Originally Posted by
Carbonfiberboy
Yep, they do wear out. So do tires. I have no problem with wearing out my bike equipment. In fact, I just had to order a new pair of Pearl Izumi Thermal tights - $135! I've ridden in the rain so much in the past 3 years that I've worn them out. That's a good thing.
The very nice thing about the soft strap is that the transmitter battery is user replaceable and seems to last forever anyway, and you can swap back and forth between Polar and ANT+ transmitters, since the snap centers are the same. Been using Polar equipment for 15 years with no problems other than wearing out the new, better belts, no big deal. If you do as I suggest, use a gel and wash the belt, the fabric belts last a long time. You'll also have fewer or no spurious readings, the main thing that folks complain about with their HRMs.
If you really want a rigid belt instead of fabric, Garmin makes a rigid belt with a snap-on transmitter. I don't know if Garmin sells the belt itself separately, but they might.
We all have our acceptance level for consumables. I felt the 6-12 months I was getting from the Garmin soft straps to be less than I would expect. The older garmin strap's trasmitter is not removable. It is molded into the plastic that also houses the contact points. However, the battery is way easier to change than the snap on transmitters, due to it being a simple coin twist lid versus removing the screws of the snap on transmitters.
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