4.0 will add more data. Finally a huge plus for Whoop over a chest strap is I get sleep tracking and automatic HRV readings. That’s become my main use of the Whoop.
This is another take on Whoop accuracy from an even more geeky analysis then DCRainmaker’s if that is even possible 
This guy’s a real scientist and he gave it a decent review after a pretty detailed battery of tests.
I bought a Magene strap from Aliexpress earlier this summer and so far, it works great.
I had poor accuracy with my whoop when it was on my wrist. Others have said to use the biceps band for better accuracy, but I wanted 24 hour data from Whoop and that made the bicep band a non-starter for me.
I have just come to accept that every 12-24 months I will be buying a new HRM. I was never able to get much more than a year out of a Tickr, but Wahoo support is great about replacing them. About a year ago I made the switch to the Garmin Duo and have been very happy with it so far.
I ordered one last night but its not my first Non Garmin one. My first Garmin Hard strap lasted 5 or more years and the next couple of Garmin soft straps lasted less than 6 months IIRC, the receiver lasted longer. IIRC I transferred the receiver to a polar strap before it died completely and I’ve subsequently had Decathlon and CooSpo ones (mainly because the TickR was always sold out). I thought I’d achieved success with the CooSpo which lasted a year and a half (the longest of any soft strap I’ve had). I had tried, the hand wash setting in the machine, hand washing in the sink and hand washing in the shower washing the previous ones but with the CooSpo just wiping down after every ride which seemed to get the result. I fitted a new battery last month to the CooSpo and it was fine for a bit, then this weekend its switching on but switching off 5 secs later. I tried a new strap, another new battery and really wiping the connection points (they already looked clean) but its still doing the same so I gave up and ordered the TickR (its supposed to come today).
Anything but Wahoo strap
Polar HR has been flawless for me
I’ve got a Polar H10. It transmits 2 x BLE & 1xAnt+ channel and crucially for me it’s one of the only ones that can transmit data which is suitable for proper HRV analysis.
Another vote for Polar here. I’ve killed several Garmin & Wahoo straps but the Polar has been solid
Another Polar H10 lover here! It’s very nice to see trustworthy HR data.
Another vote for Polar H10. Bought one many years ago and it still works like a dream.
As you may know, the Garmin HRM Dual has an unresolved issue where it doesn’t work over Bluetooth. Garmin says it’s Apple or TR’s fault. No one accepts where the problem is but is frequently posted on Garmin’s forums. Waiting to send mine back as I’ve no other option.
I bought a Wahoo TickR and it works flawlessly via BT to my TR App on iPhone.
I thought the issue was attempting 2 simultaneous Bluetooth connections? And no issues if only using 1 Bluetooth connection. Because I have Garmin Dual HRM and it works with Bluetooth. I’ve connected via Bluetooth to my iPhone, Apple Watch, and MacBook Pro.
Hmm, so I tried a dual connection and was able to connect my Garmin HRM to both TR app on MacBook Pro, and to TR app on iPhone. Then turned on Garmin 530 and it immediately connected to HRM via ANT+. So 3 simultaneous connections. Stood up and did some jumping jacks. All three show the same HR increasing and then decreasing after I sat down.
Not saying I can reliably do that, that was the first time I tried and it worked immediately. Likely I would hit the bug if I tried it again.
Bluetooth has a reputation as being a difficult and complex radio technology (at least in the engineering community that has to get it working in real products). Not that it helps.
Garmin HRM Dual would connect but not cast the values in some of my apps. It also broke in two.
Previously I had a Wahoo Thickr that I used until it last tick… but always had reliability probs
Trying Polar H10 for a month now and the connection is super fast and it feels very comfortable.
Time will tell.