which heart rate monitor

[hellsbuddha]

Which ones do you recommend and why

[anonymous-user]

i use a garmin forerunner 305 which is about £100, does all the usual functions for pace, speed, distance etc but the heart rate monitor works fine and you can configure the screen to your preference so the screen is split into threee and you have pace, speed, time etc how you want it.

the garmin software is good too. the forerunner 305 is a bit old and clunky now but its bombproof and quite user friendly. find a runnning shop and see what they recommend, they will either stock polar or/and garmin and you cant really go wrong with either but there are obviously some which have very bespoke features which may be useful.

[Kermit power]

What do you want it for?

I've got a Garmin Edge 800 which is a heart rate monitor as well as being a cadence monitor, cycle computer, GPS tracker and sat nav. It's great, but not something worth getting to track your heart rate at the gym!

At the other end of the scale, if you've got an Android (or iPhone, I assume) and a compatible chest strap, you can do it all on your phone. Pretty handy if you're going to be taking your phone with you anyway.

[clonmult]

Kermit power said:

What do you want it for?

I've got a Garmin Edge 800 which is a heart rate monitor as well as being a cadence monitor, cycle computer, GPS tracker and sat nav. It's great, but not something worth getting to track your heart rate at the gym!

At the other end of the scale, if you've got an Android (or iPhone, I assume) and a compatible chest strap, you can do it all on your phone. Pretty handy if you're going to be taking your phone with you anyway.

(or even a Nokia)

I'm tempted to go the chest strap route, I've been using the sports tracker (available on both iOS and Android iirc) for years, its a cracking bit of software.

The chest straps are around £50 and up, and along with the app (which is free, or at least it is on Symbian), you'll have full GPS tracking along with your heart rate for minimal expense.

But it does depend on what you're going to use it for. At the moment I'm using sports tracker for cycling, and a basic Polar HRM for giving me average and peak heart rate - which if I'm honest with myself, is more than sufficient.

[crisisjez]

Lidl are selling a HRM watch with chest strap for £15.00.
Got one but not tried it yet.

[Chicken Chaser]

Garmin Edge 500. Provided you dont need the map of the 800, its all you will ever need. You can pre-plan routes on the computer, upload to the device and follow the route guidance from it.

[Gumstabber]

My lidl one works fine. I know when I'm alive and when I'm not now

[SR7492]

Chicken Chaser said:

Garmin Edge 500. Provided you dont need the map of the 800, its all you will ever need. You can pre-plan routes on the computer, upload to the device and follow the route guidance from it.

+1

Well happy with mine, you can become a stat freak with all the information it can give you (HRM/Cadence/Elevation etc etc)

[scubadude]

Aldi selling the Lidl one for £12.99 if your real tight?

I got one last year in a sale for £8.

Obviously you can't do all the recording and cross-referencing as you can on the Garmin (friend has one, its very nice) but the fully wireless garmin won't work on my bike (recumbent) as cadence and speed sensors are too far from computer to communicate :-(

[hellsbuddha]

thanks all, I may just save up for the garmin 500

[robpearson]

I had an Edge 500, and sold it for the Edge 800 because i wanted the mapping for use on my mountain bike. I think i probably made the wrong decision, because for 90% of what i do, the edge 500 was better. the screen is clearer as it's not touch, and it just seemed a little easier to use in general.

[Barbarossa]

Polar CS400 is also worth considering. "Old" Technology so should be cheaper than the Garmin but does HR, Cadence, Speed/Distance, Altitude/Climb.