Heart Rate Monitor (s625x vs Triax Elite)

I own the Nike Hrm/Sdm and it's only 97% accurate even after calibrating. Plus you have to calibrate it every time you change the shoes. It's OK for long runs (+-less than 3% is irrelevant), but useless for tempo runs or fast workouts. The batteries won't last very long in the shoe device...

I have heard a lot of positive things about Polar S625x SDM- it's very accurate and batteries last quite long.

If I would have to choose again I would buy neither of them and invest in the high quality GPS like Garmin 305 (or whatever number has the newest one in the silver cage).

My concern with the GPS based units is that I do a lot of running on wooded trails and this would compromise the accuracy a lot more than +/-3%.

I heard that all of the batteries on the Nike unit are user replaceable and that the HR and foot pod batteries on the Polar unit are too. However, I guess that you have to send the watch (Polar) to a dealer or the factory to have the batteries replaced.

I don't believe that Nike allows you to replace only the heart strap, which was a problem for me. My nike strap got a little tear in the rubber and sweat leaked in, ruining it. The whole setup was useless after that. Polar lets you buy new straps, I think. Besides. I've been using a Polar for a very long time and have not had to replace the batteries once.

I think that they do have them but they are much less accurate than the chest straps.

I've looked everywhere for one that is available for the Polar. I don't want to get some suck-ass monitor like those ones that you have to stop and put your finger on. I want something that is within 5bpm for easy days.

bump

I've used the s625x for a bit over 1 year.

I just had the battery replaced (as insurance against Murphy's Law) before Bayshore marathon. It had no low battery symptoms yet.

Foot pod batteries are supposed to last 20 hours and they do, I replace mine every 3 weeks or so and had only 1 die in the middle of a run.

The Transmitter batteries are user replaceable and probably last as long as the watch battery. I replaced mine when I was having problems but the voltage checked fine and it was not the problem. The transmitter was bad and was replaced under the 2-year warranty. (1-year for the watch)

The "wearlink" belt for the transmitter is awesome. Very comfortable compared to the hard plastic one I had before.

The accuracy is very good after you get to know the quirks and become good at the manual calibration. I never calibrate using the automatic "run" cal feature.

1) The foot pod fork must not be able to move for and aft. This does not require shoelaces to be extra tight, but rather the fork must be "stretched" between the laces for and aft.

2) I use a minimum 4-mile flat course for calibration check.

3) Different shoes can require unique calibration but I found much less difference between trainers once I discovered issue #1 and tightened up the pod. Lightweight flats do require a different cal but once you know these cals it's just a matter of entering the calibration factor manually (which takes only seconds)

Certainly it takes a bit of work to sort all this out at first. I found a spreadsheet made by one of the members here

http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/S625x/

which allows me to correct runs for distance error and zero in on the correct calibration factor quickly.

On my 20 mile runs I am usually within .05 mile ( I ran a 20 mile training run marked within the Martian Marathon course and showed 19.991 at the end)

It has quirks, it has problems, but all things considered, for me it does what I need.