Best HRM for Cycling

[Defy The Odds]

Currently, for running I use a pair of Sony Smart B Trainer headphones which have a plethora of sensors and pump out awesome quality tunes but are designed for running. I dont particularly want to cycle with earbuds that block outside noise.

I am in the market for a GPS HRM Watch with a chest strap but also considering the watches with the optical HRM.

Purpose of this device is that I want a good indication of calories burnt in a day to work out best diet, etc.

I would use it for cycling, running and weight training/power lifting and maybe kayaking.

I was really keen on the Suunto Ambit 3 Sport or the Polar M400 and both are at a good price point online.

What do you use, why do you use it? Anyone have experience with these two?

Would a cycle computer with a paired chest strap be better? I currently use my phone in a holder for GPS when going down routes I am not familiar with and also as my cycle computer/strava.

Cheers in advance !

[madmacca]

I have used an Ambit3 Sport for nearly 2 years now, and I got it because I wanted just 1 device for my cycling, running and bushwalking. Partly cost grounds, and partly because I wanted all my data in one place. And I'm pretty happy with it - accurate and reliable.

The Ambit3 is pretty fully featured multi-sport device - haven't tried it kayaking, but I know it is a sport they do support.

The major downside to any watch solution is the limited screen size, and I find it is limited to just 3 fields at any one time, although those fields are fully customisable. You can also set it to automatically or manually scroll through to display other fields. After some experimentation, I have set mine to default to speed, heart rate and cadence, with manual scrolling of other fields if I want it - personally I found autoscrolling annoying.

Wrist-based optical HRM's are an increasing market segment, based on the supposed uncomfortable nature of chest straps (I don't find them that way, but enough people do), and have improved considerably on the accuracy side of things (early versions were notoriously inaccurate). But the major downside for the use of wrist based HRMs for cycling is that you would need to turn your wrist every time you wanted to see your heart rate, rather than just glancing down at your stem. I guess you could pair an optical HRM broadcasting to a conventional GPS head unit on the bike, but this would be an expensive solution. Optical HRMs also don't pick up the R-R interval that chest straps do, which prevents them from offering more advanced heart rate variability analytics, including recovery status.

[Defy The Odds]

I have used an Ambit3 Sport for nearly 2 years now, and I got it because I wanted just 1 device for my cycling, running and bushwalking. Partly cost grounds, and partly because I wanted all my data in one place. And I'm pretty happy with it - accurate and reliable.

The Ambit3 is pretty fully featured multi-sport device - haven't tried it kayaking, but I know it is a sport they do support.

The major downside to any watch solution is the limited screen size, and I find it is limited to just 3 fields at any one time, although those fields are fully customisable. You can also set it to automatically or manually scroll through to display other fields. After some experimentation, I have set mine to default to speed, heart rate and cadence, with manual scrolling of other fields if I want it - personally I found autoscrolling annoying.

Wrist-based optical HRM's are an increasing market segment, based on the supposed uncomfortable nature of chest straps (I don't find them that way, but enough people do), and have improved considerably on the accuracy side of things (early versions were notoriously inaccurate). But the major downside for the use of wrist based HRMs for cycling is that you would need to turn your wrist every time you wanted to see your heart rate, rather than just glancing down at your stem. I guess you could pair an optical HRM broadcasting to a conventional GPS head unit on the bike, but this would be an expensive solution. Optical HRMs also don't pick up the R-R interval that chest straps do, which prevents them from offering more advanced heart rate variability analytics, including recovery status.

Thanks for the detailed response mate !

So you use the Suunto Ambit for cycling, do you find it annoying turning the wrist for speed and HR readings?

I was thinkijg to wear it so the watch face is on my forearm side and that way it's just a slight turn to view the stats? Can this be done?

[madmacca]

No, I have the watch mounted on my handlebars - I think the artificial wrist mount cost me about $8. Pretty much the same convenience as a strem mounted GPS - not quite as good as an out-in-front GPS mount.

Having to turn my wrist would drive me insane. Which is why I think that the chest strap approach is much better for cycling than optical.

I guess the inside of the wrist would work on the hoods, but not on the bars, and I wouldn't want to do it while descending in the drops.

I think the watch based approach is most popular amongst the triathlon crowd.

[Baalzamon]

I've got both a Garmin Edge 810 and a Garmin Vivoactive.
Riding with the Garmin Edge 810 everything is a quick look down and looking at the data. Riding with the Vivoactive if I want to actively see some specific data I may have to wait for it to get there or manually scroll to it.

[Defy The Odds]

No, I have the watch mounted on my handlebars - I think the artificial wrist mount cost me about $8. Pretty much the same convenience as a strem mounted GPS - not quite as good as an out-in-front GPS mount.

Having to turn my wrist would drive me insane. Which is why I think that the chest strap approach is much better for cycling than optical.

I guess the inside of the wrist would work on the hoods, but not on the bars, and I wouldn't want to do it while descending in the drops.

I think the watch based approach is most popular amongst the triathlon crowd.

So do you just strap using the regular strap that the watch comes with and strap it to the handlebars and then have the chest-based HRM?

Sorry, some of the questions might come across as trivial, just trying to gather the most info possible and make an informed decision

Cheers again!

Edit: just searching on the net I found that artificial mount you were talking about

[Defy The Odds]

I've got both a Garmin Edge 810 and a Garmin Vivoactive.
Riding with the Garmin Edge 810 everything is a quick look down and looking at the data. Riding with the Vivoactive if I want to actively see some specific data I may have to wait for it to get there or manually scroll to it.

The 810 is awesome, but I just bought a phone mount for my galaxy S7, which has a clearer and bigger screen, albeit the battery won't last as long. Question though, you can use the 810 and and pair it with a 3rd party chest strap HRM?

[Defy The Odds]

So having a look, the cycle-specific computers that I am also considering as opposed to the watches are the Polar M450 and the Garmin Edge 510.

The Polar is around half the price though and looks to give me most of what I want and need, I am aiming to train mainly based on specific HR zones. Reading comments online though some people are complaining of issues since updating Android whereas Garmin seem to get on top of this sooner. Although, I am reading that Polar Flow is better than Garmin Connect.

Anyone here use the Polar who can provide some feedback first hand?

[g-boaf]

I've got both a Garmin Edge 810 and a Garmin Vivoactive.
Riding with the Garmin Edge 810 everything is a quick look down and looking at the data. Riding with the Vivoactive if I want to actively see some specific data I may have to wait for it to get there or manually scroll to it.

The 810 is awesome, but I just bought a phone mount for my galaxy S7, which has a clearer and bigger screen, albeit the battery won't last as long. Question though, you can use the 810 and and pair it with a 3rd party chest strap HRM?

Yes, you can pair the Garmin Edge with a 3rd party HRM. I use the Wahoo HR strap - that tends to be one of the best ones around.

You could also try the Powertap PowerCal HRM strap: https://www.powertap.com/product/powertap-powercal

Ignore it for power, tends to be a bit unreliable - but it was a decent quality HRM though.

[foo on patrol]

You can pair any device that is Ant+ with another Ant+ capable device.

Foo

[kb]

You can pair any device that is Ant+ with another Ant+ capable device.

Foo

And 4iiii's Viiiiva HRM can also act as an ANT+ to BTLE bridge

[BJL]

I'm happy with the chest strap heart rate monitor I got with my Garmin Edge 500 (not the premium one). I was looking at a wrist strap one a while ago but the shorter battery life turned me off. The battery in the Garmin HRM gets changed every year or two. Maybe things have changed since then.

[Defy The Odds]

Ok so after deliberating over this for the last few days, here is my thought pattern.

Currently I have a pair of Sony Smart B Trainer bluetooth wireless headphones which are jam packed with sensors including HRM aND hold 16g of its own music as well as ability to stream.

http://www.sony.com.au/local/product/sse-btr1



I use them for running and I love them for that, but for cycling they never worked previously. The reason they never worked was because the software that the Smart B Trainer came with would stop recording if you stopped moving as it would detect steps and if pedalling obviously you're not jumping up and down therefore not detecting the activity.

I have been away with the family on holidays and got back today. When I started playing around with my B Trainer there was new software available to update as well as new and updated firmware.

Part of the new package means I can now select custom training plans and select which bits of data I want to record. This now means I can remove the data collected regarding steps (step count, pace, etc) amd focus only on metrics I want/need.

This is great news for now, because it means I can now record without being on the move in the gym for example and just record calories burnt.

More importantly though, I can now record average speed, max speed, average heart rate, current heart rate and calories burnt while cycling. The only downside is that the headphones block out alot of outside sound while in your ears so I will have to slightly pull one out if using when on the road. I would only have volume up slightly for some ambience or a podcast anyhow.

I will test this feature tomorrow hopefully to see if they can be my new HRM for the bike. If so, I could potentially save myself around $400-500 on a new Garmin Edge 520.

Oh and the new software uploads every run or training session straight to Strava. My phone is also mounted on my handlebars which acts as GPS as I like to ride roads and paths I don't normally ride. Sometimes I just head out and go with the flow and like GPS to see roughly how to get back, handy. The phone is connected to the Brazilian Trainer via Bluetooth and therefore can see the stats of what is going on, on a large screen (Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge). The BTrainer also reads out the stats as you go along at custom intervals (every 5 mins up to every hour I think).

I will have to sit down and weigh up the pros and cons of current set up vs dedicated HRM/multi-sport data tracker once I have used this

What do you all think of my thought pattern with this setup?

I will be reporting back on my findings once I have trialling the updated software.

Bit of a long post I know, but I may have across something very interesting here...

[Defy The Odds]

Ok so after my last post I spoke to a mate who has the Garmin Edge 500 and who rates it highly.

Considering I have and use the Sony Smart B Trainer for running aND gym, it made more sense to purchase a cycle specific computer rather than a watch/activity tracker.

I ended up getting a good deal for the Garmin Edge 520 and took it for a spin this morning. I have to say, I love it. Knowing cadence and heart rate allows me to optimise my workout based on those. Especially the calories burnt, can base my meal plans more accurately now.

Want to sincerely thank everyone for their valued inputs. Really gave me and lot to think about aND helped in my decision making

[jamesoppenheim]

You can definitely use an ANT+ strap. I did a heap of research on an update to the default Garmin one and Wahoo Tickr is the way to go.