I am preparing on leaving to ride the Lewis and Clark trail and have been thinking about getting a heart rate monitor. I would prefer to get one that connects to your wrist rather than a cycling computer only because I would like to monitor my heart while exercising off my bike. I have been having a very difficult time finding a monitor with good reviews across the boards that isn't over $400.
At this point I am willing to try anything - i.e. - wrist watch or bike computer as long as it works, is waterproof and durable.

Does anyone have any experience with anything like this?

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

thanks,
dennis

You need a good, basic HRM. You can get one for under $100. The Polar F4
is a good example. There are a number of other good brands.

One of my favorite HRMs has been a SI Fit 3. These are NOS, and you should change the battery before you leave as they have been sitting around a warehouse for years.

But they are good, and easy to use. It got bad reviews because it's not as rugged as others. Don't sit on it and you'll be fine. One thing I like is that it has a top and bottom out of zone alarm. So on a long climb it'll beep when you go over your zone, and when you stop and slack off, it'll beep when you go under.
Kinda like a wife, but you can turn it off.
https://www.performancebike.com/shop/...tegory_ID=4115

Lots of bells and whistles on the expensive ones. I never use them, but if you plan on getting a coach or using some of the fancy training software down the road... keep in mind they work with only a few HRMS.

I use a Sigma PC-15. The read out part is wrist watch style. Works fine. Cost about $50.

Nashbar has the HAC4 on sale for $179.95. Not sure why they put the price back up, since I bought it for $129 a year ago, but still a good deal, espescially if you can get one of their 20% off coupons and free shipping that they have regularly.

Great computer/ hr monitor. Has all the functions you could possibly need, and comes with a bike mount and watch strap. Super easy to move it back and forth. A little big as a watch, but still wearable. Only drawback on the UPS model, is that it only comes in imperial. (I guess some wouldn't consider this a drawback.) Can't think of anything you would want it to do that it doesn't. I really like mine (except for the no metric thing.)

If you don't need bells and whistles you can find one that works fine for $30. The one I have is a Sports Instruments, but I forget the model number. It works fine.

Nashbar has 6 different ones under $50 and three of them are $30.

If you want it for touring I wouldn't think you would need to download sessions to a computer and the basic features should be adequate.

I think Nashbar has a bunch of SI stuff on sale.

I use a basic Polar HRM I got from Sierra trading post on clearance a few years back. Its a watch style, but I put the watch strap around the handle bars, and using a rubber band, tighten it in place. Looks just like a second cycle computer, but comes off and on to my wrist whenever I need it to.

Uh... Am I the only person who thinks that wearing an HRM for 3,000 miles would be lots of Not Fun?

I hear what you are saying, and I have never worn one on a tour, but I am considering it for future tours for a few reasons. The main would be to stay conservative, and not go too hard too early and blow up later in the day. Since most of my sports tend to be high paced, I have to make sure I pace myself on tour. Another reason would be to tell when you are sick, or getting sick. You could tell this by your hr, and modify your day/days accordingly so that you don't push too hard, and pay later.

Obviiously I wouldn't be using the same way I use it training on my road bike, but I think there might be some practical applications for touring, and if you already have the technology.....

I'm no athlete, but it always seems my legs, not to mention my poor knee, crap out before my heart. I've gone on tours where before the tour I was having weird feelings about my heart (presumably hypocondria) yet after day three with zero pre-training the heart is just fine. Maybe having a monitor the first three days would have been wise, but after that it seems to be chugging like a train. Interesting ideas though.

It doesn't appeal to me either, but I can see reasons why someone would use one on tour. Personally, I never even seriously considered taking mine on tour, but to each his own.

The only reason to wear one on tour is to check your heart rate going downhill...

I use a polar f11 its great... i am not sure if i would wear one on tour or not but i could see using it to see how many calories you need to replace. and to make sure you are not over extending yourself... the chest straps could be a bit of a pain to wear 8-10 hours a day everyday for the tour tho.. you can usually check to see if you are getting sick or in need of a rest day by checking your resting pulse ... if it increases dramatically take a break you need it... dramatically is like 5-10 bpm above your average resting pulse....

Has anyone tried this? Is the calorie number a HRM produces really close enough to be helpful in deciding how much to eat? I would have guessed not. Seems like a lot of trouble to count calories on tour anyway.

Might be helpful with pacing though. Still I doubt I will ever take mine on tour.

BTW: Good hint on the resting pulse. I wish I had kept a resting pulse record on my TA last Summer. It would have been interesting to see what it was on the couple really tough days I had in the Appalachians.

nope, i do not think it would be fun.

In fact, I may be the only one here who does not even understand the need for one on a long tour....

robi

I might be doing the northern tier next summer as part of my senior thesis, and I may have to ride with a HRM for data purposes, but to be really honest, once I get the chest strap fitted I barely notice it until I get off the bike, then it drives me nuts. I have one of the newer polar straps that were designed to be more comfortable, so your mileage might vary.

polar makes the cs300. its a cycling computer that you can wear on your wrist when you're not riding or mount onto your handlebars. polar is probably the best brand.

https://polarusa.com/Products/cs/cs300.asp?cat=consumer

182$ on amazon.com

Thing is, you don't watch a HRM constantly unless you are in a spin class. But, using one to keep from burning out too soon in the day is a great idea if you are doing long days and nowhere to stop in-between. I would think that after a few days, you would get accustomed to cadence + speed would replace the HRM, or, you'd just get to "know" that you are working too much too soon.

On the other hand, if you were in France where there are wonderful bread and pasty shops in each town, then, you would bike very fast, period. (to burn off what you ate in the last town, rationalizing stopping in the next town. )

Thanks for all the advice. I must admit I am re-thinking the whole thing now. I think it would certainly be interesting to take your resting heart rate before you leave on a tour and take it again after you return just to see. The one thing that seems pretty upsetting (and to me this might be a show stopper) is the fact that many of the hrm's that are reviewed well (that I am looking at) have a battery life of 8 to 10 hours. Then they need to be recharged which (most of the time on this trip) will not be an option.
If you are into electronics and gadgets hrm's with gps features can be very interesting. There are programs out there that will map out where you have gone and port it to google maps where you can add pictures and stuff and if you have a web blog it could be ported to that too. Who knows? just a thought.
Question is - does anyone know of a hrm that i would be able to use and not have to worry about recharging or are they all going to run into this same problem?
Thanks again,
d

I also find it difficult to imagine why someone would want to monitor their heart on tour just for the heck of it. On the other hand, there are lots of people who would question why anyone would want to ride a bicycle for a few thousand miles. There are many paths to Enlightenment.

How about this:

https://www.nashbar.com/profile.cfm?c...All%20Products

On sale and can be used off the bike.

Refurbished Garmin 301 with heart rate monitor: $89,
www.edgegps.com

Refurb'd Garmin 301 w/heart rate monitor: $105
www.getfeetwet.com

most heart rate monitors don't need to be recharged... the ones with gps usually do tho.. there is also ones that hook to your bike and you can use them for a cyclo computer i believe polar has one of those too and they don't have be recharged. i have a polar f11 for normal work outs and it doesn't have to be recharged but i also have a garmin 405 for my run work outs and it does.. to be truthful unless you want to do this for some experiment i wouldn't bother. the chest strap can be a pain and it really doesn't seem to be nessisary....

My polar cs200 with cadence has gone almost 800hrs without replacing the batter in the head unit. I had to replace the chest strap battery at about 500hrs.

I'm with you in that there's no need for an HRM on a tour. I stopped wearing an HRM altogether about two years ago and have done many, many centuries, doubles, and longer rides and have yet to miss it. I certainly see no reason to wear an HRM on a tour.