I need a easy way to get my heart rate on my many rides.

fooferdoggie

Well-Known Member
I ride a e bike so it is good to keep track of my heart rate to see how hard I am working. I used my apple watch either with apples bike app or stravia.


I ride 3 times or more a day 2 35 minute commute rides at 10 miles each and 10 to 20 or more on the tandem when I get home. just after the two rides when I get home my watch would be at 10% plus I would forget to stop recording the ride on stravia and that would kill my heart rate average. I bought a fitbit charge 4 as it does auto recording. well it worked well. but it is really off on steps it gets twice the amount as my apple watch. it also does not make workouts in the heath app it just goes under goes under exercise time. So I just used it to keep track of my heart rate and used my garmin gps to send info to stravia and that syncs with the health app.


that seemed to work well. but I started having the fitbit not get the right heart rate on my morning rides. it works fine on the way home. no matter how tight the band was or what it would read wrong. like may show 70 to 90 when my heart rate is 130. I think it is because the mornings have been around 57 the last several days. so this will make it useless most of the year.


before I figured that out I just got a garmin vivosport but it is super off all the time with my heart rate. either way too low or high while just sitting around. some of the better garmin watches would work a few would send my heart rate to my gps so stravia would capture it all. but I have to war my watches on one wrist because I have a tattoo on the other so I doubt there would be room for a standard garmin watch and my apple watch at the same time.


I am almost thinking the only solution it just recharge my watch in the middle of the day or get a chest strap heart rate monitor. all I get from the apple watch is average heart rate no real details unless I go deep in stravia. I guess the same would be with the garmin chest strap? but that would be a hassle of remembering to put it on twice a day.
 
If you want an accurate heart rate, get a heart rate strap. LG used to make headphones that measured heart rate, I still have them but find them uncomfortable plus I don't like wearing in ear headphones on a long ride. There may be other options out there.

I use the Garmin HRM-Run heart rate strap and it works very well. Connects easily to my Garmin watch and my Garmin 530 bike computer.

If you want to find a watch that's accurate, check out DCRainmaker's website, he reviews all of the latest test and compares each watch's wrist based HR to a HR strap at the same time.

In my experience, nothing beats the chest strap though.
 
If you want an accurate heart rate, get a heart rate strap. LG used to make headphones that measured heart rate, I still have them but find them uncomfortable plus I don't like wearing in ear headphones on a long ride. There may be other options out there.

I use the Garmin HRM-Run heart rate strap and it works very well. Connects easily to my Garmin watch and my Garmin 530 bike computer.

If you want to find a watch that's accurate, check out DCRainmaker's website, he reviews all of the latest test and compares each watch's wrist based HR to a HR strap at the same time.

In my experience, nothing beats the chest strap though.
I dont need super accurate but I want a method that works. the fitbit is fine if it is warm out. the apple watch is accurate but I have to use it manually and I have to look at the watch. I just got the strap but it looks like it will be a hassle to use. I am going to try my wifes fitbit see if it stops whne it is cool not really room for two full size watches IMG_1230.jpg
 
I always use my Apple Watch (series 4) with the built-in Outdoor Cycle app. It’s been consistent and accurate, based on comparison with my blood pressure monitor. I do sometimes forget to resume or end session but not very often.
 
I always use my Apple Watch (series 4) with the built-in Outdoor Cycle app. It’s been consistent and accurate, based on comparison with my blood pressure monitor. I do sometimes forget to resume or end session but not very often.
ya thats the big complaint but also the battery life. the fitbit is cool just ride and it gets it. come on apple get with it (G) what I really don't like it is a pain to see what your heart rate is while riding. the fitbit always has the heart rate showing in real time.
 
ya thats the big complaint but also the battery life. the fitbit is cool just ride and it gets it. come on apple get with it (G) what I really don't like it is a pain to see what your heart rate is while riding. the fitbit always has the heart rate showing in real time.
I’ve never had an Apple Watch battery life issue and I don’t have a problem seeing my heart rate while riding. My battery goes two days with no problem and that includes an ECG every day.
 
I dont need super accurate but I want a method that works. the fitbit is fine if it is warm out. the apple watch is accurate but I have to use it manually and I have to look at the watch. I just got the strap but it looks like it will be a hassle to use. I am going to try my wifes fitbit see if it stops whne it is cool not really room for two full size watches View attachment 57546
Don’t you have to look at the Fitbit? And if it’s not accurate, what good is it?
 
I always use my Apple Watch (series 4) with the built-in Outdoor Cycle app. It’s been consistent and accurate, based on comparison with my blood pressure monitor. I do sometimes forget to resume or end session but not very often.

I'm having trouble finding that app on my apple watch 5, can you give me some more info as to where I can find it. thanks.
 
I’ve never had an Apple Watch battery life issue and I don’t have a problem seeing my heart rate while riding. My battery goes two days with no problem and that includes an ECG every day.
I have 30 to 40% battery life by the time I go to bed if I don't use the watch to record my rides. I guess my notifications and weather and such eat the battery. but if you just use the appel watch to check your heart rate it takes a bit for it to show up. the fitbit always shows the current heartbeat. it is accurate but not in the morning. that makes no sense but thats what its been doing. I want to try my wifes to see if it does the same thing,
 
I have 30 to 40% battery life by the time I go to bed if I don't use the watch to record my rides. I guess my notifications and weather and such eat the battery. but if you just use the appel watch to check your heart rate it takes a bit for it to show up. the fitbit always shows the current heartbeat. it is accurate but not in the morning. that makes no sense but thats what its been doing. I want to try my wifes to see if it does the same thing,
Hmm..not sure what series your watch is but mine has about 75% left every night. I use it a lot every day and I charge it every night, just because. It does automatically tell me if my heart rate is low. I would guess you can set it up to show your heart rate automatically if you want.
 
Hello fooferdoggie, Last year I went through the challenges you face and feel your pain.

I had a gen 1 or 2 apple watch that just didn't last or work for me. Finally retired it and got back into a beautiful regular watch and looked to other options for when I walk/cycle/train/etc.

Note: Everything I am about to share I was able to source from Amazon.


My research lead to Polar. They have decades of experience, found their pricing to be of great value and lots of options to consider.

I started with a simple Polar H10 Heart Rate Sensor chest strap ($110 Cdn). It pairs with my cell phone and works great. Known for being accurate, 1-2 years of use per CR#### battery you can replace for a few bucks. As a bigger gent I did source their extra long chest strap and it was so much more comfortable ($30? I think). I have a 52" chest for reference.

I wasn't a fan of mounting my phone to my handlebar of my mountain bike (visions of it falling off) so I recorded the ride while the phone was in my backpack. The phone could easily manage the battery life I needed and was happy to have the data to review.

Link to Polar H10 Chest Strap:



Decided to expand/upgrade. Purchased a Polar V650 bike computer with a couple extra mounts (one for every bike I ride). It's simply awesome ($300 cdn I believe?). Paired with my chest strap and securely mounted to my handlebar - gives me all the data I could possibly want.

Duration, Distance, Heart Rate (real time), Heart Rate average, Altitude, Incline/decline - and many more to choose from. I can setup multiple screens with different size information displayed that I just swipe left/right between.

Pairs up to 4 bikes. To help out, the only difference between the 4 bikes technically is if you have specific sensors mounted to each bike, such as cadence. I have added a Polar cadence sensor to my main bike and it gives me more insight to my riding and I use it now to better train/improve my riding technique ($130 Cdn I believe).

If you find you mostly want a new purchase made to be for cycling, then this may be a good option for you or simply any bike computer of your choice with a chest strap.

Last quick note - putting on the chest strap becomes easy after a few times and second nature. I feel a little naked without mine now whenever I ride (if I do forget to grab it) and only if I left it at home by accident have I ever rode without it.

Link to Polar V 650 bike computer:

Link to Polar Cadence Sensor:



Last but not least, when winter came I started daily walking outdoors to keep up my exercise and also added in snowboarding after many years away. I wanted something for these activities. Polar has some much higher price watch options but I found the Vantage M was a great value ($390 Cdn).

Built in wrist sensor (like the apple watch) and can be paired with the H10 chest strap. All day battery life, 17 hours if I recall of training time recorded from a full charge. Touch screen with a side button for easy use and navigation.

Some advance features like sleep monitoring and such - haven't tried them myself yet.

I have paired it with my chest strap since I already owned one, but found the watch worked well and was accurate in my own testing (yes I put on the chest strap with the V 650 bike computer and watch at the same time and did test rides to see, lol). It's quick, convenient and a good looking watch for what it does.

Small bonus, it does have ability to pair with a smart phone for message display and such - you have to leave the Polar App on the phone open I recall, have not tried it but wanted to mention it as well.

Last note, my buddy did buy the $800 big brother to this watch and frankly, doesn't have anything I would need and no touch screen for double the price. Just one last thought/note for your research if you do look at Polar.

Link to Polar Vantage M:


Final thought - yes I stuck with one family of products and built it based on the first piece I purchased. I have found having the devices mentioned above help motivate me to be healthier and ride more, be a better rider and I enjoy they all sync into the Polar website (Polar Flow - free service) to track my activities and in turn this website syncs to Strava for me automatically as well.


Hope this helps, take care.

Shaun
 
I’m also an Outdoor Cycle fan on the Apple Watch. Like the heartrate and time splits data. I run Ride With GPS also, and let the watch control RWGPS for a bit, but went back to running them independently. The heart rate display on the watch version of RWGPS was unreadable. For some reason they made it a small gray font and I almost crashed a couple of times looking for it. Just using the Outdoor Cycle app on the watch, the graphics are very good.
 
I very recently bought this Blue Tooth 4.0 / ANT+ strap for $39.99, but it's listed now for $45.00

It works with some different apps on my older Android 6 phone. I'm currently using Endomondo free version because it doesn't work with Sports Tracker, that I had been using for tracking my rides. It looks accurate in comparison to my bike computer heart rate monitor and blood pressure monitor.
 
I’m also an Outdoor Cycle fan on the Apple Watch. Like the heartrate and time splits data. I run Ride With GPS also, and let the watch control RWGPS for a bit, but went back to running them independently. The heart rate display on the watch version of RWGPS was unreadable. For some reason they made it a small gray font and I almost crashed a couple of times looking for it. Just using the Outdoor Cycle app on the watch, the graphics are very good.
I just use the built-in GPS of the Outdoor Cycle app which I only really look at on my iPhone anyway.
 
I very recently bought this Blue Tooth 4.0 / ANT+ strap for $39.99, but it's listed now for $45.00

It works with some different apps on my older Android 6 phone. I'm currently using Endomondo free version because it doesn't work with Sports Tracker, that I had been using for tracking my rides. It looks accurate in comparison to my bike computer heart rate monitor and blood pressure monitor.
I probably wouldn't wear a chest strap to measure my heart rate on a bike during a hot summer ride.🥵
 
I ride three times a day so thats means I have to take the strap on and off twice. here are three recordings of the same ride. the Fitbit did not start getting my heart rate right for awhile no clue what's going on with it. apple does great on bp and matches the chest strap I borrowed but the ride info is off compared to my Garmin. I like how the Fitbit displays info but it does not add the rife to the health app it just adds exercise time. first is Garmin with chest strap second is Apple Watch and third is Fitbit.
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