Recommend me a...Heartrate monitor...

[tomw2000]

My last Polar heartrate monitor went pop at the end of last year. Only the battery I think, but it was fairly battered.

Since, then I've not been cycling (due to injury) and have been wearing my entry level Omega seamaster as my daily 'beater'. I figured I may as well get some use out of it, rather than have it sat in a drawer.

But today I dropped it off to have a new battery put in. The local jewellers where my wife got the watch 6 years ago (as anniversay present) said it could take up to 8-12 weeks to get it back.

So I'm without a daily beater. And as I'm about to start biking again, I thought I may as well get another HRM.
So any recommendations? Say up to £200. Happy to have Polar again, but always liked the look of Suunto.

Thoughts?

[bigandclever]

I've got a Polar F11, works well, though I'm not sure if Polar still make them - you can still buy them at least.

[Adrian W]

Someone told me LIDL are selling them this week for £11, at that price the are nearly a consumable.

[CVP]

If wearing as a watch and occasional use as a heart rate monitor then either Polar or go for a Sunnto watch with heart rate monitor functionality. Sunnto licence the heart rate technology from Polar so it's exactly the same.

If you want a decent heart rate monitor for your cycling & other outdoor activities I would recommend the Garmin Forerunner 305 for a watch style. This also records location with GPS. For just cycling then either the Garmin Edge 500, which collects masses of data or the Edge 705 if you want the ability to have map routings as well. Both the Edge 500 & 705 can be supplemented with things like cadence sensors if you want. Downside to all the Garmins is they all use a rechargeable battery which only lasts about 14 hours of activity on my 305 so is not suitable for use as a full time watch.

chris