Sports Instruments ECG Series Heart Rate Monitors embody our latest telemetric heart rate technology. Ergonomically shaped to fit the natural curve of your wrist, they offer unequaled comfort. The new, custom-designed screen font and high-contrast display, as well as the Ultra NightGlow™ reversed backlight, result in dramatically improved readability in all light conditions. And a new, advanced heart rate processing algorithm makes the ECG series the fastest, most stable, and most accurate monitors we’ve ever produced.
Submitted by
Norm Smith
a Racer
from Phoenix, AZ. USA
Date Reviewed: January 7, 2012
Strengths: I received this as a gift several years ago. I have had the battery replaced 3 times, and it still works great. Operating manual is reasonably clear
Weaknesses: Operation is NOT intuitive, the manual is a must. Company appears to be defunct, as I have tried all of the websites listed in the manual, and all of the emails in the manual, with no luck.
Bike Setup: Full suspension Specialized, Caloi hard tail, Carbon road bike.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
Mic
a Weekend Warrior
from Seattle, WA, USA
Date Reviewed: December 29, 2010
Bottom Line:
I think the company has gone out of business. A web search, including WhoIs, was all dead ends. It WAS a pretty good value. Model ECG2 had the right features for me and a great price. But it crapped out after two years. After taking it apart it looked like water or sweat got inside. Too bad. For the price I could easily justify buying another.
Submitted by
Bob
a Weekend Warrior
from Vancouver, WA
Date Reviewed: September 11, 2010
Strengths: Looks nice.
Weaknesses: Band keeps breaking. Put new batteries in band and watch. Still kept loosing signal in the middle of workout. No address, phone, anything found in manual on how to address warranty claim. Only web-site . . . . does not exist.
Submitted by
William Fold
a Downhiller
from Rocky Mtns USA
Date Reviewed: November 22, 2009
Strengths: Many useful functions, never fails, never gets janky
Bottom Line:
a great HRM for the price. a bit tricky to change the watch battery but fairly easy if you have patience and jeweler's screwdrivers.
I don't understand the review of the fellow just before me, below. He is describing something other than what I have. I found the owner's manual comprehensive. I never had any reason to call a help-line or visit a website. if you're afraid of changing the watch battery yourself, take it to a jeweler. no problem.
Submitted by
Marc Robinson
a Weekend Warrior
from Prairie Village, KS
Date Reviewed: November 21, 2009
Strengths: None, that I can tell
Weaknesses: Web site given in product book is nonexistent, got stuck in voice mail jail (flipped me between one menu and another) when calling for help, and instruction book does not tell how to turn on the watch. It may have come without a battery, but then why does the booklet tell how to change the transmitter battery, but says nothing about the watch battery itself?
Bottom Line:
I will NEVER buy another product from this company.
Bike Setup: Hybrid. I ride the same bike for street and trails.
Overall Rating:
Value Rating:
Submitted by
timthetoolman
a Weekend Warrior
from Denver, CO, USA
Date Reviewed: June 21, 2009
Strengths: Price and features
Weaknesses: Battery life. Try to not use the light and the life is reasonable.
Bottom Line:
Unless there are others in this price range I would buy again if the one I have fails. It is 3 years old and I have used it about 2200 miles.
Here is how to change the battery in the Sports Instruments ECG 3 ECG3:
Here is how wrist unit (receiver) battery in Sports Instruments can be changed:
Required:
1. Patience!
2. Jewelers flat and Phillips screw drivers (sold any place that has tools)
3. Magnifying glass--best it does not have to be hand held
4. CR2032 battery--very common
5. Needle, straight pin or other device with small point
Remove band by:
* turn watch unit to back side
* Apply a small amount of pressure with finger pushing strap up and away from the watch body (basically at 45 degrees)--band fits in a groove and must follow groove to come off.
* Use small flat screw driver gently push in pin on pin's raised grooves (toward band, along pin axis) from either end of pin to collapse it and be careful that pin does not fly away as it is spring loaded.
Remove four Phillips screws holding back on.
Remove battery and electronics from housing by turning watch over.
This part is a little tricky and you likely will want a magnifying glass-- The metal strap that holds the battery to the electronic assembly has hooks on both ends. The side with the wider hook that goes over TWO black plastic tabs is the end that you will unhook first. With a needle (blunt end) or other pointed device GENTLY pull hook over the two plastic tabs. If you are using a straight pin you may want to grind it so it is not sharp. My smallest screw driver was too wide and would have increased chance of damaging plastic tabs. Now the strap comes off and the battery can be changed.
When putting everything back clean finger prints from glass and screen first and make sure that the o-ring the fit between watch back and unit are in the groove. I did not have to mess with this as the o-ring never came out of groove but this is what keeps the moisture out.
Over all the job is not too bad but take your time and if you are having issues stop and take a break. I guess that it took about 10-15 minutes to take apart.
Submitted by
Bud Hawks
a Cross Country Rider
from Golden, CO USA
Date Reviewed: October 2, 2008
Strengths: Cheap
Weaknesses: Cannot do math, not waterproof, not accurate
Bottom Line:
It was fun at first, but seemed to have math errors. The times in each zone did not compute with the percentages in each zone. It got water inside after a quick rinse off shower. Took the back off, let it dry out. Next rinse off shower, was wet inside again. On final excursion, a strenous mtn. bike ride, it had my heart rate between 44 and 65. I am not in that good a shape. Customer support was indifferent at best, suggested I return it, did not answer my question asking if I should try another one.
Submitted by
Keith Q
a Cross Country Rider
from Cary, NC
Date Reviewed: June 21, 2007
Strengths: Light weight, durable, nice features
Weaknesses: No peak heart rate
Bottom Line:
I have last year's (blue) ECG3 monitor and use it for every ride, mainly for lap times and average heart rate. It's held up great, no complaints whatsoever. The only additional feature I'd like to have is Peak Heart Rate, but it's hard to complain about anything for what it cost me. Great product for a great price!
Strengths: Low price, easy to use, keeps lots of informaton. Great when it works!
Weaknesses: Poor wrist band connection, watch has fallen off several times when riding. You have to remove the wrist band to replace batteries - that makes the wrist band connection even weaker.
Bottom Line:
I've owned four monitors made by Sports Instruments. The first couple lasted six months to a year and I was pretty happy with them. The third failed within a month of purchase. Same for this last one. I'm going back to Sigma Sport monitor with fewer features - current heartrate is enough for me. I really don't recommend this one.
Strengths: Simple to use. Not so many functions that you get lost scrolling through. Everything is right at your finger tipes.
Weaknesses: Main problem is that it's dead right now. Thought the battery died but it turns out the battery is fine. Just went dead while riding. I noticed right at purchase that sometimes the screen would look goofy, but when I scrolled it fixed itself. I guess now I will find out how good their warranty is. Very dissapointing.
Annoying setup is the button on the right side can change the display while your riding. It's so close to the hand that it just bumps the button. Probably more noticeable while mountain biking since your up and down a lot.
Bottom Line:
I'm not so sure I would buy this product again. I like the set up and the information it stores is perfect for the sport racer. However, having it go dead at 3 months is unacceptable. If it worked, you can't beat it for the price.
Submitted by
Scott
a Cross Country Rider
from Sanford, Florida, USA
Date Reviewed: October 2, 2006
Strengths: Seemed to have most features for the money
Weaknesses: Battery replacement is not easy, this caused my problem
Bottom Line:
After a coupla years off my Acumen had dead batterys. So I decided to upgrade to an ECG3 which had more features. I found a used unit on Ebay for a significant savings. When I got it I had to replace the wrist piece battery, no big deal, right? But, I had to take it to a jeweler because it doesn't come apart without the special tools. Well either he put it back together wrong or the seal just failed because on my next ride it shorted out due to water damage (found this out on 2nd trip to said jeweler). Whether it was the jeweler's fault or SI's I don't appreciate something that requires all this trouble for battery maintenance. Not to mention I had some sending/receiving problems with the chest strap too. "yea but you bought it used!" you say, well my cheap Acumen lasted over 5 years. I do have to say the company's rep made an effort to rectify the situation with some decent communication. Maybe the newer units are better.
Submitted by
PBJammer
a Cross Country Rider
from Ft. Worth, Tx
Date Reviewed: November 9, 2005
Strengths: Price, Handle Bar Mount, replaceable battery
Weaknesses: Reliabliity
Bottom Line:
I bought this heart rate monitor because it looked like a good value. The price and the features were the best I could find at the time. I have had to send it back because the display would lock up or go blank. Even after the repairs were made it resets itself. I would not recommend this product, in fact I am looking for a replacement. It has gotten to the point that I do not even want to use this product.
Submitted by
Mati
a Cross Country Rider
from New Zealand
Date Reviewed: May 24, 2005
Strengths: Gave the required info, while it worked.
Weaknesses: After about 2 weeks of use the watch fogged out and a week later, after a short rainy ride the buttons stopped functioning completely.
Bottom Line:
I guess I had a bad luck with a lemon but bike Nashbar refused to replace it claiming that they don't carry it any more (it is still on there catalogue, though). They also refused to send an equivalent product claiming that they do not ship to NZ (even though the mail order system happily accepted my order).
After paying shipping cost twice I am without a HRM. Support your local shop!
