More Manatee Mayhem - 2017 Edition - Closed (Page 72)

Originally posted by TXTriRook Did anyone get the new 735XT? I have the 920XT and I love everything about it except for the HR strap. No matter how tight I make it, when I sweat it always seems to slip and I feel like I'm wearing a bra without the shoulder straps. For the record I've never worn or tried on a bra but for now it's the best analogy I can come up with . I definitely don't have plans to spend $500+ just for an inconvenience but I'd be interested to hear thoughts/opinions if any of you have taken the plunge.

I have a 920XT. I understand that the 935XT's optical heart rate is good for running but less good for biking, especially on not smooth surfaces. I suspect the same is true for the 735XT but I honestly don't recall.

Originally posted by TXTriRook Did anyone get the new 735XT? I have the 920XT and I love everything about it except for the HR strap. No matter how tight I make it, when I sweat it always seems to slip and I feel like I'm wearing a bra without the shoulder straps. For the record I've never worn or tried on a bra but for now it's the best analogy I can come up with . I definitely don't have plans to spend $500+ just for an inconvenience but I'd be interested to hear thoughts/opinions if any of you have taken the plunge.

i think Stacey has the 735

DC Rainmaker review of 735XT.

And the above graph completely summarizes my experience with the Elevate sensor while (riding) outdoors.  It’s perfectly fine if you’re doing relatively steady-state intensities (as most triathletes tend to do).  But if you’re doing sprints and and lots of short changes of intensity, then it’s not great.

Meanwhile, as I showed during running – it’s largely pretty good, but often struggles briefly at the beginning of runs, and in some cases at very high intensities.  Note that in all these cases I waited quite a bit at the start of a run prior to actually running, well past the point in which the sensor said it was locked/ready.

Originally posted by jmkizer

Originally posted by TXTriRook Did anyone get the new 735XT? I have the 920XT and I love everything about it except for the HR strap. No matter how tight I make it, when I sweat it always seems to slip and I feel like I'm wearing a bra without the shoulder straps. For the record I've never worn or tried on a bra but for now it's the best analogy I can come up with . I definitely don't have plans to spend $500+ just for an inconvenience but I'd be interested to hear thoughts/opinions if any of you have taken the plunge.

I have a 920XT. I understand that the 935XT's optical heart rate is good for running but less good for biking, especially on not smooth surfaces. I suspect the same is true for the 735XT but I honestly don't recall.

I went from a 235 to a 920.  The 235 optical HR was starting to annoy me.  It would drop out during bike rides, and it wouldn't catch my HR during final run sprints.  The chest strap that came with the 920 actually works well for me, unlike any prior chest strap.  So I think I'm set for a long time with the 920.  I've had the 310, 910, 235, 920.

Originally posted by ponderingfox

Originally posted by jmkizer

Originally posted by TXTriRook Did anyone get the new 735XT? I have the 920XT and I love everything about it except for the HR strap. No matter how tight I make it, when I sweat it always seems to slip and I feel like I'm wearing a bra without the shoulder straps. For the record I've never worn or tried on a bra but for now it's the best analogy I can come up with . I definitely don't have plans to spend $500+ just for an inconvenience but I'd be interested to hear thoughts/opinions if any of you have taken the plunge.

I have a 920XT. I understand that the 935XT's optical heart rate is good for running but less good for biking, especially on not smooth surfaces. I suspect the same is true for the 735XT but I honestly don't recall.

I went from a 235 to a 920.  The 235 optical HR was starting to annoy me.  It would drop out during bike rides, and it wouldn't catch my HR during final run sprints.  The chest strap that came with the 920 actually works well for me, unlike any prior chest strap.  So I think I'm set for a long time with the 920.  I've had the 310, 910, 235, 920.

From looking shortly here, the optical does seem to be improving, but if heart rate really matters keep looking at a strap. Ray is rather pale in comparison to a number of us, and thinner & lighter hair where the sensor would be. Both of which negatively impact the optical. I'm all the way back on a 35 and don't really trust it that much, but am also putting less emphasis on HR than I used to. It's sort of ok at easier steady efforts, but is erratic at harder ones. Even longer ones that go 10-20 minutes or more. These can have several sections where it'll jump up (or down) and hold there for several minutes at a time.

I still have a Wahoo Fitness Ant+ hard strap from a few years ago. That thing has been amazing. It's still a strap, but it has both stayed in place and flexes well enough to be like a soft strap in that regard. Early model Polar ones were always falling down on me. Hardly ever had the static issues others did either. Only needed a slight amount of moisture at the start and would never see it. As opposed to the major soaking the soft straps needed, and could still see again later in a lighter effort workout.

Originally posted by brigby1

Originally posted by ponderingfox

Originally posted by jmkizer

Originally posted by TXTriRook Did anyone get the new 735XT? I have the 920XT and I love everything about it except for the HR strap. No matter how tight I make it, when I sweat it always seems to slip and I feel like I'm wearing a bra without the shoulder straps. For the record I've never worn or tried on a bra but for now it's the best analogy I can come up with . I definitely don't have plans to spend $500+ just for an inconvenience but I'd be interested to hear thoughts/opinions if any of you have taken the plunge.

I have a 920XT. I understand that the 935XT's optical heart rate is good for running but less good for biking, especially on not smooth surfaces. I suspect the same is true for the 735XT but I honestly don't recall.

I went from a 235 to a 920.  The 235 optical HR was starting to annoy me.  It would drop out during bike rides, and it wouldn't catch my HR during final run sprints.  The chest strap that came with the 920 actually works well for me, unlike any prior chest strap.  So I think I'm set for a long time with the 920.  I've had the 310, 910, 235, 920.

From looking shortly here, the optical does seem to be improving, but if heart rate really matters keep looking at a strap. Ray is rather pale in comparison to a number of us, and thinner & lighter hair where the sensor would be. Both of which negatively impact the optical. I'm all the way back on a 35 and don't really trust it that much, but am also putting less emphasis on HR than I used to. It's sort of ok at easier steady efforts, but is erratic at harder ones. Even longer ones that go 10-20 minutes or more. These can have several sections where it'll jump up (or down) and hold there for several minutes at a time.

I still have a Wahoo Fitness Ant+ hard strap from a few years ago. That thing has been amazing. It's still a strap, but it has both stayed in place and flexes well enough to be like a soft strap in that regard. Early model Polar ones were always falling down on me. Hardly ever had the static issues others did either. Only needed a slight amount of moisture at the start and would never see it. As opposed to the major soaking the soft straps needed, and could still see again later in a lighter effort workout.

The thing is, if you are using power as your primary thing on the bike and heart rate as secondary, it might not matter too much.  And honestly, the HR strap doesn't chafe me on the bike, its' the run that produces that issue.

Good point about Ray's skin tone. He does mention that in most/all of his optical HR stuff - pale, hairless folks will have the best results.

As for HR straps, I've been using an off brand Polar-style one with good results.  I have to replace it yearly but that was true for the spendy ones too.

Heart Rate Monitor USA Replacement Soft Strap - $13.50 at Amazon, $12.50+shipping from Heart Rate Monitor USA

On the bike I use a bike computer as I don't want to wear a watch, so optical inaccuracies don't matter, but if a strap did those same things it would still be an issue for my purposes. Off-road has never had power. In both situations, I'll try for RPE and then HR for a little more shorter and longer term summation or averaging. Road riding will also have power to help with both. Decisions will incorporate all available data. Right now with running HR is only collected in the background. I left it off the data screens and only look at it during post run analysis. RPE developed fairly well with all the bike work the past couple years and seems to carry over.

With less accurate HR data, it's harder to spot things like fitness trends or know as well how things were executed as the plot won't have a reliable curve to it. My area isn't terribly hilly, but it's also not super flat either with numerous small rolling hills that are always breaking things up. Several runs per week will have 50 ft/mile in there (8 miles will have ~400 ft of gain). Found my average for the entire year (every run included) was 29.3 ft/mi. HR helps to normalize out the ups and downs to make sure effort is still going ok. It's been atrocious for harder work, so a little hoping for the best with RPE & pacing there as it's better to ignore it than try figuring something out of that mess. Bad data can be worse than none by leading to false conclusions.

I never had chafing issues with any strap, just the thing staying in place for some types. Definitely not on the bike, but also for the run. Probably shouldn't speculate with some notable difference between people in that area though.

What's happening with the strap replacement? Just stretching out too much? I haven't had to replace mine yet (different type with the hard strap) and wonder if the right type will still be made at that point!

Originally posted by jmkizer

Originally posted by brigby1

Originally posted by ponderingfox

Originally posted by jmkizer

Originally posted by TXTriRook Did anyone get the new 735XT? I have the 920XT and I love everything about it except for the HR strap. No matter how tight I make it, when I sweat it always seems to slip and I feel like I'm wearing a bra without the shoulder straps. For the record I've never worn or tried on a bra but for now it's the best analogy I can come up with . I definitely don't have plans to spend $500+ just for an inconvenience but I'd be interested to hear thoughts/opinions if any of you have taken the plunge.

I have a 920XT. I understand that the 935XT's optical heart rate is good for running but less good for biking, especially on not smooth surfaces. I suspect the same is true for the 735XT but I honestly don't recall.

I went from a 235 to a 920.  The 235 optical HR was starting to annoy me.  It would drop out during bike rides, and it wouldn't catch my HR during final run sprints.  The chest strap that came with the 920 actually works well for me, unlike any prior chest strap.  So I think I'm set for a long time with the 920.  I've had the 310, 910, 235, 920.

From looking shortly here, the optical does seem to be improving, but if heart rate really matters keep looking at a strap. Ray is rather pale in comparison to a number of us, and thinner & lighter hair where the sensor would be. Both of which negatively impact the optical. I'm all the way back on a 35 and don't really trust it that much, but am also putting less emphasis on HR than I used to. It's sort of ok at easier steady efforts, but is erratic at harder ones. Even longer ones that go 10-20 minutes or more. These can have several sections where it'll jump up (or down) and hold there for several minutes at a time.

I still have a Wahoo Fitness Ant+ hard strap from a few years ago. That thing has been amazing. It's still a strap, but it has both stayed in place and flexes well enough to be like a soft strap in that regard. Early model Polar ones were always falling down on me. Hardly ever had the static issues others did either. Only needed a slight amount of moisture at the start and would never see it. As opposed to the major soaking the soft straps needed, and could still see again later in a lighter effort workout.

The thing is, if you are using power as your primary thing on the bike and heart rate as secondary, it might not matter too much.  And honestly, the HR strap doesn't chafe me on the bike, its' the run that produces that issue.

Good point about Ray's skin tone. He does mention that in most/all of his optical HR stuff - pale, hairless folks will have the best results.

As for HR straps, I've been using an off brand Polar-style one with good results.  I have to replace it yearly but that was true for the spendy ones too.

Heart Rate Monitor USA Replacement Soft Strap - $13.50 at Amazon, $12.50+shipping from Heart Rate Monitor USA

Before the 235 I had good success with the Mio Link optical HR.  It did better for me than the 235.

sounds like if I wanted to train by HR, I would have no trouble with an optical monitor! You'd never know I lived in Florida!! But, I don't ; so it's a moot point regarding being a "steady state" person, there is nothing inherently wrong with it, but you will see much greater improvement if you get out of that gray zone from time to time! Try to do a run a week that has some accelerations or pick ups, push yourself. Start easy, but as you gain more fitness the accelerations can be faster and longer. There are other things to do to get out of the gray zone, but th is easy and affective.  Again, you don't have to do this, but I think you'll be surprised at your improvement by breaking out a bit!

Me neither.  I have "Italian grandmother" coloring and the hair to go with it!

Sometimes Jackie says to "be brave" and push outside where you think you can run.

Amongst faster circles, "steady state" can mean what would equate to about 10k effort for many in the pod.

For faster work, some basic strides can be a good way to start off. These are good for basically everyone at pretty much any point of their running since they aren't "hard" and can help with running economy.

And even with all the running I've been doing this year, the amount that's actually hard has been up to about 30' a week spread over 2 of the runs.

ETA: Even if one isn't that interested in trying to run much faster, better economy will also help with running smoother. So lesser impact and (hopefully) lesser sore spots & injury.

Racing Manatees!!!

May 13-14
Chris - Holly Morgan Fisher Memorial 5k XC run on Sunday
Tom A - Coffman Sprint Tri on Sunday

Disabled List

Tom S. and Markus are continuing their recovery.

May 16 is Yanti's birthday
May 17 is Dave L's birthday

Happy racing Chris and Tom! Continued healing Tom S and Markus.  Happy early bdays Yanti and Dave L!!  

So much to love about your post, but you know that.  Keep up the training and the happiness and the enjoyment of where you are and who you are. Thanks for the smile, I needed that on this hectic Friday I'm having!

Be speedy, racers!  Have fun and be safe out there.

DLers - rest, heal, be patient.

Happy early birthday to Yanti and Dave in case I forget!

Originally posted by TXTriRook Did anyone get the new 735XT? I have the 920XT and I love everything about it except for the HR strap. No matter how tight I make it, when I sweat it always seems to slip and I feel like I'm wearing a bra without the shoulder straps. For the record I've never worn or tried on a bra but for now it's the best analogy I can come up with . I definitely don't have plans to spend $500+ just for an inconvenience but I'd be interested to hear thoughts/opinions if any of you have taken the plunge.

I've had to switch to a different HR monitor.  Certain compounds/plastics cause my skin to react in a not nice way.  Fitbit - wear it a day have a rash for a week.  Ditto with the Garmin chest strap (and unfortunately the cheapie Janyne recommended - it has a material on it that bugs my skin, too).  No, it's not because it's dirty.  I've fully washed and sanitized the Fitbit and the strap many times over with no result.  It's only the plastic part that causes the rash, the fabric part is fine.

I now use a Scosche optical HR monitor on my inner upper arm that has a cloth strap and no plastic, so far so good.  DC Rainmaker gave it high regards with respect to accuracy and from what I've experienced so far I agree.  Granted I have very European skin (burn easy, not a lot of hair) so that may be helping the results.  I have a 920XT and love it although the new 935 looks like a nice upgrade!