Dan On Heart Rate Strap Batteries

Bicycling's Dan Chabanov discusses the problems he runs into with most heart rate monitor straps.

Transcript

00:00I have a problem with heart rate monitors, mainly that they just stop working on me.

00:04I've had a bunch of Garmin's, a bunch of Wahoo's, a couple of Polar's, a few Magenes, and some off-brand ones from AliExpress.

00:13They all kind of work really well for about three months, and then after that they just stop working.

00:17What I've realized the issue was is I'm sweaty.

00:21All of those heart rate monitors used replaceable CR32 batteries, which is pretty standard.

00:27But that means that they have an opening that just, no matter how well you seal it, like, if you think about it, how sweaty your kit gets,

00:35they just live horrible lives, these little electronic devices, and they stop working.

00:39And the solution that I found is a rechargeable heart rate monitor.

00:44So this one happens to be from Wahoo. I've had this for over a year now.

00:47It's been working great, but basically not having a battery door and having the unit be fully sealed while it adds a little bit of complexity,

00:55mainly that you have to remember to charge it.

00:58It has proven to be really reliable for me, and I, yeah, if you're somebody that goes through a lot of heart rate monitors

01:04and has a hard time having these electronics work for you, I would recommend looking for one that's externally rechargeable.