I bought this Garmin premium strap to replace my existing Forerunner 305 strap. I found the original 305 strap to be slightly uncomfortable and it also had a habit of producing annoying heart rate spikes during the start of run/bike activities (before it got moistened with sweat that is). These are common complaints with the original strap apparently. After reading the reviews on the web for the premium strap it seemed to overcome these problems. After taking delivery I found that it was also 30 gms lighter than the 305 strap, which was a bonus. I paired it with my Forerunner and went out on an 8 mile training run. It felt really comfortable and there were no heart rate spikes at the beginning of the run. Job done so I though. - Unfortunately not. During the run I could feel an area just below my breast bone getting badly chaffed.
Welcome to the delights of the "Garmin Scar"!!!
I've never heard of the "Garmin Scar" before, but I'm still wearing one now two weeks after the initial cause. None of the premium strap reviews mentioned it. As standard this premium strap will probably chaff your skin at the bottom edge of the Garmin plastic sensor. The material used there feels like shark skin and it will chaff. This chaffing can be overcome easily, but in reality it's a design fault with the strap itself.
For more information on the "Garmin Scar" and how to overcome it. Please copy and paste this link into your browser:- [...]
The cure as detailed by "dcrainmaker" (a Garmin Guru if there was ever was one, please check out his website) is the best. I used black electrical insulation tape instead of a sticky plaster that he suggested. The tape looks slightly unsightly but still better than a plaster. At least the strap doesn't chaff any more and it now works as it should.
Overall I'm very please with the product now and it's a big improvement over the original Garmin strap that came with the 305 Forerunner.
I'd have given the device a 5* if it had come with instructions. It sounded like you just had to snap the monitor onto the chest strap and the Garmin Forerunner 910XT would automatically sense when within 3m. Ha ha ha how wrong I was. I even sent the first device back because I thought it must be broken. No help online. I stumbled on the fix by accident when looking to change a running lap distance. In Run Mode select Mode > Settings > Run Settings > Heart Rate > ANT+ HR > Heart Rate Monitor Present? Select Yes. You would not believe how long it took me to find this and why the hell is was toggled to No by default. Now it works perfect. Nice piece of kit.
5つ星のうち4.0Worn every day for a year and still works.
2013年9月17日に英国でレビュー済み
Amazonで購入
If you have large pecs you may find that the bottom of the strap chafes when you are running, you'll need to use plasters to prevent this happening. Apart from that works well. You may need to use electro-conductive gel to prevent the contacts drying out in summer on descents when cycling. Pairs with multiple Garmin devices at once so you can use the same strap with your cycle computer and your running watch. Also works with non-Garmin ANT+ devices (tested with a Sony Xperia phone).
I was nearly put off purchasing this by other reviews but purchased it anyway as £30 didn't seem to be too big a financial gamble. I can only say that it has worked fine for me whilst cycling with my Garmin 510. Seeing your heartbeat during riding or post ride and especially the improvement over time is a revelation and now I wouldn't exercise without it. It only misses out only five stars because of the slight discomfort of wearing it that you would get with any heart strap.
You must differentiate between Premium Soft Strap HRMs! Till now there are 3 denerations of it. The first one was released in 2009 (came with devices like 310XT). The signal sender was part of the strap. It was working ok. The second generation was released in 2010 (came with devices like 910XT). Here the signal sender is attached to the strap. The strap itself is a piece of crap. Sometimes it does not detect the HR, sometimes when you are standing and relaxing, it is detecting absolutely wrong 200-210 BPMs. Raised a complain to Garmin, but they sent only instructions how to use it. After 5 complains, Garmin admitted the design/operational error by factory. This product must disappear from the market! Do not purchase it! Mine will be replaced with the new, third generation of Premium Soft Strap HRM. But currently it is in shortage...