Maximum average and minimum heart rate of session displayed.
Workout session elapsed timer.
Workout timer.
Last session duration of workout.
Last session maximum average and minimum heart rate.
Submitted by
Lew
a
from Madison, WI Date Reviewed: June 7, 2002
Duration Product Used:
Less than 1 month
Purchased At:
45.00
Strengths:
Inexpensive monitor that records average, maximum and minimum heart rates, and exercise duration. It is the only inexpensive monitor I am aware of with this combination. Comfortable transmitter with replaceable battery.
Weaknesses:
This monitor has a probable design flaw. I tested 2 Cardiosport GO monitors that were manufactured at different times or in different factories (very different serial numbers, packaging, transmitter color, and one included a handlebar mount and one did not). Both had the same fatal flaw when used with a handlebar mount: they instantly stopped working when exposed to full sun. If you wave your hand back and forth over the face of the monitor on a sunny day, the "beating heart" icon will instantly turn off in sun and back on in shadow. The problem is unrelated to temperature: I live in a cool area (Wisconsin) and observed it at 50 degrees F as well as at higher temperatures, and it turns off much too fast to be heating up. It is also unrelated to the transmitter: conductive creme on the electrodes did not help, the Cardiosport transmitters worked perfectly when tested with a different-brand monitor, and the Cardiosport monitors displayed the same problem when tested with a different-brand transmitter. I contacted the USA distributor for Cardiosport about this problem and have not yet received a reply after approximately 3 weeks, which increases my suspicion that it is a design flaw. Nashbar has given me a refund for both monitors (they are a very reliable company in my experience). They said that they have gotten quite a number of returns, but that no one had described the full-sun problem. However, I suspect that if users who are experiencing the same highly frustrating erratic operation that I did were to perform the "hand-waving test", they will discover the source of the problem. Please note that the monitor works perfectly when there is a thin layer of cloud cover (muted shadows), so the test must be done in full sun.
Similar Products Used:
Polar
Bike Setup:
LeMond Zurich with heart rate monitor on a handlebar mount.
Bottom Line:
If you buy one of these monitors do the hand-waving test I have described and if it fails, return it for refund.
Value Rating:Overall Rating:
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