Garmin Edge 500
 

O'Bike Knowledgable,

1: If I don't buy the model with the cadence/heart bundle, can I get a heart rate strap that will work with the computer? I'm not really interested in mounting the cadence unit.

2: Is buying the strap cost prohibitive so I should just get the 'bundle' model and not mount the cadence unit?

Thanks,

Lewis-

I purchase both the strap and the cadence sensor separately to go with my Oregon 450... Two versions of the strap are available--standard (~$35) and premium (~$65).

Garmin use a different frequency to most other Heart rate monitors- so you will have to use a Garmin Chest strap. Look on E-Bay to find cheap ones.

and have to agree about the cadence- I bought mune with it but after about 3 rides- I no longer wanted it.

cadence is your legs' heartrate. are you sure you will never need it? for me, i would get the bundle, but i use my cadence a bit during TT's because i don't have power monitor

I just got my Edge 500 (Performance Black Friday deal). I was pleased to find out that it picked up the heart rate strap from my PowerTap. It's not ANT+ (AFAIK) but it is 2.4 Ghz. I haven't done a side by side test with the Powertap head unit yet but I did sleep with the Garmin next to the bed last night and it picked up my heart rate for 7+ hours. It did have some drop outs (I think) but it may have been due to the "smart" recording. 54 bpm average overnight... not bad I guess. Got down to 44 bpm :eek: at one point.