Fitness watches and riding

There are already a few threads about this. Which one you need all depends on what kind of data you want to acquire.

I’ll ride with a heart rate monitor from time to time. One with a chest strap is my personal preference, you can mount it up on the bars so it still tracks your data, but you don’t have to have it on your wrist getting in the way.

If youre looking for a heart rate record.. id go with the wahoo X strap. It stores the workout and syncs later. Using a wrist monitor is a shot in the dark with accuracy. So youd end up with a strap anyways. Why risk a $200+ watch vs a $75 strap?

I picked up a VivoActive HR on sale and haven't had any comfort issues with it while riding, daily activities or working out. The heart rate monitor is a great feature but I question the accuracy of it big time. In the gym sometimes it will read low, like 80BPM when in fact my heart rate is 160+bpm, then without reason the watch will start to read heart rate properly. Sometimes it just works and never has this time where it isn't reading properly, so overall it gives little confidence in its accuracy.

I have tried all sorts of different arm positions, run it tight, run it loose and nothing seems to make the issue go away. Which sucks because I love having all the heart rate data, being able to track and log all my workouts and motos with the watch, and the Garmin connect app it syncs all the data to is really slick.

So once I am tired of this watch I'll be looking into a strap based heart rate monitor and activity tracker, or hopefully a different brand/model optical based watch that fixes the issues the VivoActive HR has.

I also use the VivoActive HR when I ride, workout, and mountain bike. So far its been great for over a year. I have also noticed the heart rate issue that WoodsRacer described about being in the gym and it reading funny. Most noticeably on the row machine.

I like the vivoactive. It's not as big and I have zero problems with it. Also have a Fenix but it's too big and heavy, can't ride with it on the arm

kb228 wrote:

If youre looking for a heart rate record.. id go with the wahoo X strap. It stores the workout and syncs later. Using a wrist monitor is a shot in the dark with accuracy. So youd end up with a strap anyways. Why risk a $200+ watch vs a $75 strap?

I just bought that one. Are you using the Wahoo app or something else?

I just picked up a new Scosche Rhythm arm band and am going to pair it with a Garmin Forerunner. I've been using my old and trusty Garmin 305 with chest strap here at home , but didn't want to wear either one of them during my riding / racing. Watch is bulky and the chest strap bugs me when I ride. I think I may be pairing it up with a Garmin 235 , or possibly an older 310xt. I mainly use them for just keeping track of heart rates and distance on runs / biking , but want to start using it every now and then on my riding. Like to know where my heart rate is on longer , more grueling moto's.

AJ565 wrote:

I also use the VivoActive HR when I ride, workout, and mountain bike. So far its been great for over a year. I have also noticed the heart rate issue that WoodsRacer described about being in the gym and it reading funny. Most noticeably on the row machine.

Weird, I have noticed most of my issues on the rowing machine as well, wonder why that is. Something with the motion maybe. Sucks because rowing is my favorite workout and I try to get in 5k just about every day.

Waste of time. John Tomac said on that podcast that motocross isn't even an endurance sport. But what does he know?

WoodsRacer wrote:

Weird, I have noticed most of my issues on the rowing machine as well, wonder why that is. Something with the motion maybe. Sucks because rowing is my favorite workout and I try to get in 5k just about every day.

Not sure. I've noticed that on the app that shows what zones your in with your heart rate isn't even close, but when I look at the data after a sync its pretty close to where I feel it should be if I have it running like a normal workout. If I have ErgIQ on and linked together with the row machine it shows I have a max heart rate of 77 with a 75 average and never fluctuates more than 2 bpm no matter how hard I row.

Asimo wrote:

Waste of time. John Tomac said on that podcast that motocross isn't even an endurance sport. But what does he know?

Oh really? Link? I think you heard wrong.

Asimo wrote:

Waste of time. John Tomac said on that podcast that motocross isn't even an endurance sport. But what does he know?

jeffro503 wrote:

Oh really? Link? I think you heard wrong.

Depends on the person. For me personally i can get away with 2 days a week of 30 min cardio session and be perfectly fine. I benefit way more from strength training. If you were to ask me id say its a strength sport.

Based off of eli’s old vids with ryno, its a strength thing for him too

WoodsRacer wrote:

I picked up a VivoActive HR on sale and haven't had any comfort issues with it while riding, daily activities or working out. The heart rate monitor is a great feature but I question the accuracy of it big time. In the gym sometimes it will read low, like 80BPM when in fact my heart rate is 160+bpm, then without reason the watch will start to read heart rate properly. Sometimes it just works and never has this time where it isn't reading properly, so overall it gives little confidence in its accuracy.

I have tried all sorts of different arm positions, run it tight, run it loose and nothing seems to make the issue go away. Which sucks because I love having all the heart rate data, being able to track and log all my workouts and motos with the watch, and the Garmin connect app it syncs all the data to is really slick.

So once I am tired of this watch I'll be looking into a strap based heart rate monitor and activity tracker, or hopefully a different brand/model optical based watch that fixes the issues the VivoActive HR has.

You can use a strap to override the wrist HR. Works much better when doing any interval type training. The wrist HR is accurate, just slower to react to change.

I use the Lezyne micro gps watch. It will track and log just about anything and everything and it synchs with Strava. It's designed for cycling and will work with other sensors to track more. I just use it for HR, speed, distance, and time.

tcallahan707 wrote:

You can use a strap to override the wrist HR. Works much better when doing any interval type training. The wrist HR is accurate, just slower to react to change.

Right on! I thought I read it wouldn't work with another senor, but thats not the case at all. Thanks!

Asimo wrote:

Waste of time. John Tomac said on that podcast that motocross isn't even an endurance sport. But what does he know?

jeffro503 wrote:

Oh really? Link? I think you heard wrong.

kb228 wrote:

Depends on the person. For me personally i can get away with 2 days a week of 30 min cardio session and be perfectly fine. I benefit way more from strength training. If you were to ask me id say its a strength sport.

Based off of eli’s old vids with ryno, its a strength thing for him too

I wouldn't put to much faith in that. Strength and endurance have to go hand in hand. If you're built like a bird with little strength it won't work. If you're built like Dewayne Johnson.....your tongue will be in your lap after about lap 2. This sport has always been a combination of the two.....and any top pro guy out there will tell you , you have to have both for outdoors. Indoor.....you could probably veer towards more strength than cardio.

Which btw....makes Paul's point....moot. Because none of us ride SX....were all outdoors.

Polar M400 for me. Love it and it works well. Only complaint is that syncing is hit and miss with my phone

my .02 is if you want an accurate GPS, get a Garmin Montana and mount it to your bars, or put it in your air box. if you want an accurate wrist-Heart Monitor, get a Polar H10 or H7 or something along those lines. phones have decent GPS tracking software, but don't touch the accuracy of a dedicated GPS device. for phone tracking i use Backcountry Navigator. best app i've found and i run the premium ($12) version.

in my past experience the "4 in 1" gadgets are ok at everything but great at nothing. i have scars on my wrist from my Polar A360. fuckin' piece of shit.

I have a Polar M200 but i can't use it. My arm pumps up with it.

peelout wrote:

my .02 is if you want an accurate GPS, get a Garmin Montana and mount it to your bars, or put it in your air box. if you want an accurate wrist-Heart Monitor, get a Polar H10 or H7 or something along those lines. phones have decent GPS tracking software, but don't touch the accuracy of a dedicated GPS device. for phone tracking i use Backcountry Navigator. best app i've found and i run the premium ($12) version.

in my past experience the "4 in 1" gadgets are ok at everything but great at nothing. i have scars on my wrist from my Polar A360. fuckin' piece of shit.

I like Strava...because I like racing myself and other riders on the segments. (I know it can piss of mountain bikers when a guy on a dirt bike smokes their best time...so I don't use it on trails frequented by mountain bikers).

And since I don't care about accuracy of the GPS...so a watch will suit me...and I don't want to have something on the bars, or have to worry about putting it in the air box.

Titan1 wrote:

I like Strava...because I like racing myself and other riders on the segments. (I know it can piss of mountain bikers when a guy on a dirt bike smokes their best time...so I don't use it on trails frequented by mountain bikers).

And since I don't care about accuracy of the GPS...so a watch will suit me...and I don't want to have something on the bars, or have to worry about putting it in the air box.

Ahh good ol strava terrorism

You need a HRM strap if you want any reliability and accuracy. They are quiet cheap.

I have a Garmin Fenix 3 HR, best i ever bought. I have sensors on "automatic" in my menu so when i take on my HRM strap is disconnects the built in HRM. I just turn of activity tracking and put my watch on the handlebar close to bar pad, around the clutch cable package.

Put some 3 layers of good tape over the HRM sensor to protect it from rubbing around the bar. Bluetooth is on so as soon as i come in close to my van and stop the activity is syncs over to my mobile and i can check it there.

With that i can also check time in zone. Only thing is the Fenix 3 HR might be a bit expensive if you would loose it in a crash during a race but it sits quite protected that deep into the bar.

There are 1-2 cheaper models from Garmin where you also can check "time in zone". The cheapest models does not give you that feature.

Adding you can also use the GPS to track predefined track routes and have it count laps. I dont use that since it drains the battery a bit. I normally charge my watch every 7-9 days with about 6-10h of training per week.

I use a tomtom spark watch, it has a wrist heart rate reader, no problem for me. Works well, something that takes constant gps positioning points would be better, I think the tom tom is every second so some of the corners look like hexagons on mapping.