I'm after suggestions for a HRM / computer for a mtb used for both road and XC

Essential
Heart rate
Cadence
Speed
distance
2 tyre settings
PC downloadable - love my graphs and data
backlight
multi display

Useful not not essential
Altitude
Temperature
batteries the user can change
Calories burnt
clock time
date
HR zone
Cadence zone

I've got one word for you - POLAR

I've got the S720i and could not be happier - a bit pricey, but well worth the money IMHO. Especially the Polar Precision Performance software is a bit hit...


:::Edited for poor spelling.

I've certainly looked at the Polar stuff.
725 / 720i / 520 all on the shortlist.

I've also looked at the Cateye range
CC-TR100 / CC-HR200DW / CC-CD300DW

Are there any hidden extra costs with any of the above, or any other HRM / computer suggested, such as separate Cadence / speed transmitter, or bike mounting over and above the purchase costs of the display unit?

Speed sensor and bar mount unit are included for Polar 725 / 720i / 520 - cadence sensor is not included in the basic package. Also if you want minimal fuss using the Polar on seperate bikes you'll want a seperate speed sensor for the second bike - otherwise you'll be using up a lot of zip ties.

Also worth noting is that the S520 does not have the altitude function.

I have no experience with the Cateye range.

Knut,


Have you weighed your entire Polar set-up?

display Unit, mount, speed sensor, heart strap

Yes, don't remember the weight though, but I will dig up the picture later!

OT:

I had a friend who was working in Copenhagen 4 years ago. We poped into a bar down one of the side streets at around 5pm. After 13 hours of drinking we finally headed off back to my friends flat.

My friends flat was a lovely place near the Old church at one end of town near McDonalds and an Irish pub. A barmaid asked me "do you pay local prices?" I said yes and paid £2 a pint instead of £3.50.

Is is normal practice in Copenhagen to charge the tourists a higher price for drinks?

As far as I know - no, it's not normal practice to overcharge tourists. It's a funny and interesting story though...

Just weighed my complete Polar S720i system - 185 grams. That weight includes watch, heart strap, speed sensor with zip ties + wheel magnet and bar mount - not too shabby I think.

If time is not an issue, sound to me like you might want to look into the TR-100 by Cateye (http://www.cateye.com/en/products/viewProduct.php?modelId=1&catId=6&subCatId=0).



As far as I can determine, they are not yet on the market - at least no here in the US - Cateye says mid-August - but it does include sensors for wired speed and cadence, wireless heart rate and calculates "calorie consumption per lap" and the data can be downloaded via an optional download cable/software. The HRM is supposed to retail for around US $250-275 and the download kit will add another US $90-100 and it seems to me that one of the online retailers in the UK was also taking pre-orders. One other thing, although I can not substantiate this, there was some talk on the powerlist several months ago about Cateye making the TR-100 to be compatible with a torque sensing bottom bracket (same concept - different mechnicals as the Ergomo power meter) that the company is also developing and can be added to the setup when it becomes available next year.

_________________
Michael - The Anaerobic Threshold is neither...

the polar i720s is wireless cadence, speed, and hrm. and you can get it online for about the same price as this cateye, and hrm might be better on the polar.

Could someone explain to me how the Polar Power Sensor Kit works?

I'm an economist and not an enginner, but it appears to me that you would need in some way to measure the torque through either the cranks or teh rear hub.

Does the Polar solution, approximate this? and If so how?

I can't see how you could measure it through a combination of cadence and speed. This takes no account of the additional power required to overcome wind resistance and the pitch and terrain of the road.

The system works by measuring two key factors:

1 Chain Tension - measured using a sensor on the chain stay
2 Chain Speed - measured using a sensor on the rear pulley

POWER = Chain Tension X Chain Speed.

its accurate to +/- 10%

I've used the Polar 720i for 2-3 years now and I'm quite happy with it.
Before that I used a Polar Acurex (mostly running and x-country skiing).

In my opinion Polar know how to build a HRM that perform well and last long.
As mention earlier, the software that comes with the unit is very good and usefull.
Allso the remote unit is so light that there is no great risk loosing it in a bumpy race, that has happend to me with a Sigma computer.

And you can't compare anything with it.
An maximum lactate steady state of 300watt or 330watt is an very big difference.