Garmin HRM users take note

53/39alltheway

I raced for 25yrs and used the early Polar HRM's for training, they used a solid plastic strap with a sealed battery, never glitched and always worked, when I stopped racing I used a Garmin GPS watch for running which used the premium soft strap, I had a love hate relationship with these, they either worked fine or were very problematic, heart rate spikes etc etc.

I tried all the usual work arounds, using the Polar soft strap, wearing it on my back etc, sometimes worked, sometimes not.When I started riding again and started using an Edge 510 I finally gave up and "downgraded" to the Garmin standard plastic strap, very much like the old Polar strap, been using it for a month without any glitches or spikes, seems to be the answer to not so impressive premium soft strap. Other peoples experience may differ but there are plenty of similar stories regarding the soft strap, so if you have similar issues give the older strap a try.

StillGoing

My original all plastic strap is around 6 years old and has never missed a beat or needed a battery change.

mekong_velo

Thanks for posting your experience, nearly identical history and recent experiences as myself.

I've been having the same problem with the so-called premium strap. It has been ok for the last 18 months or so but recently has been giving very erratic heart rates. After a bit of research on the net I pulled the trigger yesterday on the cheaper rate strap, hopefully that should see things returning to normal once it arrives.


Regards

Finesilver24

Garmin's soft straps are known to be rubbish. Garmin knows this and exchange them under warranty. If they're out of warranty, threaten them with the Sale of Good Act which says they must last a 'reasonable time'. I define reasonable as 'as long as the unit I purchased it with' because its part of a package.

Anonymous

4 years never had a problem. Is does go a bit haywire when battery is low but for the majority of the time its fine.

Guess I may e one of the lucky ones. Shame if people are getting duff readings.

bazzer2

Just last week I've had a replacement strap from Garmin. Very impressed with the service. I do note the replacement strap is a slightly different design than the one that failed. The new one is again predominantly black, but there is a large grey section, and an additional (white, rubbery) label thing on the connecting clip. It's a definite design change.

buzzwold

Oh Bum. Just bought a 500 package which included the premium HRM. Luckily, this would have been heavily discounted so if and when it fails, the net cost of replacement won't be to grievous.

mpatts

I have the old one too and it's worked faultlessly for years.

tangled_metal

If it does go wrong then take the opportunity to get a Socche strap. It is blue tooth and ANT+ I believe so should work with the Garmin head unit. It goes on the arm and is highly rated by a lot of users. Take a look at a review on DCRainmaker website. I have been thinking of getting one to use with a phone. IIRC it connects to Strava and other apps through bluetooth to your smartphone. If not it will link to any ANT+ or bluetooth smart unit. The main advantage (if the fact it is on your arm not chest and the bluetooth and ANT+ is not enough) is it is very reliable without spikes and dropouts you get with even the best chest straps.

iron-clover

I never got on with my soft strap- it would give silly readings too frequently for my liking and died after 6 months, around the same time as the speed/ cadence sensor. Thankfully the Edge 500 unit was built a lot better than the accessories it came with.

I've now had the old garmin strap for over a year now and it's only glitched once during a cyclocross race recently where it seemed to increase the rate significantly for about 10 mins before settling back. I hope it was a glitch anyway :shock: