Do all Heart Rate Monitor sensors suck....

Norm said:
I gave up HRMs in 2025, and I think my life is better for it. I don't miss them even a little bit.

In the end these numbers were just noise, useless data that did not inform me of anything. So I gave up on them.
Click to expand...
This is my argument 99% of the time, except @Ian F actually has a use case for watching his HR.

Most people go nuts trying to make a HR monitor work so that they can just have another graph to look at.
 
It seems the ones with replaceable watch batteries all kind of suck. The ones that are rechargeable with usb seem to be more durable and have lasted longer for me. Currently, I’m using a coros armband and I’ve had it for about a year with no issues.
 
I've been partial to the Garmin HRM's over the past 15+ years, and certainly have had my on/off issues with them but for the most part they have been OK for me. The model with the little screws in the back that rust and strip out is a complete PITA but i did get Garmin support to replace of few of them for free.

As someone who has always trained with HR and not use a power meter, I use my HR for all of my training since I started training and using cycling to lose weight and get/stay healthy. Combined with my Garmin watch (formerly used a Fitbit aka FitShit) that I wear 24 x 7 to record all my non cycling activities, I can get a good idea how my training and general HR is doing. Knock wood I don't have any heart/BP issues where I need to monitor it regularly, but I do find a use for tracking my HR on rides and also during any interval training as mentioned above.
 
Steve Vai said:
I have the fancier old ass strap with the removable sensor.
Click to expand...
Like this one?

20251110_154540.jpg


It's never been perfect. Sometimes it connects quickly. Sometimes it wouldn't connect until 5 minutes or so into a ride. Sometimes it would randomly stop working halfway through a ride.

A couple of weeks ago, it stopped connecting at all. Replaced the battery. Still won't connect.

Still... I think it lasted longer than any of the Wahoo sensors I bought.

The Wahoo armband sensor never worked at all. This one...

20251110_155102.jpg


But... since I still have the damned thing, I'll charge it and try it again.
 
Last edited:
Ian F said:
Like this one?

View attachment 271712

It's never been perfect. Sometimes it connects quickly. Sometimes it wouldn't connect until 5 minutes or so into a ride. Sometimes it would randomly stop working halfway through a ride.

A couple of weeks ago, it stopped connecting at all. Replaced the battery. Still won't connect.

Still... I think it lasted longer than any of the Wahoo sensors I bought.

The Wahoo armband sensor never worked at all. This one...

View attachment 271713
Click to expand...

That's the one. I have 2 of them and they've been flawless. They connect to my Garmin, Karoo, Macbook, everything I use.
 
Ian F said:
Like this one?

View attachment 271712

It's never been perfect. Sometimes it connects quickly. Sometimes it wouldn't connect until 5 minutes or so into a ride. Sometimes it would randomly stop working halfway through a ride.

A couple of weeks ago, it stopped connecting at all. Replaced the battery. Still won't connect.

Still... I think it lasted longer than any of the Wahoo sensors I bought.

The Wahoo armband sensor never worked at all. This one...

View attachment 271713

But... since I still have the damned thing, I'll charge it and try it again.
Click to expand...

I've been using that same old Garmin strap for as long as I can remember. It's had a Wahoo sensor snapped onto it since my first smart trainer as the Garmin wouldn't connect to it.

I find using this HR electrode cream in the colder months is needed for best performance. Pretty sure it's been discontinued, so at some point I'll need to find an alternative.

Image.jpeg
 
I've been happy with a Polar Verity Sense optical arm band HRM for the last couple of years. It has reliably connected to my Garmin computer, and I've never experienced any strange data or drop outs with it. I wear it on the upper arm above the bicep.
 
Ian F said:
The Wahoo armband sensor never worked at all. This one...


But... since I still have the damned thing, I'll charge it and try it again.
Click to expand...
What do you mean "never worked at all"? does not power up? does not connect? not accurate?

I've been running several Tikr Fit's over the years without any issue. I use them with a garmin head unit year round and also use one in the basement on the trainer with zwift again without fail. Maybe try a firmware update if its more than few years old...
 
Bike N Gear said:
I've been using that same old Garmin strap for as long as I can remember. It's had a Wahoo sensor snapped onto it since my first smart trainer as the Garmin wouldn't connect to it.

I find using this HR electrode cream in the colder months is needed for best performance. Pretty sure it's been discontinued, so at some point I'll need to find an alternative.

View attachment 271715
Click to expand...
I have been using the same gel used for ECG, it's been in my fridge for almost twenty years and it still works...probably a testament to how little I ride. I believe Garmin just recommends to wet the electrodes with water, spit or w/e.
 
JonF said:
What do you mean "never worked at all"? does not power up? does not connect? not accurate?
Click to expand...
Wouldn't connect, but I just tried again and it seems to be working now. Part of it was user-error. For some reason I had it in my head it was supposed to go around my bicep and not my forearm (maybe RTFM, first?). And I think I tried to use the Elemnt app to connect it, but this time I went through the Wahoo app first and was able to get it to connect to that and then it was able to connect to my Elemnt Roam after switching to the Elemnt app. Odd... but whatever... it's working.

I am not so sure about how well it will work on my arm, but I'll give it a shot. The strap barely fits around my scrawny arm... I can't imagine how it would fit someone who actually has muscles... I wonder if it will work around my wrist. That would feel a lot more "normal" as if it were a watch.

It's amusing looking at my HR while sitting here at my work desk typing... hovering between 77 and 86.

I'll probably try to ride tomorrow after work, so we'll see how it goes. At least the Tickr is rechargeable so I won't have to worry about the battery needing to be replaced. I'll just need to keep it charged.
 
Ian F said:
Wouldn't connect, but I just tried again and it seems to be working now. Part of it was user-error. For some reason I had it in my head it was supposed to go around my bicep and not my forearm (maybe RTFM, first?). And I think I tried to use the Elemnt app to connect it, but this time I went through the Wahoo app first and was able to get it to connect to that and then it was able to connect to my Elemnt Roam after switching to the Elemnt app. Odd... but whatever... it's working.

I am not so sure about how well it will work on my arm, but I'll give it a shot. The strap barely fits around my scrawny arm... I can't imagine how it would fit someone who actually has muscles... I wonder if it will work around my wrist. That would feel a lot more "normal" as if it were a watch.

It's amusing looking at my HR while sitting here at my work desk typing... hovering between 77 and 86.

I'll probably try to ride tomorrow after work, so we'll see how it goes. At least the Tickr is rechargeable so I won't have to worry about the battery needing to be replaced. I'll just need to keep it charged.
Click to expand...
I also wear a Pixel 3 smart watch daily. Tikr and watch are within 1-2 bpm if i compare during an activity.

For better retention, slide the strip as high up your forearm as possible--almost into your elbow. the meat of the forearm has less taper there and with a little arm pump, swells and tapers back to the elbow to help retain.
 
JonF said:
I also wear a Pixel 3 smart watch daily. Tikr and watch are within 1-2 bpm if i compare during an activity.

For better retention, slide the strip as high up your forearm as possible--almost into your elbow. the meat of the forearm has less taper there and with a little arm pump, swells and tapers back to the elbow to help retain.
Click to expand...
Wrapped around my forearm just sitting at a desk is really uncomfortable. Why is it placed there vs. at the wrist?
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom