Mostly excellent
I was drawn to the Garmin FR60 as it represents one of the least expensive full-featured heart rate monitors which can download training data to a computer. Since I do a good chunk of my training indoors on a treadmill particularly in the winter a GPS based system was not required.
My experience with the Garmin FR60 has been mostly positive. First it's important to point out this watch is sold in at least 3 different bundles. There's the basic heart rate monitor only (all black watch) this version (red) which includes an ANT+ Stick used to download training data to a computer and a more expensive version which includes a foot pod for measuring distance. When shopping for this watch be sure you know which bundle you're ordering I had to return the black version after ordering it without realizing it didn't include the ANT+ Stick.
The watch itself is a nice form factor smaller than the large Polar S120 I'm replacing. Initial setup is easy the included quickstart guide walks you through the procedure in straightforward fashion. The screen is easy to read and navigation between menus and setting adjustments is easy. My only gripe with the watch is the placement of the Lap/Split and Start/Stop buttons. Quite simply these should be reversed. The Start/Stop button is a large white button centered just below the display area it's quite easy to press. The Lap/Split button is a small button on the side of the watch and takes a firm touch to trigger. When I'm running hard it's takes a bit of concentration to record a lap certainly more than I'd like. I expect I'll get more comfortable with this as I use the watch more.
The heart rate strap fits comfortably and is in most ways quite similar to my familiar Polar T31 chest strap with one important exception it has a door through which I can replace the battery. The Polar strap has to be sent back for a new battery and a replacement strap is $30-40. The replacable battery on the Garmin is a nice upgrade. As for function the heart rate is recorded accurately and I've yet to see it interrupted by interference. Of note the Garmin HR strap does not appear to be compatible with any treadmill I've seen the watch still records HR accurately but the treadmill will not display HR on screen. Polar seems to have cornered the market here.
Once a workout is complete recorded heart rate data can be downloaded to a computer via the ANT+ Stick a simple USB stick. Once setup the download process is quite easy. Garmin offers two options for logging your data the desktop-only Garmin TrainingCenter (which must be downloaded) or the web-based Garmin Connect. I've tried them both and find the TrainingCenter software easier to use particularly when viewing heart rate data graphs. If you spring for the footpod the software will correlate HR time and distance. Workout notes can be entered making this a nice all-around training log. It seems like development is on-going for the web-based Garmin Connect so it's possible it will get improved features in the future. Note that the data can be exported from either program as XML-based TCX files which can be processed into Excel sheets (with third party software) or uploaded to other third-party training log software. If you're comfortable with the format the TCX files can be edited directly to include data not recorded by the watch (distance if not measured by the foot pod calories burned etc).
Overall this setup has allowed me to do exactly what I had hoped; accurately record my heart rate over training runs and download it to a computer for review and analysis and comparison with previous workouts. I'm excited enough about the system that I'll be adding the SDM4 Footpod to record distance as well. If the Lap and Start/Stop buttons we're swapped it would be the perfect non-GPS based running tool and an excellent value as one of the least expensive heart rate monitors which can download to a computer.More detail ...
0 comments:
Post a Comment