Heart rate monitor?

[oyster]

I want to have a bit of kit that measures my calories, heart rate and so on. Not overly fussed about measuring speed/distance/route as I have a cycle computer already and google maps can measure routes.

Not sure therefore I need GPS. Anybody any tips and how much might I spend?

[robpearson]

Something like a suunto t3 watch would do the trick, really rate mine as a training aid

[anonymous-user]

you really need one that measures your hr over a variety of zones, that way you can measure how long you spend in each zone which will greatly improve your workout potential. just measuring your hr duing a training session is not going to help as much as being able to review it post training and fniding out just how and where it rises, falls etc.

i had a basic polar model which was great and i used it for a few years before getting the garmin forerunner 305 whic iis leaps and bounds above but as it was primarily purchased for the speed/distance which you dont need, its irrelevant!!!

[ewenm]

robpearson said:

Something like a suunto t3 watch would do the trick, really rate mine as a training aid

I use a Suunto T6 and it's great. However, if you (OP) use treadmills/gym equipment often it may be worth getting a Polar product as most treadmills will automatically pick up the signal from the Polar chest belt.

Basically, you won't go far wrong with Polar or Suunto. I'd definitely get one that allows you to download and analyse the data rather than one that just gives you an instant reading. All except the very cheapest models will do this.

[anonymous-user]

I have a polar bluetooth HRM that links to the SportsTracker App on the Nokia X6 so I get all of what you want plus the stuff you don't.

It must link up with others, but when it came out last year it was a SportsTracker & Nokia only tie-up

[clonmult]

OneDs said:

I have a polar bluetooth HRM that links to the SportsTracker App on the Nokia X6 so I get all of what you want plus the stuff you don't.

It must link up with others, but when it came out last year it was a SportsTracker & Nokia only tie-up

I've been tempted to buy the Polar bluetooth hrm for quite a while, and the only place you can seem to buy it (for a sensible price) is from the sports tracker website.

Ever since Sports Tracker was spun off into a separate company, they've been developing the app for other platforms, so now its available for Android and iOS devices, and the bluetooth hrm should work with all of them.

But for the moment, I'm happily just using the basic Polar HRM, trying to figure out my comfortable heart rate zones. It seemed to be ridiculously easy to figure that out for running, but for cycling its turning out to be damn difficult, and I've got my first 50 mile ride at weekend.

[anonymous-user]

Have a look here

http://www.sports-tracker.com/#/workout/Oneds/d4hi...

Click on data view and then HR, it breaks down how long you were in each sector; easy, moderate & hard by time and also plots you HR against the route on the profile chart.

The effort ranges are predefined by your age but I think you can manipulate them. my hard kicks in at 147 which is a bit low in reality so I might up that to 155/160.

What it does do is show that over the course of the same rides few rides the average HR has dropped but the Average speed hasn't = fitter me