Polar CS200Cad ?

[gavintc]

I am looking at buying a better HRM and note the reasonable discounts online for the Polar CS200Cad. I want a HRM that I can download the data; HRM, Speed and Cadence to my computer and maintain a log of my rides.

I have read some negative reports on this HRM. Reportedly it is difficult to download the data and once downloaded, you dont get all the readings for a ride. Does anyone on here use this HRM and if so, have they had good or bad experiences with it. Equally, I note the jump to an IR download HRM means paying over twice the price. Anyone got any comments on the Polar 400 or the Timex Ironman Bodylink.

 

[Noodley]

I have one. I am techno stupid and found downloading a pain in the arse so gave up. I have only worn the HRM a few times (mostly as this season was crap and I did little training) but the bike computer bit is great, no faults or blips and loads of functions. I suppose I would have been disappointed if I was looking for an easy to use HRM for downloading data, but as I was looking for a reliable bike computer with HRM facility, and bought it at a good price in Jan/Feb of this year, I am happy with it.

Remember I said I was techno stupid so it may be okay.

 

[Noodley]

Okay, I have just remembered why I had problems with it after I posted that. It was something to do with using a microphone to download data...I think I found it difficult as I had an external microphone rather than one built into my laptop.

 

[gavintc]

thanks for the comment Noodley, your comment about the downloading problems fit with what I have found from reviews online.

 

[Steve Austin]

Never been able to download anything from mine. I could never pick up enough of a signal to get a reading.
Great computer on the bike though....

 

[nickwill]

Mine works perfectly with a cheap external mike. As far as I can remember, there is an option with the software, where you can change the settings to allow for a quiet signal. Once I changed this it has worked perfectly.

 

[walker]

I've just recently bought a CS400, and I have no idea what's going on. I've upgraded from a CS200 but for the life of me I can't seem to get the 400 to display what I want from the 200, I want speed, time, and HR on the screen, anything else, fine big bonus. but I can't get these simple figures to show. Anyone else know how to work it as the instructions are pointless and I have vista and the disc is for Windows 98. Will the disc tell me what I need to know? I can dig out my old PC

 

[Mortiroloboy]

I have one. I am techno stupid and found downloading a pain in the arse so gave up. I have only worn the HRM a few times (mostly as this season was crap and I did little training) but the bike computer bit is great, no faults or blips and loads of functions. I suppose I would have been disappointed if I was looking for an easy to use HRM for downloading data, but as I was looking for a reliable bike computer with HRM facility, and bought it at a good price in Jan/Feb of this year, I am happy with it.

Remember I said I was techno stupid so it may be okay.

I'm also techno stupid, although I do subscribe to the theory that all technology knows I'm there, I will sit in front of a computer at work and for some entirely inexplicable reason it won't do for me what it will do for a colleague, who does the same things, presses the same buttons etc that I do I think it (IT) know's I'm there and does it just to pi$$ me off and make my job harder than it already is

As for the Polar CS 200 CAD, I have one, as Noodley points out the computer bit is great, Polars after sales is questionable, I had an issue with mine giving me cadence readings, even though the cadence sensor was not on the bike (due to the magnet) forever falling off the crank arm, I gave up on it, but the head unit still gave me random readings! I emailed Polar loads of times <cue tumbleweed> never heard diddly from them, so not overly impressed.

Very occasionally the chest strap will not send to the head unit, but I find more and more that I tend to listen to my body, rather than slavishly allow the HRM to control what I do on the bike.

 

[domtyler]

I used to have one and liked it, yeah the upload via microphone was flaky but I coped. It ended up falling off the bike in the middle of a sportive and getting run over by about a hundred riders behind me.

I replaced it with a Garmin Edge 305. Talk about a revelation! It is everything that the Garmin was and then about a hundred times more. GPS on your cycle computer is the way to go, it is simply in a different league. Makes the Polar feel very much like yesterdays toy.