HRM straps

sean_d

Hi,

Hope this hasn't been answered before, I've run a brief search and nothing has come up.

I'm having issues with my HRM strap (Garmin) falling down when running. Its as tight as can be, without restricting my chest and without physically holding it up with both hands, I can't get it to stop falling down to my waist after 30 secs or so :mad:
I'm more of a cyclist than runner, so I've logged many many hours with it on the bike without problem, but it seems the bouncing up and down motion of running is causing the problem.
FWIW, I'm a skinny cyclist/runner build, so don't exactly have anything to let it "rest" on top of.

Short of fashioning some sort of bra to suspend it over my shoulders, I'm not sure what to do, but I can't be that unique. Has anyone encountered the problem before, and have you any ideas about solving it?

Thanks,
Sean

cfitz

Yeah definitely, I found it a lot at first and then less as time went on and I found a good tightness. Something stopped working on my Timex monitor/strap about six months ago though and I haven't used it since.

robinph

Porbably just need to get used to wearing it tighter than you would on the bike, or get yourself a bra. I'm pretty skinny myself but haven't had a probelm with it falling down, just need to accept that it may feel a bit tight initially.

Milesandmiles

Have you tried tying a knot in it in the elastic part of the strap?

sean_d

Does the knot prevent it sliding down (friction hot-spot?) or just tighten the strap?

Running Bing

sean_d wrote: »

Does the knot prevent it sliding down (friction hot-spot?) or just tighten the strap?

Do you have the strap tightened as tight as it will go or does it just not feel comfortable any tighter than you use it now?


I thought it was a bit weird at first and thought it would feel restrictive and uncomfortable but you get used to it very quickly.


I think you just need to tighten it a bit and get used to it tbh (unless you cant tighten the belt any more).

sean_d

I have it as tight as I can without seriously restricting my breathing...I'm well used to wearing it while cycling, so have a good idea of where the (un)comfort zone ends and the hindering performance zone begins, but I'll try really cranking it down for a run and see how it goes.
Thanks

Running Bing

sean_d wrote: »

I have it as tight as I can without seriously restricting my breathing...I'm well used to wearing it while cycling, so have a good idea of where the (un)comfort zone ends and the hindering performance zone begins, but I'll try really cranking it down for a run and see how it goes.
Thanks

Id say do. Thats exactly how I felt when I put it on first, I thought to myself "how could I run like this, it will restrict my breathing", but the band does have a lot of natural stretch and once you get going with it I find it fine.


Of course discomfort is a very personal thing. I could not possibly run in tracksuit bottoms no matter what the weather but a lot of people I see run in them all the time..

Milesandmiles

"Does the knot prevent it sliding down (friction hot-spot?) or just tighten the strap?"

The knot prevents it sliding down. I'm v narrow and a heavy sweater so I find the knot stops in sliding. Gives it a bit of grip. It doesn't cause friction for me but maybe it's the sweat that stops the friction.

Racing Flat

My Garmin HRM is no longer giving any readings on the watch. Changed the battery and still no reading. Otherwise the watch is working fine, so I'm presuming there's a problem with the chest strap. Is this something that can be fixed or do I just need to get a new one. If so, does it have to be Garmin? And where can I get one? How much?

Cheers.

Krusty_Clown

You might need to re-pair the HRM strap with the watch.
Manual (page 32) says:
[Menu][Settings][ANT +Sport][Accesories]
Select your accessory
Select [Enabled] = Yes
Scroll to view status. If the Forerunner cannot pair with the accesory, select [Rescan].

Milesandmiles

Racing Flat wrote: »

My Garmin HRM is no longer giving any readings on the watch. Changed the battery and still no reading. Otherwise the watch is working fine, so I'm presuming there's a problem with the chest strap. Is this something that can be fixed or do I just need to get a new one. If so, does it have to be Garmin? And where can I get one? How much?

Cheers.

I have a Polar not a Garmin but the transmitters on the belt do run out after a while. In the case of Polar if you don't detach the transmitter from the belt after using it, the transmitter goes quicker.

Racing Flat

Krusty_Clown wrote: »

You might need to re-pair the HRM strap with the watch.
Manual (page 32) says:
[Menu][Settings][ANT +Sport][Accesories]
Select your accessory
Select [Enabled] = Yes
Scroll to view status. If the Forerunner cannot pair with the accesory, select [Rescan].

Even though nothing seemed to happen when I did this - ie it did not appear to 'scan' it works again now anyway, so thanks!

Another problem I have - when I plug into computer (it's a 305) it usually says 'there was a problem connecting with your device...' and there is no download to computer even though it says 'transfer complete' on the watch. I just have to plug in and out over and over again until eventually it downloads. Getting quite annoying - can take up to 20 goes at times. Anyone have this problem?

sean_d

yeah -had this before, prior to the unit seemingly completely dying.
When it did this, I did a full reset and the communication problem went away - no idea what the problem actually was though.