Tandem Cycling - Heart Rate Monitors

My Stoker and I tried using our Polar HR Monitors and found they interferred with each other. Mine is a coded HR, but hers is not. Before going and buying a coded one for her ( which is what the local bike store suggested) I thought I would check and see if this would work. Doesn't make sense to me. Any other suggestions. We'd rather not buy a new set-up.
Thanks,

kevin

Cannot help with two Polars but we use Polar for the captain and Garmin for the stoker. The Garmin would then provide the stoker other metrics beside HR such as speed, average speed, distance and etc.

Cannot help with two Polars but we use Polar for the captain and Garmin for the stoker. The Garmin would then provide the stoker other metrics beside HR such as speed, average speed, distance and etc.


Thanks...good idea. We already have a flight deck up front for me. Does the Garmin (305??) have speed and if yes, do you need a rear wheel attachment.

Can you avoid the interference problem by one or both of you using a monitor with a wire from the chest belt to a wrist display?

My Stoker and I tried using our Polar HR Monitors and found they interferred with each other. Mine is a coded HR, but hers is not.

How close are you standing to your stoker when you initialize your Polar own-code monitor? You should be at least 6' away from anyone else with a HRM when you initialize your Polar unit to minimize the possibility of picking up the wrong chest strap transmission frequency. Buying a second, own-code unit would not solve this problem either. So, before doing anything else, make sure you politely ask your stoker to step away from you when you initialize your Polar and see if that doesn't solve your cross-talk issues.

If for some reason you still occassionally find that you're having an interference issue even when initializing well away from her, shut-off your Polar, remove your chest strap for a minute, then put the chest strap back on and re-initialize your Polar with your stoker once again stepping away from you.

The reason you would remove the chest strap is that randomization of the frequency used by own-code Polars -- at least the older ones and I'll assume they haven't changed -- occurs in the chest strap transmitter. There are only a couple of difference frequencies and the frequency that get used is selected by the transmitter / chest strap when you put it on and it senses your heart beat. To "spoof" it into changing you simply take it off long enough for it to stop. When you put it back on it selects what should be a different code... and not the one that just happens to match your spouses Polar chest strap/transmitter's frequency.

happens all the time in races. What do you really need a HR monitor for? Are you hammering that hard? Except for serious training, where you're obliged to put in X# of hours at certain zones, and in races where you don't want to blow up, there's no real value. Same with computers. Why???? Ride and be happy. Hours in the saddle are the most significant numbers. Assuming you sweat. If you can't tell that you're working hard, you're not working hard.

I can think of several other circumstances where a HRM is useful other than racing and while training "seriously". For us when we train for a century, a double century or a TT we use the HR monitor to optimize the workouts. When we pull hard on a fast pace line, we use it to help us decide how long we want to stay in the front. When we are doing a long group ride we use the HRM to keep our energy expenditures on check. On the easy days, night rides, or while just touring or enjoying the scenery we do not use the HRM.

^^^^
actually helpful to use it on the easy days too, to make sure the days that are supposed to be easy stay easy.

Thanks...good idea. We already have a flight deck up front for me. Does the Garmin (305??) have speed and if yes, do you need a rear wheel attachment.

No rear wheel attachment required for speed. We use the Garmin Forerunner 305 not the Edge 305. Why? Use it for running too and it is smaller. We strap it around the stoker bar and it does not interfere with anything or she can wear it on her wrist. Both the Edge and Forerunner 305 have the same GPS technology but you can buy the Edge with cadence, an altimeter (for more accurate elevation data) and HR. We have HR and GPS only. Both Garmins provide speed, distance average, speed and etc without connecting anything to the tandem. The performance metrics are based on GPS. As such, they are not as accurate as traditional electronics. I also have the Flightdeck. However, the Garmin has been great for the stoker because it is accurate enough to provide an good picture of the speed of the bike and her HR and in general matches the Flightdeck metrics. The Garmin software for the computer is good and there is a web site that is very cool to upload you GPS data called www.Motionbased.com. We bought ours on Ebay. Check it out.

We ordered the Garmin Edge 305 with HRM and cadence. We checked ebay but we got it cheaper at http://www.etronics.com We look forward to installing it and using it.

The Garmin Edge 305 came in last night and right off the bat we discover two oversights on my part. The software does not run on Apple and it did not come with the HRM transmitter. I tought it did, gosh! and I am only 50.... I will have to fire up the old PC that we were getting ready to get rid off... that is a pain. I had to order the transmitter, another $60. The etronics.com deal is not that good after all.

You have to install the cadence/speed sensor in a spot where it can pick up the pedal arm magnet and the spoke magnet: in the stoker's left chain stay. The manual says that the sensor has a range or three meters, close to 10'. That should work OK even in the triple if the garmin is placed in the front stem. I wonder how critical it is to install the speed sensor, couldn't it rely exclusively on GPS?

We are planing on ridding along the river near Sacramento tomorrow afternoon. Not a familiar territory for us. I will try to read as much as I can between now and then.

The Garmin Edge 305 came in last night and right off the bat we discover two oversights on my part. The software does not run on Apple and it did not come with the HRM transmitter. I tought it did, gosh! and I am only 50.... I will have to fire up the old PC that we were getting ready to get rid off... that is a pain.

You can download Training Center For Mac software version 2.0.1 from Garmin, hot off the press:

http://www.garmin.com/support/download_details.jsp?id=3339



We are planing on ridding along the river near Sacramento tomorrow afternoon. Not a familiar territory for us. I will try to read as much as I can between now and then.

You can't really get lost along the trail! Just keep your eyes peeled for kids, joggers, etc. Bring a bell & call out, and say "thank you" after you pass; folks seem to share the path pretty well there in Sac. Watch for single "klingons", too.

-Greg

I wonder how critical it is to install the speed sensor, couldn't it rely exclusively on GPS?.

I looked at the Garmin website and I think all the Garmin Sport GPS will provide speed via GPS positioning. With our Forerunner 305, we rely on GPS to provide the speed data. It is not as good as having a speed sensor. For example, when we are climbing in the mountains the instantaneous speed may be off from the Flightdeck but the average speed will be okay. Where there is good GPS reception, the GPS instantaneous speed more closely matches the Flight Deck. I suggest going to the Garmin website and reading about the GPS techology. It will help you understand the situations where GPS is less reliable. For example, it takes 3 satellites to get a position and 4 satellites to get quality evelvation. In the mountains/hills, it is difficult to get 3 satellites and many times the Garmin is holding its last position waiting to get a new fix when a satellite becomes visible. Since you have the speed / cadence sensor, I would connect it.

My stoker and I were having a hard time when trying to use two coded polars together on our tandems. Mine seemed to work well, but hers would stop recording at random intervals on our rides. Very annoying to say the least.

After much troubleshooting, we were able to solve this by turning off the autostart feature on both of the HRMs. Seems the autostart becomes very sensitive when you have 2 HRMs in close proximity to eachother. Since making this change, we haven't had any issues. We havent gotten fancy and tried to get both HRMs to record speed/cadence or anything like that.

I don't think this will allow you to use a coded/non coded polar together.. But if you wanted to upgrade her to a coded, this is my experience.

We use them to train by heart rate. On our training rides I will call out what HR zone we should be in and have attached a idividual HR Zone sheet to each of our handlebars.

Mark.

The garmin Edge 305 is a nice toy. Last Sunday's ride before the HRM came in:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2082879

My stoker and I both use Polar HRMs without any problems.

The garmin Edge 305 is a nice toy. Last Sunday's ride before the HRM came in:

http://trail.motionbased.com/trail/activity/2082879

Nice map and elevation data -- this must be a different trip than the one you mentioned in the earlier post since this is near the San Joaquin River rather than the Sacramento River. I'd appreciate hearing how the new Garmin software works on your Mac. We are thinking about an Edge 305 ourselves for our tandem.

Nice map and elevation data -- this must be a different trip than the one you mentioned in the earlier post since this is near the San Joaquin River rather than the Sacramento River. I'd appreciate hearing how the new Garmin software works on your Mac. We are thinking about an Edge 305 ourselves for our tandem.

Yes, the Sacramento ride was a week earlier. The path along the Sacramento river is very nice for jogers, families wih young kids, dogs, etc.... for us it was hard to develop a rythm. The software works flawlesly on the Mac.

I like my Edge 305 HR when it works right but I have problems getting the HR function to work well consistently. Even with the "Ba-Bump" goop I rarely get a good consistent HR track until I have a good sweat going. Even then it will sometimes start falling to precariously low numbers or go flatline at times.

This was particularly unnerving at last year's GA Tandem Rally. Every time we went uphill and my heart rate got above 150 or so, I'd started getting this radiating pain across the left side of my chest and down my left arm. Then every so often the HR would show the equivalent of no signal and I'd slow down so I didn't crash my stoker too bad if I happened to be dead at the time and just didn't know it yet.

I had a triple bypass a couple of days later and the HR monitor has been a good training tool to get back in shape, except at times when it shows me 140, 145, 150, 160, 165,168, 170, 100, 70, 40, ______ . My Cardiologist says I'm doing fine so I'm thinking about just not wearing the belt and just look at the other numbers.