HRM-Run vs -Tri ... a quick question

HRM-Tri has onboard storage in case of loss of signal. It is been mine primary band for the past two years and has done a few outdoor swims too.

I have a HRM-RUN and will *not* replace it. Here's why....

1. The optical HR works perfectly well for me when running. Sometimes the HRM strap has a nasty habit of double-counting heartbeats in the first few minutes of an activity, which results in ridiculous readings (e.g. 220!) that then drop back to the normal ~130ish range. I *think* there was a change in the firmware on the watch that impacted this as it suddenly became a LOT more frequent when the V8 firmware hit, but I can't swear to that. The optical HR doesn't do this -- ever.

2. The above *may* be related to the strap and it being washed. Specifically, I have a fairly high amount of mineral content in my water here, and I have a stinking suspicion that this over time creates a high-resistance path (but not open) between the two contacts such that the strap "reads" each heartbeat signal half twice. That would account for it, until I get good and sweaty and the "errorneous" signal drops out far enough to be ignored (since the "good" signal then becomes stronger as my skin is more conductive once I start sweating.)

3. You CANNOT change the battery in the new straps. Thus, once it wears out, it's dead. Throw it away. The HRM-RUN can be opened and changed. I'm on my *third* battery in my HRM-RUN, which means I'd have had to buy THREE straps by now. Uh, no. I'd rather buy the running pod for the dynamics and use the optical HR, which is what I will do when my existing unit craps the bed.

4. You can't change the STRAPS either. This is more-serious than the battery from my point of view in that I find the strap gets ratty after 6 months or so in my typical use. That would mean I'd have to buy a WHOLE NEW UNIT every six months, and that in turn means I wouldn't be on strap 3 right now, I'd be on strap #6! That's a combined cost of more than the Fenix 5x ran me! No, no and no in that order. IMHO Garmin has essentially turned the HRM straps into a "subscription" model where they will force you to buy a new one every 6-12 months and that's NUTS.

Now if you want the additional feature set of the TRI strap (specifically storing the data while swimming) then so be it, but otherwise I wouldn't buy the new one as I consider it a massive *downgrade* over the HRM-RUN.

It depends on what type of swimming you do. The tri is made for open water swimming, it's not good for pool swimming. When you make a turn it will slip down. There is one for pool swim but to me it's very uncomfortable.

I have a HRM-RUN and will *not* replace it. Here's why....

1. The optical HR works perfectly well for me when running. Sometimes the HRM strap has a nasty habit of double-counting heartbeats in the first few minutes of an activity, which results in ridiculous readings (e.g. 220!) that then drop back to the normal ~130ish range. I *think* there was a change in the firmware on the watch that impacted this as it suddenly became a LOT more frequent when the V8 firmware hit, but I can't swear to that. The optical HR doesn't do this -- ever.

2. The above *may* be related to the strap and it being washed. Specifically, I have a fairly high amount of mineral content in my water here, and I have a stinking suspicion that this over time creates a high-resistance path (but not open) between the two contacts such that the strap "reads" each heartbeat signal half twice. That would account for it, until I get good and sweaty and the "errorneous" signal drops out far enough to be ignored (since the "good" signal then becomes stronger as my skin is more conductive once I start sweating.)

3. You CANNOT change the battery in the new straps. Thus, once it wears out, it's dead. Throw it away. The HRM-RUN can be opened and changed. I'm on my *third* battery in my HRM-RUN, which means I'd have had to buy THREE straps by now. Uh, no. I'd rather buy the running pod for the dynamics and use the optical HR, which is what I will do when my existing unit craps the bed.

4. You can't change the STRAPS either. This is more-serious than the battery from my point of view in that I find the strap gets ratty after 6 months or so in my typical use. That would mean I'd have to buy a WHOLE NEW UNIT every six months, and that in turn means I wouldn't be on strap 3 right now, I'd be on strap #6! That's a combined cost of more than the Fenix 5x ran me! No, no and no in that order. IMHO Garmin has essentially turned the HRM straps into a "subscription" model where they will force you to buy a new one every 6-12 months and that's NUTS.

Now if you want the additional feature set of the TRI strap (specifically storing the data while swimming) then so be it, but otherwise I wouldn't buy the new one as I consider it a massive *downgrade* over the HRM-RUN.

Thanks for the points, especially the point that the straps are not replaceable on the HRM-Tri. I knew this, but your point about getting worn out makes the cost of ownership of this one higher.

However, I think the new straps do have changeable batteries. Garmin product manual page 3.

Jeff

If the strap is not replaceable then it doesn't matter whether the battery is (the strap wears out first in my experience -- at a rate of ~2x that of the battery!)

3. You CANNOT change the battery in the new straps. Thus, once it wears out, it's dead. Throw it away.

Gee, are you sure you know what you're talking about? I'm asking beause the manual for the HRM-Tri shows how to replace battery and it seems pretty straightforward.

I have a newish HRM-Run (red) that seems to be the same from a battery replacement perspective as the HRM-Tri. The process is as you say, straight forward. I've done it once already. The strap is not replaceable, but if you wash it the way Garmin suggests every 7 runs (drop of soap in a bowl of water, rinse) it seems to hold up well. I've had mine almost a year now and it is going strong. I like my HRM-Run much better than my Wahoo Tickr X (which i ended up giving away).

I had the HRM-Run you have (the clip-on sensor), and now have the HRM-Tri. I much prefer the HRM-Tri for comfort and fit. The HRM-Tri's strap seems a lot more durable, and it holds up really well. The HRM-Tri is much more comfortable to wear also.

The optical HR works perfectly well for me when running.

An exception as most people report to the contrary.

Sometimes the HRM strap has a nasty habit of double-counting heartbeats in the first few minutes of an activity, which results in ridiculous readings (e.g. 220!) that then drop back to the normal ~130ish range

Never seen this in all the years of owning Garmin HR straps of all types. But then I've always thoroughly wetted mine before use.

*may* be related to the strap and it being washed.

Doubt it. More likely because it appears you might be putting it on dry if only works once you get a good sweat going.

You CANNOT change the battery in the new straps.

You can as already noted

You can't change the STRAPS either.

That's the downside of those straps. But you can still buy the straps with the removable module that allows for the strap to be replaced.

I stand corrected on the battery, but the strap issue remains real (non-replaceable)

The double-counting however, is something that goes back to the beginning of my experience with Garmin straps and my 310XT. Originally I figured out that it was from putting the strap on "dry", so I started licking it before putting it on and that stopped it -- right up until the 8.x firmware revisions on the Fenix 5x, when it came back *consistently.* As in 9-of-10 runs it misbehaved, which played hell with all sorts of things (VO2Max for one, and it also resulted in GC (I think) resetting my heart-rate zones and sending them back to the watch, which if I didn't catch it resulted in utterly ridiculous zone data that then screwed with *other* performance metrics -- I'd get totally bogus threshold changes, for example.) I've reported this to the Garmin firmware people but have had no response; I doubt it's the strap itself since it was a step function and happened suddenly when the first 8.x beta appeared, and has been maintained since.

My original HRM module (no little running guy) died and I found the advanced one (with run dynamics) very useful, so several years ago I bought one of those.... which is what I'm using now.

If "thoroughly" wetting the strap is the answer to the double-counting (e.g. run it under a tap) I'll try that, but I'm still loathe to replace the module-style strap. I don't do Tris or do any sort of training in a pool (I just don't care for swimming) so I don't care about the feature of being able to store HR data for a while during a swim. The straps themselves in my experience tend to last me about six months in my usual training/race regime where I'm using it 4-5 times a week for runs of various distances when washed "according to directions", at which point they deteriorate to the point the elastic is compromised. Not being able to replace the strap part cheaply (the aftermarket replacements are all of about $10) makes the new style a show-stopper for me and if I can't put a stop to the double-counting issue there's no point of continuing the chest strap monitor at all as those events pollute the data enough to make it worthless; I may as well buy the little "peanut" style run dynamics pod and use that, since the optical HR sensor on the watch itself works just fine for me during runs, doesn't have double-counting problems (ever) and is accurate.