Garfield2010 Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 I need a new watch for Triathlon. I have a good enough speedo on my bike. So I need a very accurate Heart Rate montior with perhaps an altimeter. Suunto or Polar?
JGR Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 (edited) hey Garf, was wondering the same thing a few months ago. I checked out the ambit and 910 garmin and both were awesome watches but very bulky and big. They are also quite expensive (not sure what your budget is). My girlfriend got me the Bryton cardio 35 (R1400 - groupon special) came with HR monitor and i paid and extra R800 for a dual speed/cadence sensor. So basically a 1/3 of the price of the watches you mentioned and it does the trick perfectly. It is also waterproof for 50m and i know the entry level garmins arent The analysis is pretty good and you can do various reports ect, its increadibly small and is about 35grms or something. GPS seems accurate as well which was my biggest concern as I read mixed reviews. Been doing a lot of IDT training on HR/Cadence and has worked well for me - it also have a sensor that picks up your running speed even indoors. Edited October 8, 2012 by JGR
davem Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 Hi Garf The Suuntos and the Garmin 910XT use an engine developed by FirstBeat Technologies. www.firstbeat.fi A normal heartrate monitor basically counts your heartbeat, the Firstbeat technology measures the full electrical cycle of the heart and is able to measure the load of your training on your cardio system through measures like VO2 Max, EPOC and Training Effect. I attended a presentation at Sandton Medi Clinic two years ago where one of the doctors/exercise physiologist (forget his exact qualification) reckoned the Suunto engine was within 1% of the full oxygen mask apparatus used for measuring these things. Only recently have I started to delve into planning my training based on the load from the previous cession using these stats. I am very pleased with how it works. Before you make your choice, I highly recommend you go through the Firstbeat site. They have a number of articles on how to use this Training Load data in your training plan.
JGR Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 You can also buy the cal meter HR monitor which converts your output into watts?
SwissVan Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 I need a new watch for Triathlon. I have a good enough speedo on my bike. So I need a very accurate Heart Rate montior with perhaps an altimeter. Suunto or Polar? What happened to the polar, read on the tri thread that it is lying somewhere on the bottom of the dam but how did it fall off? I've only used polar watches, but that Bryton JGR mentioned sounds interesting
JGR Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 What happened to the polar, read on the tri thread that it is lying somewhere on the bottom of the dam but how did it fall off? I've only used polar watches, but that Bryton JGR mentioned sounds interestingI also had a Polar f11 (i think) this watch is even smaller - i think it is the smallest GPS watch on the market.
SwissVan Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 I also had a Polar f11 (i think) this watch is even smaller - i think it is the smallest GPS watch on the market. Question is for me anyway... how well does it work in areas of low signal i.e. forestsMy garmin E500 does not work well at all under tree's (instant speed starts dropping off almost instantly)Unfortunately thats the trade off with anything that relies on a signal from above and the smaller the antenna the worse it probably is.
JGR Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 Question is for me anyway... how well does it work in areas of low signal i.e. forestsMy garmin E500 does not work well at all under tree's (instant speed starts dropping off almost instantly)Unfortunately thats the trade off with anything that relies on a signal from above and the smaller the antenna the worse it probably is.I just got mine recently and used it for Karoo to Coast and it worked fine which was impressive considering there was no cellphone signal. I also used it for a race this weekend out in the winelands area and was fine. It does take a minute or so to lock into a signal. I havent used it in a forested area as yet but will report back once i have - I spoke with the guy from Bryton and he said they used various sattelites and and take the location of as many as is possible in the area. As far as i know they all use the same sattelites. anyways i think Garf lives in bloem where there are no mountains and no tress and no anything really.
Garfield2010 Posted October 8, 2012 Author Posted October 8, 2012 What happened to the polar, read on the tri thread that it is lying somewhere on the bottom of the dam but how did it fall off? I've only used polar watches, but that Bryton JGR mentioned sounds interesting Someone swam into the Garfs line of sight and naturally I "clawed" him (aka as "konynkap" in afrikaans). Upon contact the band broke and despit making 2 dives down after it, it could not be saved. Thanks Dave. Can you imagine how fast I will be with even better technology? In the end for me, the HR is the most NB. The polar I had the CS300 would miss beats or stop alltoghether for a minute despite battery changes and ervices at the polar store. I want a HR monitor that is 100% accurate.
Garfield2010 Posted October 8, 2012 Author Posted October 8, 2012 I just got mine recently and used it for Karoo to Coast and it worked fine which was impressive considering there was no cellphone signal. I also used it for a race this weekend out in the winelands area and was fine. It does take a minute or so to lock into a signal. I havent used it in a forested area as yet but will report back once i have - I spoke with the guy from Bryton and he said they used various sattelites and and take the location of as many as is possible in the area. As far as i know they all use the same sattelites. anyways i think Garf lives in bloem where there are no mountains and no tress and no anything really. What if I want to go train in a cave or a deserted mine?
Garfield2010 Posted October 8, 2012 Author Posted October 8, 2012 I also asked ASG if they could come up with another one of their stupendous auctions which must include a watch so lets see.
JGR Posted October 8, 2012 Posted October 8, 2012 What about the Garmin 910XT?Very expensive ... and quite big
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